Distance Medley

The stage is bigger, the stakes are higher, the cheers are louder, and the runners are faster. And Conestoga girls aren't concerned in the least. They're going out to make some Penn Relays magic, and Franklin Field better be ready. The Pioneers qualified for the Championship of America in the distance medley this season. But their entry in that race doesn't mean they will be holding back in the 4x800-relay, an event in which they have reached the Championship of America final in the last two years.

Graduation left enormous holes in the leadership department and distance-medley relay at Marple Newtown, but the Tigers still appear solid in both departments. Seniors Merav Bushlin (distance), Donna Kain (middle distance), Kristin Sullivan (sprints) and Sarah Erdos (hurdles, jumps) are proving to be capable captains. And Bushlin, Kain, and sophomores Larissa Anderson and Lauren Hansell show promise in the distance medley. "They have done a nice job to this point," Marple Newtown girls' track and field coach Mary Jo Yannacone said of her captains.

In what should mark a milestone in the history of the event, the Penn Relays will be contested for the 93d time this afternoon at Franklin Field - and for the last time with Jim Tuppeny as director of the nation's first and largest track meet. Tuppeny, the Carnival's chief administrator and a longtime fan who saw his first Penn Relays in 1935, is stepping down from the post he took over in 1970. He soon will go to work for the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau. For his swan-song meet, Tuppeny, 61, is likely to be treated once again to some stirring performances by teams from the Southwest Conference, the nation's finest in track and field, and to as many thrilling ones from the 5,000 high school athletes who make up the bulk of the field, which this weekend will include 173 men's and 127 women's collegiate teams.

Which one of these events is not like the other? If a track and field athlete competes in the 1,600 meters and 400 meters, chances are the 800 meters would be part of a logical sequence. That's not the case with Octorara's Becky Opdenaker, who has qualified for districts in the 400 meters with a time of 1 minute, 2.0 seconds and the 1,600 meters with a 5:43 clocking. The third event in Opdenaker's arsenal is the javelin, which she has thrown 80 feet, 5 inches. "It's not usual," Octorara coach Dave Brown said.

The Villanova women's track team traveled to Gainesville, Fla., this weekend with big plans to race the elite of the sport - teams from the University of Florida and the University of Texas. As it turned out, the Wildcats didn't get a chance to race against either the Gators or the Longhorns at the Florida Invitational track meet. But they did get something more important - a pair of world records. The Wildcats yesterday completed what coach Marty Stern called "the finest weekend in Villanova women's track history" by establishing a world record in the distance-medley relay, one day after setting a world best in the 3,200- meter relay.

Given the maxim that victory is sweet, and that Penn Relays championships are among the most cherished in sport, the occasion properly demanded an equal mix of euphoria and relief. But when Matt Taylor, John Register, Lorenzo Brown and Joe Falcon finished off the distance-medley relay yesterday at Franklin Field - quickly, ably and ahead of everyone else - their reaction was hardly traditional. Oh, the Razorbacks were pleased enough after winning their fifth distance- medley title in the last six years.

The congratulatory handshakes and pats on the back seemed endless. Penn Relays officials, fans and competitors stopped the Coatesville High boys' distance medley team after last night's Championship of America race at Franklin Field. Although the Red Raiders wanted to speak to their parents, they didn't mind all the attention. The quartet of Sean Ward, Chris Cline, Owen Dawson and Kyle Dawson won the event in 10 minutes, 8.51 seconds. Colts Neck (N.J.) was a close second in 10:09.

Before Roddie Haley came along, the distance medley at the Penn Relays used to be the domain of 1,600-meter anchor runners straining to reach the finish line first while a roaring crowd cheered them home. After all, it is called the distance-medley relay - 4,000 meters in length from the starting gun to the finish - and it was only fitting that the distance runners decided it. But then Haley, who specializes in the 400-meter sprint, came along after choosing to matriculate at Arkansas.

Kevin Sullivan is a Canadian ace who has a personal best of 3 minutes, 52.25 seconds for the mile, but it's Michigan's maize-and-blue colors he hopes to carry to victory today in one of the Penn Relays' most exciting events: the men's distance medley relay. Arkansas - led by the NCAA's defending outdoor mile champion, Seneca Lassiter - shapes up as the Wolverines' chief competitor in the distance showdown that will be contested through 1,200-, 400-, 800- and 1,600-meter legs, in that order.

According to Villanova women's track coach Marty Stern, the distance medley relay "is the program. " If so, then the Wildcats are indeed solid as a rock, thank you. Yesterday at Franklin Field, a pair of seniors, Gina Procaccio and Debbie Grant, and a pair of sophomores, Celeste Halliday and Vicki Huber, combined to bury an elite field as Villanova captured the DMR Championship of America race with surprising ease at the Penn Relays....

One word described La Salle's distance medley relay team entering the Penn Relays: disrespected. The Explorers felt disrespected because they weren't considered among the favorites, and because, even though they placed in the top three at last year's event, they didn't appear in the Penn Relays website's race preview. The Explorers took those emotions and an underdog mentality into Friday and shocked the field, winning the Championship of America in 10 minutes, 4.93 seconds. "It feels so good to win for all those people who doubted us," La Salle's Levi Hardy said.

Villanova had pointed for almost seven weeks to this race - the women's distance medley relay at the Penn Relays Carnival. The Wildcats had suffered a disappointing loss to Michigan in the event at the NCAA indoor championships and wanted to make amends. Great idea, but there was a hitch: Michigan decided not to compete in Thursday's race at Franklin Field. Villanova's response: no problem. With Nicky Akande blowing the race open on the third leg, and anchor Emily Lipari running comfortably and confidently, the Wildcats picked up a decisive victory in 10 minutes, 58.84 seconds.

The competition to earn a spot on the Villanova teams that will compete in this week's Penn Relays is just as intense as the competition on the Franklin Field track, minus, of course, the screaming crowds and the call of the race by the public-address announcer. The head coaches of the Wildcats' track and field programs, Marcus O'Sullivan (men) and Gina Procaccio (women), know the pressure of running in the Penn Relays when you are wearing a Villanova singlet, having dealt with that as athletes and coaches.

When the Imhotep Charter boys' team stepped onto the surface Saturday at the 29th annual Pennsylvania Track Classic, it was looking to make a statement. With help from Donaldo Benjamin, the Panthers had no problem accomplishing their goal. In an evenly matched field of 32 teams, Imhotep won the 4x100-meter relay, and individually, Benjamin won the 300 hurdles and placed third in the 110 hurdles at Plymouth Whitemarsh. "Last year, we didn't do so well, so this year, we wanted to let Pennsylvania know that we are out here working hard," Benjamin said.

The temperatures were cold and the wind was howling Saturday at the third annual Upper Darby Relays, but there was no stopping the Strath Haven girls' track team from a hot start to the season. Junior Jamie Kenney kicked off the Panthers' winning ways with a victory in the first event, the girls' 300-meter hurdles. "It was cold, and it really wasn't that fun," said Kenney, who finished in 47.76 seconds. "But we worked through it and I ran good times, so I can't complain. " Despite missing some runners, Strath Haven showed why it has won the Central League title in nine of the past 12 years.

Garnet Valley's Wellington Zaza won three events Saturday at the PTFCA state indoor track and field championships at Penn State. The senior set a meet record in the 60-meter hurdles as he finished in 7.79 seconds. He rolled to the triple-jump title with a mark of 48 feet, 111/2inches, and won the long jump with a mark of 23-9. Courtney Smith of Unionville finished second in the girls' 3,000 in 9 minutes, 48.24 seconds, surpassing the previous meet best. The Results BOYS 60 hurdles: 1 Wellington Zaza, Garnet Valley, 7.79; 2 Jay Stone, Central York, 8.04; 3 Todd Townsend, Neumann-Goretti, 8.09.

Annie Johnson let out a sigh. "Yup," she said. "I get asked about this a million times a day. " Johnson holds the Shawnee girls' track record in five sprint events, all of which were set this spring. She enters Friday's South Jersey Group 4 meet all but assured of qualifying for a busy day at the state championships. In just her second year of running spring track, the senior just might be scratching the surface of her potential. And almost everyone who watches her compete agrees: She's destined for a special college career - playing softball.

The challenge is daunting for the Penn State men's 4x800-meter relay team whenever it competes at the Penn Relays. The Nittany Lions set the carnival record for the 4x800 in 1985 - the oldest record on the books - and the current runners know that all too well. "We know that time by heart," fifth-year senior Owen Dawson said of the mark, 7 minutes, 11.17 seconds. "It's been hanging over our heads for a while. " Penn State didn't break the record Saturday, but it headed back to Happy Valley happy.

It was just a few moments after Sanya Richards-Ross crossed the finish line first in the final USA vs. the World race at the Penn Relays that the public-address announcer at Franklin Field summed up the cloudy and cold afternoon a bit haughtily, but honestly. "That's USA six, the World nothing," he said. "Yes, I heard that," Richards-Ross said Saturday after the U.S. women won the 4x400-meter relay to complete a clean sweep of the events featuring athletes from 21 countries, many of whom have competed in the Olympics and the World Track and Field Championships.

Veteran Penn Relays watchers couldn't remember anything like it. With 150 meters remaining in a distance medley relay that covers 4,000 meters in all, no fewer than eight teams had an opportunity to cross the finish line first. But it was Princeton's Donn Cabral, the pacesetter for much of the final laps, who held off all the challengers Friday and lifted the Tigers to a dramatic victory, one of the highlights of a busy day at the carnival before a crowd of 39,531 at Franklin Field.