Lewis & Co. In Center Ring

by Jon Hendershott

Walnut, California, April 20-21

Officially, the meet's name is the "Mazda/ Mt. San Antonio College Relays." But after some notable stickwork by the vaunted Santa Monica Track Club, maybe a switch to "The SMTC Relays" should be considered.

Athletes from Joe Douglas's club highlighted the meet's 33rd edition by claiming five invitational victories, including showpiece relay efforts of 38.33 and 3:02.33.

Also scoring wins in the SMTC's blue and orange uniforms were Mike Marsh in the 100 (10.00w), long hurdler Kevin Young (48.71) and putter Dave Wilson (63-11 1/2).

The 4 x 100 was postponed for more than an hour after Marsh arrived late, but once the gun fired, his opening stint propelled Santa Monica to an immediate lead, and a decent pass sent Burrell barreling down the backstretch toward Lewis.

As he neared the beginning of the passing zone, though, Burrell stumbled after appearing to kick his left calf. Lewis already was in full flight, but must have sensed that his teammate wasn't as close as he thought.



 He slowed for a heartbeat as Burrell stretched to complete the exchange. The pass was obviously close to the end line: the zone judge made an initial move to raise the red flag in his left hand, but quickly changed his mind.

Lewis churned the curve smoothly and sent Witherspoon away with a second good pass. The anchorman was totally unchallenged along the final straight as the club won by a block from Tennessee's 39.44.

Santa Monica's 4 x 4 triumph closed the meet on Sunday, Danny Everett burning a 44.5 anchor to turn back World Indoor 400 champ Devon Morris and the Sports TC (3:02.79).

Everett had been preceded by Young (45.8), Witherspoon (46.7) and Olympic 400 champion Steve Lewis (45.3). Nearly as fast as Everett was '90 AOY Michael Johnson, who sped a 44.6 third carry for an all-star Mazda team.

Earlier, Johnson had prevented Santa Monica from sweeping the three fastest relays, his 19.2 burner closing a 1:21.50 winner by a Mazda unit.



 The SMTC had the lead at the last pass, thanks to a 19.6 second carry from Floyd Heard. Lewis clocked 20.6 into the backstretch headwind, but Brian Cooper was no match for Johnson's controlled power as Santa Monica finished 2nd in 1:22.98.

The winds which whistled down the backstretch also pushed along the long jumpers, sometimes wreaking havoc with steps to the board. But Mike Powell adjusted well enough to ride the breeze out to 27-5 1/2 in round 5.

The final frame was hot. It first saw Larry Myricks cap his competitive return from a truncated doping suspension with a 27-2 3/4w pop, only to have Joe Greene sail 27-4 1/2w two jumps later. Between the two, Powell fouled a jump which appeared to be at least as long as his winner.

As part of the women's competition, the U.S. had mini-duals against both the Soviets and Cubans. The Americans won twice, beating the Soviets 37-25 in the runs and the Cubans 20-10 in the throws.

From Track & Field News
June, 1991