Roosevelt Girls Bag Historic Double
Team Wins Both 4x800, 4x400 at Penn Relays

By Camille Powell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 28, 2007

PHILADELPHIA, April 27 -- The four girls from Eleanor Roosevelt High School slowly made their way around the track inside the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field on Friday night, waving to what was left of the crowd of 39,166 at the 113th Penn Relays. Moments earlier they had made history at one of the country's most storied track meets, and they wanted to savor every moment.

The Raiders did something that no American girls' team had ever done before: win both the 4x800- and the 4x400-meter relays in the same year.

"I feel like crying," said junior Tasha Stanley, who anchored the 4x800 and ran the third leg of the 4x400. "I shed a tear or two, even though you can't see it now."

They also became the first Washington area girls' team to win at Penn Relays since 1996, as well as the first area team, boys' or girls', to win two titles in the same year. And they interrupted the overwhelming Jamaican dominance in both events, becoming only the second American team to win the 4x800 since 1986.

"Anytime an American team beats a Jamaican team for a championship here is significant," said David Johnson, who is in his 12th year as the meet's director. "And it's become more significant as the years have gone on because the Jamaicans' dominance has increased.

"There was a time when there were only five or 10 Jamaican schools here. There are now 28. You have Jamaican teams that might have won five or 10 or 20 titles, but the American high schools that come up here, if they have one or two plaques on the wall, that's a great school."

The six girls who ran on Friday -- Stanley, junior Dominique Lockhart, senior Tameka Jameson and senior Marika Walker on the 4x800, and Stanley, sophomore Doris Anwanyu, and twins Tameka and Takecia Jameson in the 4x400 -- knew firsthand just how tough the Jamaicans are. In last year's Penn Relays, they ran what was then the third-fastest U.S. time in the 4x800, but still finished third behind Holmwood Tech and Edwin Allen. In the 4x400, the Raiders finished second behind Holmwood Tech.

Since then, the Raiders had been preparing for this race. Coach Desmond Dunham, who ran for Howard University, showed his team videos of the Jamaican teams, and together they discussed strategies for this year, with a goal of breaking the national record of 8:50.41 -- which was set by the only other U.S. team to win the 4x800 in 20 years, Boys and Girls of Brooklyn (2002).

Lockhart, a state championship miler, and Tameka Jameson, a four-time All-Met who will run for Miami next year, ran the first two legs, keeping the Raiders close to Holmwood Tech and Edwin Allen, the Jamaican favorites. Dunham kept his two fastest runners for the final two legs: Walker, a cross-country state champion, and Stanley, a junior who has a killer instinct and the best closing 50 of any of the runners.

By the time Stanley got the baton, Holmwood Tech and Eleanor Roosevelt had separated themselves from the pack. Stanley stayed right behind Wilkins for the first 700 meters and then, with about 75 meters to go, she dropped her head -- a signal that she's about to switch into another gear. The pair crossed the finish line at nearly the same instant, and Stanley collapsed afterward.

A moment later, the final result flashed on the scoreboard -- Roosevelt had won in 8:51.19, the second-fastest time ever for a U.S. high school girls' team.

"The 4x800 actually made our day," Tameka Jameson said. "We just fought and were aggressive. Coming into the 4x400 we held our heads up, we showed no fear, and we stayed focused. It's very overwhelming."

Five hours later in the 4x400 -- the meet's signature event -- the Raiders again had to battle from behind. Stanley's third leg brought the Raiders from third place into first. Anchor Takecia Jameson -- the All-Met indoor track Athlete of the Year -- was quickly passed by a runner from Edwin Allen, and was in third place heading into the final stretch. But Jameson out-ran both Jamaican teams to win in 3:39.44 -- the exact same time the Raiders ran last year.

After the four girls finished their victory lap, the paused to consider what they had done. "This definitely puts us on a different map," Tameka Jameson said.

Eleanor Roosevelt has been one of the area's dominant high school running programs -- the Raider girls own 13 outdoor Maryland state team titles, 18 indoor titles (including the past seven) and five cross-country titles (including the last three) -- but it had never won a Championship of America. The Raiders qualified for 16 finals in the past 13 years, and finished second twice.

Now they return to Greenbelt with two of the distinctive prizes that go with a Championship of America: A two-foot circular plaque, which weighs about 30 pounds and features Benjamin Franklin, the University of Pennsylvania's founder, holding a laurel sprig and greeting four runners.

A (much) smaller version of the plaque is awarded to teams that win their heat or post the fastest American time. The Raiders have accumulated so many of those over the years that they can be found scattered throughout the school, in conference rooms as well as display cases. But former Eleanor Roosevelt Coach Larry Colbert -- who used to bring a set of ropes to the Penn Relays every year, just in case he had to tie "the big penny" to the roof of his van to transport home -- thinks that this one deserves a special place.

"I'd put it so you could see it as soon as you walk in the door, at the entrance to Eleanor Roosevelt," Colbert said. "Because it deserves to go somewhere where everybody can see it. It really means something special."