Area Quartet Dominates 100 Meters : Track: Only three will be able to compete in state meet, however.

SAN DIEGO —  At Mt. Carmel High for a track meet Saturday, four area athletes got into a shoving match--one that likely will continue nearly every weekend for the next two months.

Senior Darnay Scott of Kearny, senior Teddy Lawrence of Morse, junior Scott Hammond of Lincoln and junior Riley Washington of Southwest began pushing each other at the Sundevil Invitational, not physically, but rather in a competitive sense.

The four are sprinters, all among the top six returnees at 100 meters in the state.

Because they attend San Diego Section schools and run against each other in local invitationals, they will be pushing each other, all right--pushing each other to faster times.

But they also figure to be caught in a numbers game. Only three will make it out of the section finals and to the state meet.

“We’ve had some good sprinters before,” Lincoln Coach Vic Player said. “But this is the first year in which all of our sprinters in the San Diego area are of state caliber.”

Except not all of them will be able to prove that.

“The sad thing is one of these kids is not going to make it,” said Mike Klepper, who is in his 11th year as coach of Morse’s track team. “A good, quality sprinter is not going to make it.”

“But,” as Dennis McClanahan, organizer of the Sundevil meet pointed out, “the Southern Section has been putting up with that kind of thing for years.”

Previously, San Diego athletes looked upon the Los Angeles City and Southern Sections with envy: Great athletes ran against each other every weekend. No wonder they never appeared nervous at the state championships--they were used to the environment.

Now the four San Diego sprinters will have the same advantage--and disadvantage.

“They could really be something at the end of the season,” said McClanahan, who has been involved in San Diego track and field since 1964. “The nice thing is they are only going to get stronger each time they race each other.”

In the Sundevil 100 meters, Hammond came out of the blocks first and maintained a slight advantage all the way down the track until he broke the tape at 10.79 seconds. Almost right beside him were Washington (10.84), Gentry Bradley of Downey Pius X (10.85), Lawrence (10.86) and Scott (10.89).

“This early in the season, it’s really amazing that they would be that close together,” McClanahan said.

After winning, Hammond’s celebration was interrupted by reporters, who caught him in a jovial mood. Hammond said some things that miffed his competition.

“I’ve said all along that if I get a good start I can beat anybody,” he said. “And I proved it today.” Hammond, of course, wasn’t belittling his competition. It’s just that he hasn’t had a chance to play the part of the victor.

At the beginning of last season, Hammond showed promise and was one of the section’s fastest sprinters. That promise never materialized.

“Maybe inexperience came in,” Hammond said of last year’s failings, “but that’s no excuse and it won’t happen again.

“I just put something in their minds. I’m going to be here all year long.”

But Hammond’s words struck Washington as somewhat insulting.

“Scott shouldn’t get a big head about it, because he can always lose later in the year,” Washington said. “And after what he said, I’m kind of out to beat him now.”

That’s not just an idle threat. Last year, as a sophomore, Washington turned in the fastest time in the state, 10.53.

Washington’s strength has been his start--but it was his start that handicapped him Saturday.

“We were in the blocks and for some reason, I don’t know why, I heard someone say ‘set,’ ” Washington explained. “So I got into my set position and I didn’t want to go back down because I was afraid the starter really would say ‘set’ and I wouldn’t be ready.”

All of which wreaked havoc on Washington’s concentration. Nevertheless, his time was much better than the 10.98 he turned in at the same meet last year.

“So I’m on schedule,” Washington said.

Washington wasn’t the only one to complain of a lousy start. So too did Lawrence, who is in the process of changing his explosion from the blocks.

“I tried a new method that Coach (Klepper) just taught me,” Lawrence said. “I think it’s the right method, I just did it the wrong way.”

And Darnay Scott, too, was a bit creaky in reacting to the gun.

“He doesn’t have one of the best 100-meter starts in the first place,” said Joe Cohen, Kearny’s track coach. “And he really hasn’t had a chance to work on it because he was with the basketball team through the playoffs, and then he couldn’t practice because of all the rain.”

It is likely that the losers will complain about their starts all season because at such a short distance, the race is often won in the first few steps.

In fact, all four runners think that’s what happened Saturday.

As Lawrence put it, “Scott (Hammond) just got off way better than the rest of us and won.”

It was somewhat of a surprise that Hammond beat everyone out of the blocks. Last year, and even as recently as January’s Sunkist Invitational at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, Hammond had a habit of standing straight up at the start instead of surging forward.

“I was coming out of the blocks with both arms up last year,” Hammond explained. “Now I’m trying to lean forward a little more and pump my arms.”

The next meet is Saturday at Poway High, where talk of slow starts might be overshadowed by boasts of fast times.

Poway has a 3-year-old all-weather surface regarded as one of the fastest in the state. In fact, it was on the Poway track where Washington ran his 10.53 last spring.

“The 100 meters is a mystic event,” Klepper said. “Everyone wants to see who’s the fastest at 100 meters. And after watching these four at Mt. Carmel, I know every time they run against each other the outcome will be a real toss-up. I mean, just hundredths of a second separated four kids and hundredths will separate them again. Scott (Hammond) had a good day last week, but will he have another one? I don’t know?”

Before Saturday, only Lawrence had raced previously, and then only once. All have been affected by the recent rains, and all say they have yet to do any serious training.

Now that the rains have subsided, however, there is no excuse, and, at least as far as Lawrence is concerned, there are plenty of reasons to train.

“Riley might be faster because he ran that 10.53 last year,” Lawrence said. “So Darnay, Scott and myself are going to have to work a little harder.”

And as far as Saturday’s race goes?

“You can’t really predict,” Lawrence continued, “because all of us arereally inconsistent when it comes to winning. The order always changes.”

Not even Washington would make a prediction, although he made it clear he’s looking for revenge.

“I just hope Scott’s in my heat,” he said. “I’ve got confidence.”

And as far as which of the four stays away from the state finals?

“If I was a betting man,” Klepper said, “I wouldn’t bet. We have four quality sprinters here. Riley has to be respected because he came out on top last year, but you can’t count out Scott, Darnay or Teddy.

“This thing is going to be neck and neck all year.”