Milburn Paces Team’s Win at Mobil Classic

In track and field it always helps to have a little bit left for the final leg. Let the competition wear itself down, then kick it in at the end.

That adage held true Saturday afternoon at the inaugural Mobil Track Classic, where Glyn Milburn made himself feel right at home on the West High School track.

Milburn, from Santa Monica High, saved his best for last in the mile relay, the finale of the two-day event, by rolling past the pack in the stretch to help his team finish at 3:30.64.

Rolling Hills (3:31.41) was second in the Classic heat, while West High (3:40) and Mira Costa (3:40.11) also had first-place finishes in their respective heats.

Milburn (10.80) and teammate Felice Lipscomb (12.63) finished first in the 100-meter invitational to give Santa Monica a sweep of that event.

“I kind of dropped my knees about three-quarters of the way down in the 100, then I had to tell myself to relax,” said Milburn, who played halfback for the Santa Monica football team. “It felt very close. I didn’t think I had it until they gave me this winner’s slip.”

West recorded victories in the boys’ 4x100 high hurdles (1:04.44), the girls’ varsity sprint medley (1:55.30), the girls’ 4x200 (1:51.83) and the girls’ shot put.

Hawthorne was expected to make the biggest impact on the meet despite the absence of four of its top runners, who were competing in the National Pathmark Indoor Meet at Yale University.

But two more Cougar runners--Kevin Gatlin and Deaundra Wheeler--were inexplicably absent from the Mobil competition.

Despite the handicap, Hawthorne was able to record victories in the girls’ 4x100, the girls’ 4x200 and the boys’ high jump. Also, Dean Dunbar (14.57) and Keith Pouncey (14.69) finished first and second in the boys’ 110-meter high hurdles, while Illana Mazingo (15.16) was first in the girls’ 100-meter low hurdles.

“I was surprised when he (Pouncey) was still there at the end,” Dunbar said. “But it’s nice for both of us. We’re pleased the way the team is doing here today.”

Dunbar, a member of the Cougars mile-relay team, surprised some officials near the high jump pit when he told them his initial try would be at 6-0 instead of the usual 5-2 starting mark.

Dunbar cleared the height easily and stopped at 6-4. Westlake’s Jerry Edwards (6-5) recorded the best individual mark of the event but team scores were tallied, making Hawthorne the winner.

Palos Verdes High received a fine performance from Dave Scudamore (4:07.29), who finished a full four seconds ahead of the second-place finisher in the boys’ 1,500-meter invitational. Palos Verdes also won the boys’ distance medley (11:04.39), the girls’ 4x800 (10:01.00) and the girls’ distance medley (13:03.19).

Rolling Hills won heats in the boys’ 4x100, the girls’ sprint medley, the boys’ sprint medley, the boys’ 4x200 and the pole vault.

Torrance won the Classic heat of the girls’ 4x100 low hurdles (1:06.97) and the West heats of the girls’ 4x100 and the girls’ distance medley.