Foy Runs to the Rescue in Thousand Oaks Win

With his team trailing by one point with one event remaining, it seemed fitting that Pat Foy of Thousand Oaks High would anchor the Lancers’ 1,600-meter relay team in a Marmonte League track meet Thursday at Westlake.

After all, it was Foy--a senior on a team dominated by underclassmen--who defeated Westlake freshman Erik Holcomb in the 400 meters earlier in the meet. And it was Foy who upset Westlake’s Keith Burke and David Brownlee in the 200 to give Thousand Oaks some badly needed momentum in a see-saw meet.

And finally, it was Foy who ran a 49.9 anchor leg to give the Lancers a victory in the 1,600 relay (3 minutes, 31.4 seconds) and a 70-66 victory in the meet.

“He really did a job on that anchor leg,” Thousand Oaks Coach John Hansen said. “I didn’t really expect us to win the 1,600 relay. But the other guys kept us close enough to give him a chance.”

Foy had given Thousand Oaks a chance at victory by gunning down Burke and Brownlee--first and second in the 100--in the final 50 meters of the 200.

“I knew they had great starts and would get out ahead of me,” said Foy, who won the 400 in 50.7. “But I thought I could catch them in the straightaway when they started to tire.”

They did and Foy did, clocking a wind-aided 22.3 to the 22.5 of Burke and Brownlee.

“That was a big victory,” Hansen said. “If they go one-two again, the meet is over.”

Victories in both relays were the key to the win.

Westlake (3-2)--which won the mile relay to defeat Royal, 69-67, last week--was expected to win the 400 relay, but Holcomb and Brownlee dropped the baton on the second exchange and Thousand Oaks won in 45.8.

“We lucked out in that one,” Foy said. “We never expected those points.”

Thousand Oaks (3-1) also received two victories each from Mike Williamson and Mike Lindsay.

Williamson, runner-up in last year’s State Division I cross-country championships, won the 1,600 in 4:27.7 and the 3,200 in 9:39.0.

Lindsay took the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 39.9 and the long jump with a wind-aided leap of 21 feet, 11 1/2 inches.

The win was the third in a row for Thousand Oaks and put the Lancers in a first-place tie with Royal in the league standings.

The Lancers meet the Highlanders in the regular-season finale in two weeks.

Thousand Oaks girls’ team, the nine-time defending league champion, defeated Westlake, 69-58, despite losing both relays.

Jenni Brown and Tricia Mathiesen led the Lancers (4-0), who have compiled a 67-2 record in league dual meets since 1978.

Brown won the 300 low hurdles in 47.5 and the long jump with a wind-aided 16-9. Mathiesen won the 3,200 in 11:48.3 and placed second in the 1,600 in 5:37.6.

Jessica Graham and Tiffany Lammers led Westlake (4-1).

Graham won the 800 in 2:26.4 and the 1,600 in 5:35.1. Lammers won the 100 in a wind-aided 12.5, placed third in the 200 (wind-aided 26.5) and anchored the Warriors’ victorious 400 relay (51.4).