RUNNING / JOHN ORTEGA : Junior High History Teacher Reviews Early Days of Watts, Lewis

It’s a small world.

Just ask Jim Hanley.

Hanley, a history and geography teacher at Sutter Junior High in Canoga Park, helped put on a series of track meets at the school from the late 1960s until 1990 with the primary intention of introducing kids to the sport.

On Wednesday, two former participants--Quincy Watts and Steve Lewis--finished first and second in the men’s 400 meters for the United States at the Olympic Games.

Watts’ winning time of 43.50 seconds is an Olympic record and the second fastest in history behind Butch Reynolds’ world record of 43.29.

Watts attended Sutter as an eighth grader in 1983-84 before moving on to Taft High where he won state titles in the 100 (1987) and 200 (’86 and ‘87).

Lewis, the 1988 Olympic gold medalist in the 400, attended Sutter as a seventh grader during the 1981-82 school year. He won state titles in the 400 in 1986 and ’87 for American High in Fremont, Calif.

“Steven and Quincy were both good athletes when they were here,” Hanley said. “But there have been others who I felt were more talented at the time.”

Of course, none of the others became one of only six men in history to run under 44 seconds in the 400.

The most vivid memory Hanley has about Watts and Lewis concerns their personalities, which he described as mature beyond their years.

“Both of them were extremely well-mannered and gentleman-like, which is unusual at that age,” Hanley said. “Both were very coachable and respectful when you were talking to them.”

While Watts focused on the 100- and 220-yard dashes at the start of his career, Lewis dabbled in a variety of events, including the 440 and the mile.

“The thing I remember about Steven is that he wanted to be good in every event,” Hanley said. “He worked really hard in whatever event he was competing in.”

On Saturday, Watts and Lewis are expected to team up with two other U.S. runners in the 1,600 relay and take a shot at track’s oldest world record, the 2-minute 56.16-second clocking first run by the United States at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. The 1988 U.S. Olympic team, which included Lewis, equaled that time.

No contest: Who was the most talented junior high athlete to attend Sutter, according to Hanley?

Chewuakii (Choo Choo) Knighten.

Knighten attended Sutter from 1979-82 before winning state titles for Locke High in the girls’ 100-meter low hurdles (1983) and the 400 (’84 and ‘85).

Knighten’s bests of 13.49 in the 100 hurdles and 52.17 in the 400 rank seventh and 10th on the all-time national high school performer list.

Famous last words: It’s a good thing Sherri Howard of Sylmar is not a fortune teller. If she were, a lot of her clients would be asking for refunds. Her predictions for the women’s 400 meters at the Olympic Games have missed the mark.

Howard, a three-time Olympian from Kennedy High, said this year’s crop of U.S. women 400 sprinters might be the country’s best ever.

However, Rochelle Stevens, the winner of the Olympic trials in June, finished a well-beaten sixth in the women’s 400 on Wednesday, and teammates Jearl Miles and Natasha Kaiser failed to advance to the finals.

“I think the top American will definitely be in the top three in the 400 at Barcelona,” Howard said during the trials. “And I think the (1,600) relay team will win a gold medal this year and break the American record in the process.”

The U.S. record of 3:15.51 was set at the 1988 Games in Seoul, where Florence Griffith Joyner anchored the team to a silver medal. The final of the women’s 1,600 relay is Saturday.

Future star: The next top heptathlete to come from an area high school could be Akira Kennett of West Hills, who will be a freshman at Chaminade High in the fall.

Kennett placed third in the youth girls (13 and 14 years old) pentathlon for the West Valley Eagles at The Athletics Congress Junior Olympics at Mt. San Antonio College last week. In addition, she finished second in the 100 low hurdles (14.53), third in the 200 low hurdles (28.62) and fourth in the javelin (98 feet).

West Valley Coach Roger Lipkis compares Kennett to Melanie Clarke, a former standout at El Camino Real High who won the heptathlon for Valley College in the 1990 and ’91 state meets. “She’s smaller than Melanie,” Lipkis said, “but she is more athletic than Melanie was at that age.”

Clarke, who has a personal best of 5,352 points in the heptathlon, is expected to compete for USC next year after taking this season off to bear her first child.