Twin Engines Power Taft in the Fast Lane

VAN NUYS — It’s getting harder and harder to keep up with the Joneses.

Just ask sprinter Demetrus Patterson of Birmingham High.

Patterson entered the Northwest Valley Conference track and field finals at Birmingham on Friday as a slight favorite in the boys’ 200-meter dash after running a wind-aided 21.3 seconds in last week’s conference preliminaries.

But two-thirds of the way though Friday’s race, it was obvious that Patterson was going to finish third behind Taft’s twin tandem of juniors Larry and Lawrence Jones, who clocked 21.8 and 21.9 to Patterson’s 22.0.

The Joneses went 1-2 in the 400 earlier in the meet with times of 48.5 and 48.6. The only difference was that Lawrence, who is four minutes older than Larry, finished ahead of his brother.

“I was expecting that we both had a good chance to get first in each race,” Lawrence Jones said. “Me and my brother both felt that we could win both races.”

The Joneses, who are named after their father--Larry Lawrence Jones--also performed double duty in the relays.

Lawrence, Larry, Sedric Hurns and Alex Scheer clocked a season best of 41.8 to finish in a dead heat with Birmingham in the 400 relay. Later, Lawrence, Larry, Hurns and Blaine Bussey clocked a winning 3:21.2 in the 1,600 relay.

Larry Jones had a slight lead over Patterson when they started the anchor legs of the 400 relay. But Patterson pulled even with about 30 meters left and they leaned across the line simultaneously.

Although Patterson strutted around afterward like Birmingham had won, Larry Jones had a different view.

“I think we won that,” he said. “Because I dipped at the line. I don’t think he dipped like me.”

In the 400 and 200, the Joneses only had to out-lean each other.

Lawrence Jones took an early lead in the 400 and barely held off Larry down the stretch.

In the 200, Larry Jones smoked the turn to enter the homestretch with a one-meter lead over Larry and a two-meter lead over Patterson. Larry maintained his lead over Lawrence to the finish and they both pulled away from Patterson.

“We had noticed that [Patterson] doesn’t get off to great starts in the 200,” Lawrence Jones said. “We knew if we worked the turn, we’d probably be ahead of him.”

The loss in the 200 was the second of the day for Patterson, who ran 10.9 in the 100 to finish second behind El Camino Real junior Quincy Wright, who timed 10.8.

Seniors Mohamed Ahmed and Rene Acevedo of Birmingham each won two individual events in the boys’ meet.

Ahmed clocked 15.0 in the 110 high hurdles and 40.4 in the 300 intermediates, and Acevedo timed 4:30.6 in the 1,600 and 10:25.0 in the 3,200.

Taft juniors Frances Santin and Eboni Grayson were double winners in the girls’ meet, but the Toreadors didn’t have a great day.

Although Santin won the 100 high hurdles in 15.2, the 300 lows in 46.6 and ran the third leg on the winning 400 relay team that clocked 47.5, she was run down by Cleveland freshman Malinda Malone in the 1,600 relay.

Santin had a 30-meter lead over Malone when she began her anchor leg, but Malone’s 56.7-second leg gave Cleveland a time of 4:01.0, with Taft second in 4:01.9.

Malone also won the 400 in 57.5 and finished third in the 200 in 25.3.

Grayson won the 100 in 12.0, the 200 in 24.8 and ran the second leg on the Toreadors’ 400 relay team, but she was unable to run in the 1,600 relay because of an upset stomach.

Taft’s 1,600 relay wasn’t at full strength because sophomore Tiffany Smith missed the meet with a strained hamstring.