George C Marshall High School - Columbian Yearbook (Falls Church, VA)

Page 216 text:

Stunned by the disappointing performance of his team in the Regional meet, Cross Country Coach John Schlogl had only one state entree. On the morning of November 9th with his number one runner, Dave Cannon, Coach Sch¬ logl started off to Williamsburg. Prior to the meet, a day was spent going over the William and Mary course for preparation of the State Meet. Turning in early, the only company for the Marshall figures was the Cannon family. The harsh morning of the meet was certainly an omen for the disas¬ ters to follow. The top four teams of every Virginia Region made their way to the course. Along with sparse individual runners, the AAA teams were on time to see the two precedi ng meets. A top-ranked Fergeson team from the Richmond area came with time to spare, until bus trouble. The Fer¬ geson team arrived late, having missed the nine o ' clock scratch meeting, to find their tardiness had disqualified them. The news was a severe blow to every team; but most of all to the Fergeson runners, who made it in time to watch the meet, but not to run. The gun was fired and the pack moved out over the rolling terrain. With cold temperatures and a strong wind, times were figured to be slower than previous years. As the pack spread out over the course, Edison ' s George Watts took on a strong lead and held it for a tremendous finish. Dave Cannon finished eighth behind fellow runners. The strength of Northern Virginia prevailed, as seven out of the top ten runners were from Marshall ' s region. The question of first place team title seemed answered. Fairfax County ' s Edison High captured an unbelie¬ vable combination of individual Ipm§ f I 9 4 0 v . ■ ■- , 3 1 II: ' ,i C ij, I i Statesmen places — first, ninth, fifteenth, and eighteenth. Out of nowhere came rumors of the disqualification of Edison. The crowd and especially first place Ceoge Watts were paralyzed when claims by a timer were made public. According to William and Mary Of¬ ficials Coach John Cook of Edison had interfered in a restricted finish line area. Edison was disqualified. George Watt ' s state title and record were denied him. In a display of real class, Marshall ' s Dave Cannon got the runners who recieved medals together. When they were asked to leave the area of awards presentation Dave Cannon led the majority of the top fifteen runners in protesting the officials ' decision by returning their no longer coveted medals. Before an indignant crowd, the officials attempted to remain calm and continue presentations. But all eyes were on George Watts and his teammates as they left after working so hard, to depart with nothing. Spoiled by controversial rulings, the only force holding the meet together was the respect and admi¬ ration amongst Cross Country runners. The men walked off together while coaches followed, after voicing protests and boycott threats. 212

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Unity guided a rookie JV Cross Country team to a winning season, compiling a seasonal record of 5-1. Convincing shut-outs recorded in the first two meets got the harriers off to a fine start. In a quadrangular meet with Williams, Madison and Yorktown, Marshall again prevailed as the seven best men finished in the top ten. An unexpected setback by Oakton brought the reality of defeat to the Statesmen. The underlining cause for the loss was the absence of key runners due to injuries and illnesses. Despite the loss of momentum the team was able to recover with a strong finish. The Statesmen won their second meet with Madison and Williams with little contention. The finest performance of the JV was the victory over a tough W-L squad in the final dual meet. The team was losing with a quarter mile to go, but a strong 220 sprint left the fatigued W-L runners behind.

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mi m i ' Jp. f 1 1 ’ 4 » I. t fM. Hf 1 ! :|PrP ' 1 t h 1 i dethroned Opposite page, bottom: Coach Schlogl times Dave Cannon in preparation for the State meet. Left: The race begins! Below: Marshall ' s only entry in the State Cross Country meet, Dave Cannon acquaints himself with fellow harriers. Sports 213