Woodbury Relays are gold standard

Gold wristwatches have been given out at the Woodbury Relays for years, and Jim Mohan was on his way to buy them Wednesday for today's meet when a reporter called.

"Everyone comes to run for a gold watch," said Mohan, who has been the meet director for 30 years. "All first places get a gold watch."

Mohan said he got a good price because he has been buying them at the same place since the relays started 37 years ago. He pays about $35 per watch and buys 130 for the girls and the same number for the boys. That comes to $9,100, funded by entry fees ($250 per team), advertisements sold in an ad book, and a fitness fair. The money also pays for medals.

The Woodbury Relays are the largest in South Jersey because there is no other meet on the weekend it is held, athletes want the gold watches, and the Penn Relays are a week away, Mohan said.

Grant Shivers, Woodbury's athletic director, said 80 teams, including boys and girls, usually competed in the meet. The competition is divided into Groups 1 through 4. Spectator estimates range from 1,500 to 3,000.

"This year, the Woodbury Relays are dedicated to Jack Pierce, who won a bronze medal in the 110 [high hurdles] in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona," Shivers said.

Another Olympian, Carl Lewis, also is scheduled to appear at the meet.

Baker ready.

Delsea's Caitlin Baker, the Camden-Gloucester Relays' MVP, looks forward to the Woodbury Relays.

"I'm so excited," Baker said. "I want to see what I can do."

A high jumper, long jumper and sprinter, Baker is expected to compete in the triple jump, an event she began perfecting this year. Her best effort has been 32 feet, 10 inches in practice.

"It's hard to get down, but I'm enjoying it - it's a cool event," said Baker, who also is expected to run on the 4x100, 4x200, and 4x400-meter relay teams. "We're pretty set with the four-by-four and the four-by-one.

"Lateague Jackson, Felicia O'Donnell, me, and Brianna Crofton have been doing really good in the four-by-four, and in the four-by-one it's been Caitlin Cassell, Ashley Woodards, me, and Crofton."

The Delsea quartet won the 4x400 in 4 minutes, 10.9 seconds at the West Deptford Relays last Saturday. The 4x100 team finished second in 52.3 seconds.

Seneca won the Group 3 title with 59 points. Delsea was second with 56.

"We lost by three points to Seneca, a good team," Delsea coach Jim Rafferty said. "The problem is they didn't do field events." They were washed out by rain.

Tragic ending.

Former Woodrow Wilson track athlete and football player Sergio Rivera will be missed, especially by those he continued to help on the track team.

Rivera, 18, was shot to death outside the Wayne Bryant Community Center in Lawnside on Easter Sunday. The shooting occurred after a brawl at the center.

After his graduation in June, Rivera returned to Wilson to work with the track team.

"I have 13 freshmen," Wilson coach Greg Arnett said. "He'd get off work with the city at 4 p.m. and work with them.

"They challenged him to a race and he beat them in the 100 [on April 9]. He was a big inspiration to the team."

Arnett said Rivera was a muscular, 5-foot-9 athlete who for three years participated in any event in which the team needed points. He ran in the indoor and outdoor hurdles and the open 200, 400 and 800.

Rivera was a running back and free safety for the Tigers' varsity football team.

"He was a team player and was so respected by everyone," said Arnett, who said he was was crushed by the news of Rivera's death.