DATE: Sunday, June 1, 1997                  TAG: 9706010239

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: HAMPTON                           LENGTH:   66 lines

QUICK START GIVES BAYSIDE GIRLS RELAY MARK CUTCHIN WINS 100 AND 200 AS MARLINS FINISH SECOND IN THE STATE MEET.

Bayside's start Saturday in the girls Group AAA 4x100 relay was so good that breaking the meet record seemed inevitable. And when Tenayia Simpson made the perfect handoff to her cousin and anchor Lashonda Cutchin, a fallen mark was guaranteed.

The Marlins set a meet record for the second straight week with a 45.79 during the second day of the state track and field meet at Darling Stadium. Bayside, which broke the Eastern Region meet record last week and has won three straight 4x100 state titles, broke its own mark of 47.11 last season.

``What do you say? It was outstanding,'' coach Keith DeLong said. ``They hit everything perfect and they looked beautiful.''

Second leg Ebony Shelton said her exchange from Kisha Ricks was so good that she didn't realize she had the baton.

``I knew we were going to do it because we ran 46 in the regional with bad handoffs,'' Shelton said.

Later on, it was Shelton who set the tone in the 4x400.

The junior gave Bayside a big lead with a :54 split. The Marlins fell behind on the second lap but made up the deficit on Simpson's performance.

``At first, I was scared. I didn't think I was going to catch them,'' said the sophomore, who wore red and black socks to acknowledge her mother's hospitalization with cancer. ``On the backstretch, I got confidence. I just had to put up the effort.''

Senior Kisha Ricks then eased across the finish line as the Marlins won in a school-record time of 3:48.79.

The team's only other senior, Cutchin, ended her state meet competition in grand fashion.

Cutchin won her third straight title in the 100 (11.95) and her second straight crown in the 200 (24.11). Shelton placed third in the 200 (24.99).

The Marlins, the state meet winners two years ago, scored 60 points and placed second for the second straight year. Gar-Field placed first with 79 points.

Norcom's Missy Banks, who had never won an outdoor state title before Friday's discus win, completed the second part of her double with a win in the shot put Saturday. Banks won the event with a throw of 41-10.

Tallwood's Pam Edwards complemented her indoor championship in the 3,200 with an outdoor title Saturday.

Edwards took the lead on the seventh leg and then pulled away to win in 10:54.34. The sophomore won the regional titles in both the 1600 and 3200 last week but declined to run the 1-mile Saturday.

``I didn't want to jeopardize the 2-mile by running the 1-mile too,'' Edwards said.

Other winners Saturday were: Yolanda Thompson (West Potomac) in the triple jump (40-4); Alsyia Barton (Woodbridge) in the 100 hurdles (13.96); Sheena Johnson (Gar-Field) in the 300 hurdles (41.64); Faith Rein (Centreville) in the 400 (54.12) to tie a 1984 record; Sarah Burkett (Manchester) in the 800 (2:15.16); Nicole Snider (Thomas Jefferson of Alexandria) in the 1,600 (4:57.23); and Manchester in the 4x800 relay with a record time of 9:11.50. ILLUSTRATION: D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/The Virginian-Pilot

Bayside's 4x100 relay team, from left, Tenayia Simpson, Lashonda

Cutchin, Ebony Shelton and Kisha Ricks, celebrate Saturday's

victory, their second meet record in two weeks.

Norcom's Missy Banks added the state shot put title to Friday's

victory in the discus. ``That's all I've wanted for the last three

years,'' Banks said. ``I always come out and get second in the

shot.''

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