When the Crawford High School girls set the San Diego Section 4×100-yard relay record in 1977, it was also the national high school record. Still is.
Danita Young, Judy Reed, Jewell Lovelady and Katie Gaston won the state championship with a time of 46.14 seconds, dipping under the 46.6 set the week before in the San Diego Section championships and good enough to edge Compton Centennial (46.42).
However, no one runs yards any longer.
This was the first state meet to use fully automatic timing. Three years later, most of the country was running meters instead of yards as high schools were changing their tracks to 400 meters. The 46.14 for yards was converted to 45.94 seconds for meters. Nearly 50 years later, it is the section’s oldest girls record, though Steele Canyon’s relay team could challenge it in 2026.
“That time was no joke,” said Reed, now Judy Reed Cato. “It’s still the national record and always will be. We were very proud of that. Winning the state was a highlight, but setting that national record was special.”
This was a relay team that had three experienced club runners and a newcomer, Reed.
“Coach (Darryl Nelson) let us put together who ran which leg,” said Young. “I was always the leadoff leg wherever I ran, so that was easy. Jewell was a terrific runner on the curve and Katie never lost as our anchor. Judy was very good running the straightaway, so she ran second. I was in charge of making sure we had the batons.”
The quartet worked endlessly.
“We would practice the relay every day, sometimes stay late,” said Lovelady. “I remember one day Judy saying that we weren’t passing the baton like we used to, and she was right. We worked harder.”
Although they had the fastest qualifying time, the Colts weren’t the favorite heading into the state championships. Compton Centennial was anchored by Jeanette Bolden, who would go on to be one of America’s all-time sprinters.
“We knew about Jeanette Bolden, but we didn’t think about her, we just ran our race,” said Lovelady. “We had our handoffs down, and we knew if we gave Katie the lead, she’d win.
“The thing about our team is we all handed off right hand to right hand. Most teams alternated, but that’s what we were most comfortable with. And since we never dropped the baton, not once, we believed in it.”
Young responded to being pressured that day: “We’re always being pressed … by the clock.”
She gave the Colts the lead, but Reed tore up the all-weather track on the backstretch from Lane 5, and she was in front when she handed the baton to Lovelady, who widened the advantage.
“My baton pass to Jewell was the best ever,” said Reed.
By the time Gaston got the stick, she had an estimated 10-meter lead on Bolden and there was no catching her.
All of the runners admit they check the results in the spring, making sure the record is still intact.
“I follow track to see if the record’s still there,” said Lovelady.
Young especially keeps up, attending a handful of meets each year.
“I didn’t understand the real significance of that record until I was much older,” she said. “I still run into people who say they remember that team and the record.”
All four went on to college.
Lovelady hit 20-feet-11 in the long jump while attending Cal State Bakersfield. Reed, who lives in Texas, summed it up well.
“What really made it special was setting the national record that will never be broken,” she said. “No one expected the section record to last this long, and if Steele Canyon breaks it, good for them.”