PROUD MOMENTS: Masters track star excels in all events

A lifelong athlete, Lydia Woods-Howze of Smyrna took up track and field in 2006 at age 52. At her first meet, the USATF Southeast Regional Championships, she won six golds and one silver medal. From there, the 33-year physical education teacher joined the Atlanta Track Club and began competing on a national level, earning national rankings in 12 track and field events. By 2007, she was up to rankings in 18 events.

This year, she embarked on what she calls The Quest, a goal of being nationally ranked in all 22 events in masters track and field.

“Watching other athletes and experiencing the challenge of each event made me want to try them all,” Woods-Howze told masterstrack.com. “The Quest appealed to my sense of multisport fascination. I know I will probably never be No. 1 in any event … so I wanted to find my place in track and field and multievents, an area I think I can claim.”

The Quest was completed in August after she earned a ranking in her final event, the pole vault, at the Southeast Sports Festival at Florida State University.

Marathon family hits the road

They live too far apart to train together, but the Neville siblings traveled all the way to Chicago to run their first race together. The three brothers and one sister all finished the Chicago Marathon.

It was the second marathon for David Neville, 45, of Roswell and the first for the other three: Warren Neville, 48, of Prospect, Ky.; Michael Neville, 41, of Lilburn; and Amy Neville Hood, 38, of Rabun Gap. David earned family bragging rights with the fastest time of the four, 4:19:58. Warren finished in 4:46:06, Amy in 4:57:02 and Michael in 5:22:16.

Allison Dublinski of Atlanta won the women’s 20-24 age group title and finished 15th overall in the women’s race in 2:42:06. Jeff Haushalter of Atlanta was fifth in men’s 40-44 in 2:46:01.

Other local runners who finished among the top 25 Georgians included: John Van Steenbergh, Flowery Branch, 2:51:56; Brett Dettmering, Atlanta, 2:53:50; Thomas Carroll, Smyrna, 2:58:41; Ade Olude, Atlanta, 3:01:11; Danny Westheimer, Atlanta, 3:03:26; Michael Sklar, Atlanta, 3:03:34; Mike Wien, Marietta, 3:04:08; Patrick Weigand, Marietta, 3:05:40; Andrew Wien, Marietta, 3:06:40; Eileen Torres, Atlanta, 3:08:46; Dan Clark, Norcross, 3:09:14; Jason Russell, Atlanta, 3:09:37; Roberto Mello, Atlanta, 3:12:14; Eduardo O’Neill, Marietta, 3:12:30; Jonathan Bair, Marietta, 3:13:03; Jeff Lochmandy, Atlanta, 3:15:19; Guillermo Rodriguez, Smyrna, 3:20:53; Glenn Dopfel, Marietta, 3:22:11; Nathan Knowles, Atlanta, 3:22:58; Ron Teed, Atlanta, 3:23:26; Samantha Godwin, Atlanta, 3:23:28; and Christopher Bair, Atlanta, 3:24:39.

Alpharettans win golf event

Brandon Lee and Zach Jaworski of Alpharetta won Atlanta Junior Golf’s Georgia Junior Four-Ball tournament at Stonebridge Golf Club in Rome. Lee and Jaworski shot 65-65—-130 (14 under par) to set a tournament scoring record and win by six strokes. Jake Farner and Jake Levens of Blairsville were second, and Justin Matheis of Decatur and Andrew Franks of Cumming finished third. Seventeen teams of boys and girls ages 12-18 competed in the event. Levens scored a hole-in-one on the 316-yard, par-4 16th hole during the first round, but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with Lee and Jaworski’s 13 birdies and three eagles over two days.

Junior equestrian dominates

Sarah Ward, 18, of Atlanta and her horse Onassis won the 16-17 Large Jr. Hunter Championship, the High Point Large Junior Hunter Championship and the Grand Junior Hunter Championship titles at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg, Pa. Ward, who has trained at Finally Farm in Camden, S.C., for two years, is finishing her last year in the junior division. “I could not have asked for a better way to finish up my junior career,” Ward said. “This is one show I will never forget.” Next up for Ward: This week’s Washington International Horse Show in Washington, D.C.

Douglasville triathletes win

Justin Tucker of Douglasville and Alison Derringer of Douglasville were the overall men’s and women’s winners at the Douglasville Last Chance Triathlon. Tucker finished the 5K run/12-mile bike/0.25-mile pool swim in 56:03, while Derringer finished in 1:07:48. Local athletes who won age group titles included: Amanda Tysor, Atlanta, 2:01:49; Brianne Lapierro, Douglasville, 1:16:21; David Fernandez, Atlanta, 1:10:05; Kim Neroda, Atlanta, 1:23:53; Jason Maddox, Douglasville, 1:06:04; Grace Burley, Atlanta, 1:14:30; Darrel McHugh, Acworth, 1:01:44; Katrina Ferguson-Smith, Smyrna, 1:19:37; Dave Roberts, Douglasville, 1:06:50; Bill Day, Alpharetta, 1:11:36; Nancy Lyman-Thomas, Whitesburg, 1:32:35; Iilonga Thandiwe, Atlanta, 1:18:47; Sandra Keller, Marietta, 1:47:46; and Manny Delatorre, Marietta, 1:47:50.

If you know someone who deserves recognition for a proud moment, send the information in an e-mail to Michelle Wilson (mwilson@ajc.com).