Ed Waters

Derrick Smith has established a blistering pace.The 15-year-old long sprinter was the center of attention in last weekend's United States Track and Field Association Junior Nationals in Baton Rouge, La., anchoring Ed Waters' Track Club to first place in the 3,200-meter relay, and to a runner-up finish in the 1,600 relay.The club, sponsored by the city's bureau of recreation, left last night for this weekend's Amateur Athletic Union nationals in Knoxville, Tenn.Smith, competing in the 15-16 age group, combined with James Carter, Garfield Thompson and Brian Harold to win the 3,200 in 8 minutes and 12.6 seconds, with Mike Curtis running as an alternate in earlier heats.

Derrick Smith captured two gold medals in the 15-16 age group while competing for Ed Waters' track club in last weekend's three-day, East Coast Invitational in Fairfax, Va.In a meet that drew more than 2,650 participants from 22 states, Japan and Bermuda to George Mason University, Smith won the 400-meter run in 48.6 seconds and anchored the winning 1,600 relay team to a meet-record time of 3 minutes, 20.1 seconds.The relay team, which is unbeaten in summer competition, includes Brian Harold, Garfield Thompson and James Carter, who was third in the 200-meter -- behind teammate Royston Little.

A short list of some members of the Ed Waters' Track Club reads like a who's who of first-team All-Metro picks.There are Anne Arundel County, regional and 4A state champ Jamal Dixon-Hawkins of Old Mill and Perry Hall's 100-meter Baltimore County champ, Jim Banach, a regional runner-up who placed third in the 4A championships.Then there's Woodlawn's 300 hurdles state champ Sheraie Darby and two athletes from Mervo -- Anthony Stuckey, who anchored the Mustangs' state champion 400, 800 and 1,600 relays, and long jump state runner-up Ben Braswell.

Led by an AAU record-setting performance by its senior boys 4 X 400 meter relay team, the Ed Waters Track Club put on a strong showing at the AAU Junior Olympic Championships this past weekend in Tallahassee, Fla.In the boys 17-18 age group, the relay team of Tramont Evans (Poly), Ron Keene (Mervo), Jeff Fisher (Walbrook) and Kareem Lamb (Catonsville) set an AAU age group record with a time of 3:12.9 in the 4 X 400 event. All will be seniors in high school this fall except Lamb, who will be a freshman at Morgan State.

Thori Staples, a senior to be at Joppatowne High, improved her stock on the national junior track and field scene by winning the AAU heptathlon for 17-18 girls at Tallahassee, Fla., Monday. Her score of 4,503 points was a personal best in the seven-event test, the women's version of the decathlon.Competing for the Baltimore City-based Ed Waters Club, Staples had personal bests of 34-10 in the shot put and 92 feet in the javelin, one of her weaker events. She covered the 100 hurdles in 15.9 seconds, and the 200 and 800 in 25.9 and 2:19, respectively.