ATHLETE OF THE WEEK : Watts Learns to Cope With Draining Effects of 1,600 Relay

Quincy Watts of Taft High went through some familiar paces after the 1,600-meter relay at Saturday’s City Section track championships at Birmingham High. He sprawled on the infield grass at Tom Bradley Stadium, lying on his back, exhausted, unable to move for several minutes.

Moments earlier he had blown away some of the best 400-meter runners in the City Section, anchoring Taft’s relay team to victory in 3 minutes, 16.06 seconds. Now he couldn’t even stand, the effort had taken so much out of him.

“It’s a tough feeling,” Watts said Monday. “You feel like you never want to do this again. Your legs go out on you. You can’t walk.

“All you’re thinking about is when you’re going to recover, when you’re going to feel right, when you’re going to get rid of this headache.”

Does he ever wonder if it’s all worth it?

“Sometimes I do because I know it’s going to hurt,” Watts said. “But I know the other guys are hurting, too, so I have to suffer with them.”

But any sign of fatigue isn’t evident when he runs. Watching him sprint is akin to viewing a thoroughbred racehorse at a full gallop. The 6-3, 197-pound junior runs with powerful yet graceful strides. Even when he has turned on the afterburners Watts doesn’t show signs of stress or strain.

That’s why many spectators were surprised when he won the 100 meters in a wind-aided 10.17 and the 200 meters in a personal-best 20.69 at Saturday’s meet.

They weren’t surprised with the victories--Watts was the defending City champion in both races--but the clockings themselves.

One spectator later remarked: “It didn’t look like he was running that fast. He looked too easy. He looked too smooth.”

Only six other high school sprinters have run faster than Watts in the 100, wind-aided or otherwise. His 200 clocking is the fastest high school time in the nation this year. He is tied for the national lead in the 100 (10.36) with Corey Ealy of Muir High. Wind-aided marks are unacceptable for records.

Until recently, Watts thought that the 200 was his best race. But his recent efforts in the 100 have altered his thinking. In the past two weeks he has run 10.36 twice and the wind-aided 10.17.

“Everything’s just starting to click in the 100,” he said. “Everything’s starting to come together. I’m really starting to feel good about my hundreds. I’m starting to run fast in that race.”

For Watts, the defending state champion in the 200, the 20.69 ranks him 11th on the all-time high school list, third on the all-time California list, and qualified him for The Athletics Congress senior national championships in San Jose on June 25-27.

But Watts won’t compete in the TAC senior meet, which serves as the trials for the 1987 world championships in Rome. He’ll try to lead Taft to its second straight state title in Sacramento this weekend and conclude his season at the TAC junior championships in Tucson, Ariz., June 16-20.

“He’s got a long career ahead of him,” said Nick Newton, coach of the Taft sprinters. “We don’t want to push him too hard too soon.

“This year we’ll concentrate on the state championships and the junior nationals. Next year we’ll make every effort to qualify for the Olympic Trials.”