At George Washington, a New Team Steps Into the Starting Blocks

In the long shadow of the former George Washington High School, three girls and three boys jogged around the school track, their shoes pounding the slick wet red rubber. A few other runners stretched their quads or timed their sprints nearby as they prepared for a meet Friday at the Armory Track and Field Center in Washington Heights.

For most city track teams, the meet at the Armory will be just another in the Public Schools Athletic League season. But for the team that draws from the four high schools that now make up the George Washington Educational Campus on Audubon Avenue in Manhattan -- the High School for Media and Communications, the High School for International Business and Finance, the High School for Health Careers and Sciences and the High School for Law and Public Service -- it will open a new chapter in school history.

George Washington had been a track and field powerhouse, dating to the 1940s. It clinched a number of city titles and produced athletes who set dozens of records. The team was undefeated for 13 seasons, said Stephen Budihas, who was the boys' head coach from 1977 until 1993.

But by the early 1990s, the team started to fall apart, said James Phipps, who was head coach of the girls' track team from 1984 until 1992.

“Even though Budihas had some really good boys' teams, and I had a really good girls' team, the emphasis was on other sports,” Mr. Phipps said. “There was limited funding and limited enthusiasm from the athletic department. We won several state championships and city champions, and then the team just went kaput. It just went down.”

Mike Verra, now an assistant track coach, also coaches several other sports at George Washington. He said that over the years, he tried to help a few students get a running club off the ground. Even though interest seemed to be growing, he said, the cost of gear, coaches and meets seemed like an overwhelming obstacle.

But this fall, the school joined forces with the Armory Foundation, the nonprofit that operates a world-class track facility at 168th Street and Fort Washington, to reconstitute the team.

The Armory provides training facilities twice a week, and has waived practice and meet fees for George Washington athletes. It found sponsors for the school’s uniforms, and offers free SAT prep courses for student athletes.

Dr. Norbert Sander, founder and executive director of the Armory Foundation, said he began reaching out to George Washington back in 2009, hoping to eventually bring a track team back to the neighborhood.

“It was kind of symbolic in a lot of ways,” he said, noting that George Washington was the first high school in the area to re-form an official track team in the decade since its previous team was disbanded. “It’s the hometown school. I really felt that they should get the first shot at this.”

Now that the Armory Foundation has stepped in to cover expenses, Mr. Verra said, about 20 boys and 20 girls have signed up.

For one student in particular, the chance to run for a team again is sweet. Yelson Almonte, 18, a junior at the High School for Health Careers and Sciences, ran his first mile in middle school in 6 minutes 40 seconds. He continued running for James P. Sinnott Junior High School until he reached ninth grade. With no track team to join, he switched to swimming.

But when he heard that George Washington would offer the sport, he quit the swim team and signed up. This weekend, he will compete in either the 55-meter, 200-meter or 400-meter event.

“I used to leave everybody behind,” Mr. Almonte said. “Now I joined to see if I’ve still got it.”