It didn't take a great deal of insight for me to write this article - in spite of how it might appear at face value. In fairness, and not mentioned on Milestat.com, is that I worked as the GED teacher at the town correctional center in Halifax County from August 2013-March 2014, and as the boys track coach at Stuart in 2002 and 2003. Yes, it was a Raider teacher and coach who told ME that I had inherited the state's worst track team. I think he still coaches there..laugh..
Anyhow, here's the link on Milestat.com:
http://va.milesplit.com/articles/177012-halifax-co-and-jeb-stuart-boys-in-top-6-of-5a-boys-scoring-after-day-1
Halifax County High School -- Home of the Comets! |
A
look at the 5A boys’ standings after Day 1 could have produced quite a surprise
for the knowledgeable track fan. At the end of Friday’s competition, sitting in
fourth place with 11 points was J.E.B. Stuart of Falls Church, while Halifax
County was in sixth, a point behind.
To
understand the significance of the moment, one needs to gain a better
understanding of the demographics and history behind both schools.
For
years, J.E.B. Stuart has been a member of the National District, and competed
against much better-known athletic programs such as Edison, Mount Vernon and
Washington-Lee. However, for the past 15 years, many Stuart teams have placed
closer to the cellar in the district standings than the top.
This
was not always the case; in fact, there are several notables among the Raiders’
athletic alumni. Penny Moore was a USA Today All-American as a basketball
player and later a WNBA player. Moore led Stuart to its lone state title in
girls’ basketball under Coach Ron Wilson in 1987. Mike Bragg was a punter for
the Redskins in the 1970’s, while Charlie Garner rushed for over 8,000 yards as
an NFL running back.
However,
it got so bad at Stuart that one track coach, upon being hired to coach the boys’
team in the early 2000’s, was told by a fellow coach and Stuart teacher, “you
just inherited the worst track team in the state.” Nevertheless, during the
2002-2003 year, the football team went 0-10 for the second year in a row,
lacrosse sported a 0-11 record, boys’ basketball was 1-19, and baseball
suffered through a 2-18 campaign, showing that the problem was widespread
throughout the department.
While
some programs have made improvement in this decade, it was still surprising to
see Stuart in competitive position after the first day of events. The better
news is that all of their scorers have at least one year of eligibility left.
Michael
Klusner was the star for the Raiders on Friday. Klusner, a junior, fell short
of his best throw of 51 feet in the shot put. However, his 48-5.5 effort was
good enough to place second, earning eight points for J.E.B. Junior vaulter
Mossadiq Khan added another three points with his sixth place vault of 12-6, a
whopping 18 inches over his previous best of 11 feet.
In
addition, on the girls’ side, sophomore Maya Verna placed eighth in the high
jump with a leap of 5-0.
The
story is different for the Comets of Halifax County. While Stuart is located in
Fairfax County (population of approximately 1.1 million), Halifax is located on
the northern end (near the Huddle House and across from Wal-Mart) of South
Boston, Virginia (population 8,142). In spite of having twice the land mass of
Fairfax County, there are only 36,000 residents who call Halifax County home.
In
spite of its small population, there are enough students at the high school to
earn it a 5A classification, making it an anomaly among the schools of south-central
Virginia. By comparison, Randolph Henry, the lone high school in neighboring
Charlotte County, competes as a 2A.
The
biggest irony comes elsewhere. In spite of being only eight miles from the
North Carolina border, the Comets are a member of 5A North, and compete in
their conference meet with Jefferson, Falls Church, and at least a dozen other
Northern Virginia schools.
On
paper, the Comets would appear to be overmatched. However, a contingent of
seven athletes (one alternate) qualified for states, and one Comet, senior
triple jumper Donyea Williams, won the event with a 44-10 jump.
Senior
Kayla Forest, who was making her third appearance at States, likes the whole
experience of traveling east to States.
“It’s
very competitive, and we get to see people that we would never run against
otherwise. It’s really fun,” said Forest, adding that the closest indoor track
to South Boston is Liberty University’s facility, which is 60 miles away in
Lynchburg.
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