Virginia HS Track Rocks: Article # 7. Halifax Co. and J.E.B. Stuart Boys in Top-6 of 5A Boys Scoring After Day 1

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.

J.E.B. Stuart HS in Falls Church has been better known
for its diversity than sports. So it was surprising to see
their boys track team in 4th place after the first day of the
5A State Track Meet in late February.

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.

Virginia HS Track Rocks: Article # 6. Anatomy of a State Relay Champion – Patriot Girls Pull Shocker in 6A Girls 3200-Meter Relay

Perhaps the most surprising finish of the 5A/6A state meet came in the girls 4x800 on Friday. Here's the link from Milestat.com:

The Patriot High girls are no stranger to winning major
titles. Here is their distance medley hoisting a Penn Relays
wagon wheel after their shocking win last spring.

http://va.milesplit.com/articles/177010-anatomy-of-a-relay-championship-patriot-girls-pull-shocker-in-6a-4x800-

XXX

In the girls’ final event on Friday, the stage was set for an exciting showdown in the 3200-meter relay. In Lane 1 was Western Branch, the top seed. Next to them was Lake Braddock, the second seed, but potential favorite, with Kate Murphy running the third leg. West Springfield, with Reagan Bustamante on the anchor, also looked to be in the mix for a top-three finish.

Western Branch got off to a fast start, with Adriana Shockley opening up a five-meter lead in the first 300 meters. However, Lake Braddock and West Springfield kept on their pace. The Spartans took the lead just before the second leg and opened up a three-meter lead as a pack of four teams settled in right behind the leader. Before the second exchange, Western Branch made a move for the front, and South Lakes held with them through the second exchange.

The third leg saw Murphy make up a 50-meter deficit to take the lead on the back turn of her third lap and open up a four, then six, and then eight-meter lead. Western Branch struggled to keep pace as the third, and final, exchange came at the 7:01 mark.

However, Western Branch started to make up ground on the last leg. Ces’ shay Joyner closed to within a meter of the front with two laps to go. The crowd watched as both Bruins teams battled over the final two laps. Lake Braddock’s Madeline McAvoy got three meters ahead, but Joyner pulled back up to her shoulder on the final lap.

As the expectation of the crowd turned vocal, the pair of runners rounded the curve. Who would win? Lake Braddock, Western Branch...Lake Braddock, Western Branch.

Nobody expected what was about to happen.

Seemingly out of nowhere, and running as if she was propelled by a sling shot out of the final turn, Patriot’s Rachel McArthur sprinted down the outer edge of Lane 2, and past the pair on the homestretch to win in perhaps the most shocking finish of the meet. McArthur led a comeback from fifth place to the victory stand with a 2:10 split, and final lap of 30 seconds.

How did this happen? Pioneers coach Adam Daniels aimed to provide some insight as to how he formed this state winning quartet.

Opening Leg – Lindsay Yentz: “In my mind, Lindsay is consistently a good racer. She’s a sophomore, but we let her lead off because she’s young at it. And if things didn’t go well, we’d still be okay with three legs to go. But Lindsay stayed in her comfort zone, and her last 200 (meters) worked out well.” Split – app. 2:26

2^nd Leg – Sierra Biber: “Sierra is our second best 800 runner. Since we didn’t know how Lindsay would do, we wanted Sierra there to make up ground, if needed. Also, she runs a 58 in the 400 outdoors, and we needed her leg speed there.” Split – app. 2:22

3^rd Leg – Abigail Wied: “Abby knows what she is capable of. They made the switch with Kate (Lake Braddock moving Murphy to third leg), but Abby had no delusions that she would be keeping up. I hoped she could stay within 75 meters.” Split – app. 2:24

Anchor Leg – Rachel McArthur: “I thought that Rachel could catch her. As she got closer to the front, I could see that Rachel’s eyes got bigger.” Split – app. 2:10

In conclusion, speaking of his team’s winning effort (9:23), Daniels noted, “It was a great race. Of course, I was glad to be on the winning side.”

Virginia HS Track Rocks: Article # 5. Virginia Gold Medal Holder in Attendance on Friday

In my order, this was article #5. However, Nolan Jez at Milestat.com chose to save this for the unofficial #11 of 10 - the bonus. Admittedly, it wasn't directly related to the track events.

Here's the link on Milestat:  http://va.milesplit.com/articles/176731-virginia-track-gold-medal-record-holder-in-attendance-on-friday

Many track fans at Boo Williams may not have realized that history was in their midst on Friday afternoon.

Doug Dickinson jumping in the
late 1960's for Newport News
High School. The Typhoon, in spite
of being closed for over 35 years,
still hold many team title records in
Virginia, and Dickinson played a
large part of their late 60's
success.

And that’s exactly the way Doug Dickinson would prefer it to be.

Dickinson, a 1969 graduate of the former Newport News High School, is arguably the single most decorated athlete in state prep track history. As part of the Typhoon teams that won an unprecedented 14 state championships in the 1960’s alone, Dickinson was the catalyst of a team that eventually compiled a 330-4-1 overall dual meet record under legendary coaches Julie Conn, and later Charlie Nuttycombe. Dickinson won 20 individual gold medals between indoor and outdoor state meets.

In the 1969 outdoor state meet alone, Dickinson won the triple jump (49-6.5), long jump (23 feet), 60-yard low and high hurdles, one of two times that he won four individual events.

He is humble to a fault.

“I’m past history,” said Dickinson.

In spite of his reluctance to talk about himself, coaches and athletes stopped by to say hello to Dickinson, who sported a long gray beard and NNHS Typhoon hat.

However, it was stories about others that offered a history lesson, one, which current athletes could learn from.

For example, the Bumblebee uniform, currently re-introduced by the Menchville team. According to www.nnhs65.com/TRACK-History.html, a page started by current outdoor state meet director, and Typhoon alum Al Dorner (’66), it was no accident that the blue and gold “bumble bee” track uniforms resembled UVA blue and orange. 

There was another reason for going with the bumble bee.

“Coach Conn wanted to have an advantage when a race was decided by a photo finish. He wanted something that would stand out, and the bumble bee was easier to notice in a picture.”

Conn would go to any length to gain a psychological advantage. Dickinson recalled his high jump career.

“I never trained for the high jump. But, I could clear 6’2,” as long as I only had to jump once. Sometimes, I’d do as many as seven events in a meet. So, Coach Conn would enter me in the high jump. The official would continue to ask him when I was going to enter the competition. Finally, when the bar got to 6’2”, Conn would have me come in. I’d clear the bar and be finished.”

Conn’s tactics transcended to the next generation. When Dorner coached at Denbigh High, he took some of his mentor’s maneuvers to heart.

“Sometimes, when the team had a meet at Todd Stadium, we’d get off the bus, and I’d tell the guys to go jog down toward the restroom area and stay there. So, when the other team got off their bus, they’d look around and ask where Denbigh was. So, I’d tell them, “They should be here any minute. They’re running to the stadium. Now, that’s a seven and a half mile run. Those guys would kind of look at each other, and it made them think.”

Dickinson, who had not attended a state meet in 15 years, was impressed with some of Friday’s sights and sounds. Instinctively, he noticed the form of one hurdler who breezed to  a semifinal victory.

“You can tell by the way he ran high on the first hurdle. There’s something special,”

said Dickerson, who coached at Christopher Newport College and Menchville High after his competitive career. At Menchville, he succeeded Steve Lewis, who recently passed away, but went from Menchville to coach at the Division I level for Pitt and Hampton.

The hurdler turned out to be Grant Holloway, who was introduced to Dickinson shortly after his heat.

Asked if there was one special recollection from his past at Newport News High, Dickinson was quick to respond.

“In 1934, my father was captain of the team that won Coach Conn’s first state title. Then, in 1969, I was the captain of the team that won Conn’s last state title. We kept it in the family.”

Virginia HS Track Rocks: Article # 4. Bethel High Wins 5A Boys Title

For pictures, race videos and interview with Edward Richardson III of Bethel, click this link from Milestat.com:

http://va.milesplit.com/articles/176727-bethel-makes-history-wins-5a-boys-title

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For a good portion of the late 1990’s and 2000’s, winning state titles became a commonplace event for Bethel, led by head coach Eddie Williams. In all, the Bruins accumulated 12 AAA championships under the tutelage of Williams, whose prized pupils included 2012 Olympic gold medalist Francena McCorory and 2008 indoor national high school 400-meter champion Ja-Vell Bullard.

Bethel track coach Eddie Williams in 2006, with 2012
Olympic gold medalist, and Bethel High grad,
Francena McCorory

While winning one championship is a grand accomplishment for any coach, 12 is worthy of instant Hall of Fame status at any level. Yet, as the zeroes segued into the 2010’s, teams such as Lake Braddock and Western Branch, led by Claude Toukene, joined their Bruin brethren as double-digit state winners.

While Bethel has remained prominent within the state ranks, it was still with a careful eye that many in attendance at Boo Williams this weekend watched as the boys team chased the 5A state crown – one which would be the Bruins first since the girls indoor team won the AAA title in 2009.

Speaking on Friday afternoon, senior thrower Brandon Slade summed up his team’s mindset well.

“It’s common for Coach Williams, but this would be the first one for a lot of us,” said Slade, who got his team off to a great start by winning the shot put with a throw of 51-0.50.

For the thrower, earning his first state individual title was a watershed moment, and the culmination of four years of hard work between him and Bruin throwing coach Joe Strangis.

“It’s good when you put it all together in one throw like Brandon did today,” quipped Strangis.

Slade recalled the excitement involved with joining the Bethel track team during his freshman year.

“I remember that a LOT of people came out.”

But, according to Slade, the glamour of being part of a successful team faded quickly.

“We lost a lot of people real fast. Most of them just weren’t willing, or didn’t want to put in the work.”

Still, a few diehards stuck it out – athletes, such as Joshua Hagins and Isaiah Norris, who would be needed to bring the team to the victory stand.

The Bruins entered Day 2 in sixth place with 10 points, all earned by Slade’s victory. With no entries in the long jump, the Bruins had to wait for the track events to begin to get their day going.

Isaiah Norris started the festivities off right, taking the 55-meter hurdle championship in 7.60, which immediately doubled Bethel’s point total to 20, and put the team into a tie for second, seven points behind Lee-Davis.

Norris and Hagins were the Bruin entries in the next event, the 55. And the pair placed fourth and eighth to notch six key points. Since Lee-Davis had no final qualifiers, the Bruins dropped into third, but nudged within two points of the team lead, now held by Hickory.

The Bruins took control after the next event, the 4x200, as Carlos Young, Hagins, and Norris gained the lead, before handing off to Byron Carson, who held off a charge from Hampton’s Jovonn Quillen, to give the team a 1:30.67 victory, just .30 seconds ahead of the Crabbers. More importantly, the ten points vaulted Bethel into the lead. 

The Bruins boosted the lead to 18, with thanks to a new member of the team, freshman Edward Richardson III, who won the 500 (1:05.72) by a second over Edison’s Moses Kamara. Junior Ilkeem Ellis took eighth (1:07.76) to tack another digit to the Bethel haul. The Bruins sealed the deal with  five points from Carlos Young II (4th – 35.80) in the 300.

But, just to post an exclamation point on their win, the Bruin quartet of Hagins, Ellis, Matt Pittman and Richardson overcame a hard charging Crabber squad to claim the 4x400 relay title in 3:24.34, securing Coach Williams 13^th state title.