TRACK SHORTS: VOL IV: PHOEBUS WINS 3A STATE TRACK TITLE

As seen at ultimaterecruit.com:

With some help from their football sprinters, the Phantoms of Phoebus High overcame a hard charging Blacksburg team to win the 3A track championship with 85 points. The meet took place during the first weekend and following Wednesday of June at Harrisonburg High.

JoMari Becnel, who rushed for over 1,200 yards
last fall as the Conference 27 Player of the Year,
recently helped the Phantoms win the 3A state
track title, with points in the 100, 200, long jump
and 4x100 relay

Originally, the meet was terminated with three running events remaining due to lightning over the field on Saturday. However, after VHSL became aware of the backlash being spread throughout social media because of the cancellation, and failure to crown state champions, the decision to reconvene was made, and the meet was resumed, and completed, on the following Wednesday.

The battle between the top two schools was razor-thin close, and before the meet’s final event, the 4x400 relay, Blacksburg held a half point advantage over Phoebus at 75.5-75. With the balance of the meet on the line, the Phantoms won the 4x400, as Maurice Brown, Daquan Lewis, Douglas Sessoms and Jaelen Williams won in 3:22.00, to earn 10 points, and seal the championship. Blacksburg placed fifth in the relay to earn four points and ended the competition in second with 79.5.

JoMari Becnel, star running back for Phoebus, expressed a sense of relief that the championship was able to continue.

“When I was told that the meet was cancelled, I was in shock. It felt unreal because I had never participated in a meet where it had been cancelled in the middle of events. And, because it was a state meet, it was a very big deal track meet,” said Becnel, who placed fifth in the 100-meter dash (11.19) and 200 (22.38). He also ran the leadoff leg for the Phantoms’ third place 4x100 meter squad (43.15), and placed sixth in the long jump (20-08).

“As a team we all felt sad and upset that there was no declared state winners being that we were leading in points as the meet got cancelled. Coming back to school that Monday, there was gossip going around that there was an article saying that the state meet would be resumed. I was happy and excited,” added Becnel.

Other Phoebus contributors from the gridiron included Daquan Lewis (first in 4x400 relay and third in 4x100, fourth in long jump), Jaelen Williams (won 300-meter hurdles in 37.60,  triple jump in 45-3.75, second in long jump, Justin Wright (fifth in 110-meter hurdles), and Douglas Sessoms (4x400, anchor for 4x100 relay).

“It feels great to finish as a state champion as a senior,” said Becnel. 

BOYD, BEATTY WIN 4A THROWS

Denbigh’s Gabriel Boyd won the 4A discus throw, as his toss of 163-08 topped his personal best by over two feet, and outdistanced Lafayette’s Tyler Jump (156-08) and Courtland’s Matthew McDougal (152-06).

Boyd, a Patriot running back and outside linebacker for Coach Marcellus Harris III, was the top seed coming into the competition and the six-foot, 205 lb. thrower did not disappoint. Boyd also placed seventh in the shot-put (48-07) to account for all 12 of Denbigh’s points.

Meanwhile, Ben Beatty of Courtland destroyed the field of 13 throwers to win the shot put by almost nine feet. Beatty, a 6-2, 240 lb. lineman for Coach J.D. Hall’s football team in the fall, scored with a throw of 61-01 that was just short of his 62-09 best, but well ahead of Caleb Bishop’s (Pulaski County) runner-up effort of 52-04.5.

Courtland placed seventh in the 4A team standings with 27 points. 

A TALE OF TWO RELAYS

Appomattox (2A) and Franklin (1A) both won the 4x100 relay, largely in part to runners who spent last fall as part of their school’s respective backfields.

For Appomattox County, winning a state title is nothing new. The Raider football team went 15-0 last fall and destroyed Clarke County 42-6 to take the 2A state championship.

Three members of that team – Phillip Fleshman, Trey Walker and Delonta Kelso, were juniors who played running back. In the spring, they combined with opening relay leg Shurka Henderson to win the 4x100 meter relay in 43.36, .57 seconds ahead of Dan River. As a team, the Raiders scored 37 points and took home the state runner-up trophy, as Richmond powerhouse Maggie Walker Governor’s School won with 84.

Franklin’s winning time of 43.33 was almost identical to Appomattox County. Bronco running back Javonte Baker led off the quartet, while fellow backfield member Quayshawn Jefferson anchored the team down the final straightaway. Jefferson also placed second in the 400 meters (51.18).

As a team, Franklin placed eighth, scoring 26 points. 

MIDDLESEX’S JOHNSON WINS 1A LONG JUMP

Sean Johnson, who played wide receiver and strong safety for Middlesex last fall, won the 1A long jump with a leap of 22 feet.

The 6’2”, 165 lb. Johnson also placed third in the 110-meter high hurdles (15.73), and high jump (6-3) to score 22 points for the Middlesex, who finished fourth with 45.75 points. During the fall, Johnson caught five passes for 128 yards for the Chargers, who finished the season with a 7-4 record.

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Virginia Catholic League -- Not Happening in 2016-17; Future Uncertain

The proposed Virginia Catholic League will not be forming for the 2016-2017 school year, and opinions vary as to whether the league will be conceived at all.

Under the initial concept, the four Catholic high schools from Northern Virginia (Bishop Ireton, Bishop O’Connell, Saint John Paul the Great, and Pope Paul VI), Benedictine from Richmond and Bishop Sullivan in Virginia Beach would merge to form a separate athletic entity.

The possibility of creating such a league was the topic of a Washington Post story on January 7, 2016 by Brandon Parker, and was published a week after five of the six school’s athletic directors met at Saint John Paul the Great in Dumfries to discuss the idea. The idea of a six-team VCL became realistic in late 2015 as O’Connell withdrew its football team from the highly competitive Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC). For a school to compete as a full member of the WCAC, it must compete in either basketball or football, or both.

At the time, O’Connell Athletic Director Joe Wootten told the Post that the “exploratory committee of sorts” was engaged in “very preliminary” talks. He added that “this is more so something to look at two or three years down the road.”

Six months later, little seems to have changed, except that the formation of a VCL for the 2016-17 school year will not happen. As for the future, there is no certainty of the league forming, mainly because the first meeting has not developed into a second.

Bill Simmons, Athletic Director at Ireton, recently said, “I don't see this happening. We talked about football just to see and fill up our schedules. The developments at (Bishop) Sullivan make it less likely even that will continue. Northern Virginia schools can get all of that approach in the WCAC without going to Virginia Beach.”

Rich Hine, Athletic Director at Bishop Sullivan, told Recruit757 that the Crusaders will stay in the Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools (TCIS), but that the football team will play an independent schedule, analogous to Notre Dame, which once competed at the college level in the Big East for all sports except football. At the time of the Post article, Hine noted that several WCAC teams had called him to explore the possibility of scheduling a game.

Bishop Sullivan’s entry into the upper echelon of prep football schools was cemented after the hiring of coach Chris Scott, who stepped down from the same position at Ocean Lakes after sporting an 86-10 record, while winning a state title in 2014. Several of Scott’s star players including Khalan Laborn, are also transferring to Sullivan, immediately making them one of the better teams in Virginia, private or public.

Ryan Hall, Athletic Director at Benedictine, also stated that the league “will not happen” next year, but left open the remote possibility of a future merger. Hall noted that there was a lot of work needed if a Virginia Catholic League was to be formed.

“We would need to sit down and draw up a mission and vision statement – one that matches with each school’s Catholic identity,” said Hall. “It’s not like you can schedule the games, hand out a trophy and call it a day.” He added that another meeting would have to be scheduled in the future to discuss these matters, and “that meeting has not happened yet.”

On the other side, Hall added, “We are definitely scheduling each other for football next year.”

Here’s how a Virginia Catholic League might look

1)    Benedictine (2015 record – 10-2 – VISAA Div. I State champions)

2)    Bishop Ireton (2015 record – 8-3 – VISAA Div. I runner-up)

3)    Bishop O’Connell (2015 record – 1-8, 0-7 WCAC, #12 in VISAA Div. I)

4)    Bishop Sullivan (2015 record – 4-6, 3-2 TCIS, #6 in VISAA Div. II)

5)    Pope Paul VI (2015 record – 2-8, #11 in VISAA Div. I))

6)    Saint John Paul the Great (2015 record – 7-4 - #5 in VISAA Div. I)

In fact, Ireton and Sullivan will square off in each team’s opening game, and Benedictine will open their season on August 27^th against John Paul the Great. Last fall, Ireton and Benedictine met in the VISAA Division I state final, a game that Benedictine won 35-6.

Currently, Ireton, O’Connell, John Paul the Great and Paul VI compete (John Paul the Great on a limited basis) in the WCAC, a league which will become more elite with the recent $16 million donation from Under Armour founder Kevin Plank (’90) to his alma mater, WCAC member St. John’s College High School. The money will be spread throughout the school’s programs, but can be used for capital expenditures, such as enhanced athletic facilities.

Benedictine competes as an independent school, and all six Catholic schools are also members of the Virginia Independent School Athletic Association (VISAA) as Division I or II participants. There are four divisions in the VISAA, and inclusion in Division I is defined by the enrollment of over 180 students per gender.

However, according to Hine, “VISAA determined, after the 2015 season, to consolidate the football teams into three divisions - from the four that were previously in play.  With that re-divisioning - Bishop Sullivan was moved up to Division I, and is now the smallest school in Division I.”  All other major VISAA sports have three divisions, while several (i.e. cross-country and track) are divided into two.

The six schools vary in size from 429 total students at Sullivan to over 1,150 at O’Connell.

Track Shorts - VOL III: McElroy, Holloway Win Multiple Events at 5A/6A State Track

With the completion of last weekend’s 5A/6A state track championships at Todd Stadium, many athletes saw their season end. A few standouts will be competing in the New Balance Nationals, which will be held on June 17-18 at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro. Others will begin preparing for next football season, at either the high school or college level.

Henrico's Craig McElroy en route
to 5A state winning 6-6 high jump
(Photo by Mary Ann Magnant)

The 3A/4A state meet, held at Harrisonburg High School, was abruptly stopped with three events remaining, due to lightning. The original plan was to not complete the final events or crown team champions. However, after a social media backlash from frustrated athletes and parents, the meet resumed, and was completed on Wednesday. Phoebus won the 3A boys title, while Lafayette placed fifth in the 4A boys’ competition. A good portion of both team’s points came from stars of the gridiron, and their accomplishments, as well as other winners from the 3A/4A and 1A/2A meets, will be highlighted in next week’s edition of Track Shorts.

MEANWHILE, AT THE 5A/6A STATE MEET…

Craig McElroy Wins 5A High Jump and 110-Meter High Hurdles for Henrico

The 6-foot-5 McElroy put his height and slender frame to good use, winning two gold medals for Henrico at the 5A state meet.

The senior, who plays receiver and cornerback for the Warriors, captured both the high jump and 110-meter hurdles. McElroy also anchored the fourth place 4×100 relay team (42.64). As a squad, Henrico finished in fourth place with 35.5 points.

McElroy fell short of his goal to break 14 seconds in the high hurdles, but did clock a 14.35 for his winning effort, just .02 seconds from a personal best. In post-race comments, he made note of the humid and blustery conditions, which hovered over Todd Stadium on Saturday morning.

His winning high jump of 6-6 matched his best height, which he cleared at this spring’s Colonial Relays, held at William and Mary.

McElroy will have a final opportunity to earn new personal bests this season at the New Balance Nationals, where he will compete in the Emerging Elite high jump and Championship 110-meter hurdles. Presently, McElroy is verbally committed to compete at Norfolk State.

The Grant Holloway Show Continues

Competing in his final state meet, Grant Holloway added to his record of individual championships while leading Grassfield to a second-place finish in the 6A Boys classification.

Holloway, a University of Florida signee, won the high jump (6-6), long jump (25-5.75), and 110-meter hurdles (13.78), giving him a final tally of 11 individual state titles.

Grizzly Seth Harrell Places 2nd in Shot-Put

While Holloway was dominating the jumps and high hurdles, teammate Seth Harrell (OL/DL) put his own exclamation point on a sparkling junior year season. Harrell placed second in the 6A shot-put with a throw of 59-11.5. Benedict Draghi of Washington-Lee, the state leader in both the shot and discus, won the event.

Western Branch’s Micaiah Harris Wins 6A 100 and 200 Meters

As T.C. Williams’ Olympic trials sprint qualifier Noah Lyles sat on the sideline with a tweaked hamstring, the 6A boys’ sprints were wide open for contention.

And Micaiah Harris busted through the window of opportunity, winning both the 100 (10.66) and 200 (21.05) meters, helping Western Branch to a state title, the 18th and 19th for Coach Claude Toukene, as the Branch girls also won.

Harris, a junior who plays cornerback and free safety for the Bruins, will be the odds-on favorite to repeat the double gold performance next year.

Norris and Hagins Lead Bethel to 5A Boys Title

Isaiah Norris had a rough weekend. On Friday, the footballer (RB/DE) was sidelined from the first day of the 5A boys meet with food poisoning. However, on Saturday, he composed himself enough to win the 300-meter hurdles (38.59) at Todd Stadium, helping Bethel to the first-place team trophy, matching the one it won indoors.

Teammate Josh Hagins (OLB/RB) placed second in the 200 (21.77).

The 300-meter hurdle race also featured a second place finish from Hampton High receiver Burnell Pulley (39.04), seventh from Menchville running back/cornerback Malik Dixon (40.56), and eighth by Albemarle running back Arun Turay.

Nansemond River’s Waller Wins 5A 100 Meters

One week removed from his regional title in the 5A South 100-meter dash, Nansemond River running back Javon Waller broke the tape first again at the 5A state meet, covering the distance in 10.75, just .03 seconds ahead of Naukym Morton of North Stafford.

Lucas-Roscoe Wins 5A Triple Jump

Edison’s Greg Lucas-Roscoe, who played running back for the Eagles this past fall, captured the 5A triple jump with a distance of 46-6.5. Lucas-Roscoe also placed third in the long jump (23-1), helping the Eagles to an eighth place team finish.

Lee-Davis’ O’Connor Wins 5A Shot

Scott O’Connor of Lee-Davis helped his team to a third place finish (41 pts.) with a winning throw of 54-10.25 in the shot-put. O’Connor, a junior, who is listed in the football program as 6-2 and 200 pounds, played tight end and defensive end for the Confederates, who finished the 2015 season with a 10-3 record, losing in the playoffs to eventual state champion Highland Springs.

Looking at the RG 3 Revival in Cleveland - My Two Cents

RG3 Will Revive Pro Football Career – It Just Might Take a Couple of Rebuilding Years in Cleveland

The history of the NFL is filled with stories of high draft choices that turned into busts. For every Peyton Manning, there is a Ryan Leaf. For every Doug Williams, there is a JaMarcus Russell. Part of the intrigue with following the NFL draft comes from seeing which players will thrive, and which ones will fail. The same mentality causes many of us to slow down when we pass by a parked Ferrari, or a car accident.

Four years ago, Robert Griffin III was selected by the Washington Redskins with the second pick of the NFL draft. Immediately, the Baylor product made his presence known. In his debut, Griffin and the Skins throttled the New Orleans Saints 40-32 and the Texas-bred rookie threw for 320 yards and a pair of touchdowns while outplaying veteran Drew Brees. Weeks later, a breathtaking 76-yard touchdown run from scrimmage sealed a 38-26 victory over Minnesota. Riding a seven-game winning streak, the boys from Old D.C. won the NFC East and stormed into the playoffs.

However, Griffin, who had endured two knee surgeries as a collegian, would find misfortune again. Against Seattle, the sight of his knee buckling as he tried to recover a loose ball was only slightly less grotesque than watching Joe Theismann’s leg snap like a twig under the weight of Lawrence Taylor in 1984. The Skins lost to the Seahawks 24-14 to finish their 2012 season, but more importantly, they lost their franchise quarterback.

Griffin’s rushed approach to recovery did not endear him to many fans, especially after he got off to a slow start in 2013. It did not help that he had not played in any pre-season games, instead vowing to be “all in” when the real games started. The marketing campaign behind the “All In’ mantra didn’t do much to earn RG3 many new friends in the Washington locker room.

Forced to wear a cumbersome knee brace took Griffin out of his scrambling, play-action game. An ankle injury in 2014 didn’t help matters, and a public “feud” with Coach Mike Shanahan and his son, offensive coordinator Kyle, led to Griffin being benched, first with the Shanahan’s, then with new coach Jay Gruden, who opted to make Kirk Cousins the undisputed starter just before the 2015 season.

In all, the final three seasons of Griffin’s stay in Washington were rough – a 5-15 record as a starter and no passes thrown in 2015 say everything that needs to be stated.

Nevertheless, the past is the past, and RG3 has found a new home.

Unfortunately, it is Cleveland.

The Browns have gone through almost two dozen quarterbacks in the past 20 years, with a laundry list that reads like a retread roster, dotted by forgettable monikers such as Quinn, Holcomb, Weedon and Mirer. In a couple of years, Manziel will be added to the list. Cleveland is where quarterbacks usually go for hospice care until their pro career officially dies.

Yet not all is lost for Griffin. He has had a year to rehabilitate - his knee and his psyche. He could have taken his benching to the national media and allowed the Skins’ Ashburn training facility to continue being a soap opera, with daily tales of who wronged whom. Mike Shanahan, the supposed grown-up in the coach-player relationship for the first three years, could not seem to resist talking about his former QB to the media from time to time.

Instead, Griffin became a great teammate – a sounding board and brain to pick for Cousins, who excelled over the last nine weeks of the season – partly because he did not have to deal with a whiny, me-first teammate.

Griffin also has new Brown head coach Hue Jackson in his corner. Jackson went 8-8 in his year as head coach of the terminally dysfunctional Oakland Raiders, who inexplicably fired him after the season. Jackson is a player’s coach and a man of integrity. More importantly, he has a history of developing young quarterbacks, and Griffin is still only 26.

Will Griffin excel in Cleveland? My prediction is he will be fair, not an All-Pro, but the Browns will elevate to averageness (maybe 6-10 or 7-9), which still is a huge step in the right direction. However, he will honor his two-year contract, earn some bonuses and make enough improvement to become a solid quarterback, one who has good speed and improved drop back throwing ability. At 28, with his Browns contract completed, I see Griffin finally finding his professional niche when he is traded to the Cowboys to replace the retired Tony Romo. From there, Griffin should enjoy a successful pro career with longevity.