Region track: Western Branch roars to boys and girls titles

Posted to: High Schools Sports

By Larry Rubama
The Virginian-Pilot
© May 24, 2008

NEWPORT NEWS

Western Branch High School successfully defended its boys and girls Eastern Region titles on Saturday at Todd Stadium.

And while that was all good, Bruins coach Claude Toukene didn’t want his teams to lose sight of the bigger picture.

“They don’t give state titles to you just because you win the region,” he said. “This is nice but we have put this behind and focus on what’s next.”

Last year, the boys finished runner-up at the state meet, while the girls were 11th.

“We cannot change the result from last year,” Toukene said. “That was my fault, but this time I want to get them more mentally and physically ready.”

The boys scored 110 points to win the region title. Ocean Lakes was second with 55 points, and Great Bridge and Oscar Smith tied for third with 33.

The girls finished with 96 points followed by Booker T. Washington with 66 points. Landstown was third with 61 points but the Eagles rested many of their top athletes in preparation for next week’s state meet.

For the second consecutive week, Western Branch got help from all over. But the biggest impact for both teams came in the short hurdles. The Bruins qualified 10 athletes – five boys and five girls – to the region meet. They ended up getting four to the finals in the girls 100 hurdles and three to the finals in the 110 hurdles.

And in both races, the Bruins came away with the champion. Jessie Gaines won the 100 hurdles in 14.49 seconds. Ermesha Fair was fourth, Camille Thomas was sixth and Keisha Myrrick was seventh.

“We just have a good hurdle coach,” Gaines said about assistant coach Karriem Pierre. “And all of his hard paid off.”

On the boys side, Jeffrey Artis won the 110 hurdles in 13.99, the fastest time in the state this season. Kevin Newsome was third and Randy Bolton was seventh.

“This is our event,” Artis said about the hurdles. “This is the event where we know we can sneak up on people and score points.”

The Bruins also scored in the 300 hurdles as Jeffrey Lewis was fifth and Venus Whitties was eighth.

Pierre said it was a pleasure seeing his hurdlers run so well.

“They’re good athletes, and they listen and believe what I tell them,” he said. “So I guess I must be doing something right.”

The Bruins also got points in other events.

Tory Womack ran the second-fastest time in the state in the 100 meters at 10.49. He was edged out by Green Run’s Dejor Simmons who ran 10.48. Daniel Nix and Javanti Sparrow were fourth and seventh, respectively, in the 400 meters. Nix also placed third in the 200.

In the distance events, Blake Theroux finished runner-up in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters. Teammate Chris Werner was third in the 1,600 and Kyle Jacobs was fifth in the 3,200.

Western Branch also cleaned up in the relays as the Bruins won the 3,200 relay, 1,600 relay and finished second in the 400 relay.

For the girls, Kayleigh Lewellyn was fourth in the 1,600 meters, and Casey Gresham and Natalie Wynn were third and fourth, respectively, in the 3,200 meters.

Toukene said the Bruins dedicated this meet to Western Branch principal Arthur Brandriff Jr., who recently announced he was retiring after 38 years.

“This is nice but I’d really like to give him two state titles, too,” said Toukene as he looked at the two region title trophies. “But anything can happen. We have some good athletes, so it’s going to be a fight.”