Churchland Trailblazers celebrate again

The Churchland Trailblazers have ended another glorious year. The track and field team has placed no lower than 3rd in meets in Williamsburg, Suffolk, Hampton and Chesapeake. At the Real Deal Track classic May 9 at Suffolk’s Lakeland High School, the team placed 3rd overall, and set new records in the boy’s discus throw, the 4 x 100-meter relay and the sub-bantam and bantam boy’s 200-meter dash. The Real Deal is the region’s premiere track and field event. Portsmouth two-time Olympic gold-medalist LaShawn Merritt trained with the Real Deal. The Trailblazers just returned from two championships in Florida: the Primary and the Club National. Thirteen Trailblazers earned 26 medals at the Primary Championship, while 35 team members took home 45 medals at the Club National Championship. The primary girls, ages 8 and under, placed second out of 50 other teams at the nationals. Head coach Marco McKoy  tells me his young men and women don’t just compete, they improve physical strength while learning sportsmanship, dependability, trust and teamwork. The group has five All-American athletes (top 20 in the nation) and 31 Honor Roll athletes (top 100 in the nation). Learn more about them at www.churchlandtrailblazers.com. Great job, team!

Your Corner reader Betty Dail e-mailed me with more information about the Duke sisters I mentioned in the history column a few weeks ago. Betty graduated from Churchland High School in 1947. At that time, school ended at grade 11 and all grades met in one building. She says Emily Duke was her 7th-grade teacher and that she also taught her oldest daughter, Kristen. Lula Duke was her daughter Lisa’s sixth-grade teacher. Betty said another Duke sister - Liz Duke McCotter - was also a teacher, though not at Churchland.  “The Dukes were without a doubt three of the very best teachers around,” she says. Betty remembers that Cedar Lane was known as Lovers Lane when she was growing up.

Churchland High School was the site of this years’ Relay for Life community event. When bad weather forced the cancellation of the original June date at Portsmouth city park, the Elizabeth River Relay for Life team - which includes Portsmouth, Suffolk and Western Branch - decided to have the program under the lights on the high school’s track. Cara Cauldwell, event chairperson, says it was important for survivors, caregivers and those battling the disease to meet to support and draw strength from each other. More  than 400 came out. The event started with a ceremony at 7 p.m., followed by survivor/caregiver laps around the track, special survivor recognition and a luminaria ceremony. It ended with awards and closing ceremony at 10:30 p.m. There was plenty of food, fun and activities for every age, all while raising money in the fight against cancer. 

Contact me with your news at pamelawrites@hotmail.com or 717-0628.

COMMENTS ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here; comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its websites. Users must follow agreed-upon rules: Be civil, be clean, be on topic; don't attack private individuals, other users or classes of people. Read the full rules here.
- Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the report violation link below it.