Bradwell Institute’s boys’ track team will look to make it six in a row this season, returning several athletes from last year’s region title winning team.
Coach DeAndre Davis said Marsalis Jackson, Anthony Holsendolph, Tony Britton, Josh McCullen and Jahlil Witt return to keep the running and jumping squad intact and Sterling Burns returns to the discus and shot put.
The coach said the jump and running team will get an additional boost with Jason Clayton and Michael Clayton.
“We only lost one guy from last year,” Davis said.
The coach said he feels confident they can make a run for their sixth region title this season. Last year, the boys edged out a 2-point win against Camden County to hoist the championship trophy their fifth consecutive season.
Davis said he has a good group of newcomers. He hopes to see what they can bring to the table when the boys participate in the Richmond Hill relays on Feb. 16.
“It’s something different than we normally do,” Davis said about the relays. “It’s primarily for the younger kids. We want to see what they can do because when we go to invitationals only two kids can compete in each event. Sometimes we have our top two and we have some younger kids that might not be able to run. So this relay will give them the opportunity to run and see how they can benefit the team.”
The coach said his boys still look strong in the 4X400 relay and the 400 yard dash. He said Jackson did a good job with the 200 yard dash last year and is looking forward to new surprises from Whitt.
“The biggest shocker for us was Whitt winning the triple jump crown last year,” Davis said.
The girls are now under the direction of Brian Williams who also coaches cross-country. He had been coach Readie Kelly’s assistant the past three seasons. Kelly retired from coaching this spring.
Williams said he has a few returning girls he expects good things from in KeAndrea Ladson, Candace Blair, Shilo Davis and Sherina Hornsby.
Hornsby and Ladson both made the state meet last year.
Williams lost several notable athletes to graduation in Quintunya Chapman, now running track at the University of Georgia and Quanika Hatchell, currently at North Carolina A&T.
“Chapman was a big point scorer for us. Hatchell and a bunch of girls who were on the relay teams are all gone now,” Williams said. “So this is kind of a rebuilding year and we are trying to find the pieces that fit. But we have a bunch of girls and they are all working hard and I think we will be pretty good for the season.”