The Nansemond River High School indoor track and field team went to New York City last weekend and taught everyone involved in the New Balance Games how the school’s name was pronounced.

While the announcer mispronounced “Nansemond” early on in a competition which featured schools from all over the nation, the Warriors kept giving additional chances to get it right with a variety of wins and high-placing finishes.

They did their part to help Nansemond River leave a lasting impression by the end as the school placed third out of all the varsity teams competing at The Armory Track and Field Center.

“We earned the respect of the teams there,” NR coach Justin Byron said. “It was just a huge turnaround from when we first got there.”

Junior Brandeé Johnson took first in the girls’ invitational 300-meter dash with a time of 38.55 seconds.

“It’s the No. 2 time in the nation, and No. 4 in Virginia all-time,” Byron said on Wednesday.

For her performance in that race, Johnson is a nominee in the DyeStat Performance of the Week poll at DyeStat.com, a site that tracks the performance of high school track and field and cross country teams all over the nation.

According to DyeStat.com, “after this weekend, in the nation, as a program — boys and girls — we’re ranked No. 14 in the power rankings,” Byron said, though he noted schools from some major states, like California, do not tend to field indoor teams.

Also last weekend, the state-qualifying girls’ 4×200-meter relay team broke the previous national record for this season with a time of 1:39.23, only to see Medgar Evers College Preparatory School improve on the record further in the same race with a 1:37.96 mark.

The Nansemond River girls producing the No. 2 time in the nation were freshman Asia Crocker, sophomore Syaira Richardson, senior Kara Lyles and Johnson.

Lyles won the girls’ varsity long jump, logging a distance of 18 feet, 7 inches, and Byron said she holds the No. 1 distance in Virginia at the Group 4A level. Lyles also took second in the girls’ varsity 300-meter dash (40.41 seconds).

Senior Kadeem Middleton won the boys’ varsity long jump, which is a relatively new event for him, leaping 22 feet, and Byron said he is now ranked third in Virginia’s Group 4A.

Senior Zakiya Rashid took sixth in the girls’ varsity shot put and seventh in the girls’ varsity 55-meter hurdles.

Byron said one of the team’s goals at the meet was to give Nansemond River’s younger athletes the experience of competing against others of a similar caliber that were not just from Virginia.

The young Warriors shined in the midst of those circumstances.

Freshman Indya Gipson won the girls’ freshman 55-meter dash with a time of 7.59 seconds. Asia Crocker won the girls’ freshman 200-meter dash with a huge personal record of 25.52 seconds. Sophomore Kiara Howard won the girls’ sophomore 200-meter dash with a personal record of 26.44 seconds.

“Traveling to New York and coming back with a first place medal, that’s important for a kid’s confidence,” Byron said.

He also wanted Nansemond River to generate more state-qualifiers at the meet, which it did. There are currently seven girls qualified for state-level competition.

The boys’ 4×200-meter relay team of junior Jonas Jones and seniors Tasheim Theodore, Xavier Williams and Middleton qualified for states with a season-best time of one minute and 32 seconds.

Nansemond River is currently participating in the Virginia Tech High School Invitational in Blacksburg.