NRHS girls repeat as conference champs

The Nansemond River High School Lady Warriors successfully defended one of their titles by once again winning the Ironclad Conference indoor track and field championship on Thursday in Hampton.

The Lady Warriors produced first-place finishes in eight of their 15 events, defeating their closest competitor, Phoebus High School, 227-152.

The Nansemond River boys’ team registered four wins and took second behind Phoebus.

NR coach Justin Byron said it was a “good showing to finish top two on both sides.”

Suffolk schools won 13 events, as Lakeland High School sophomore Garrett Whitley took first place in the shot put with a throw of 38-feet-6.5-inches.

The individual standout of the day for Nansemond River was senior Kadeem Middleton.

Though he is fairly new to the long jump, he won it with a 22-foot-9.75-inch leap. He also won the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:07.43 and the 300-meter dash after finishing it in 35.47 seconds.

“That was a pretty stellar performance out of him to come home with three gold medals,” Byron said, adding that Middleton also won bronze in the high jump, another event to which he is fairly new.

The coach noted pulling off wins in both the 500 and 300 is difficult, because they are scheduled so close together.

Junior Brandeé Johnson helped the Lady Warriors repeat by winning the long jump with an 18-foot-5.25-inch bound and the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:17.19.

She also helped bring a victory to the 4×400-meter relay team, a group which also included senior Courtney James, junior Amirah Jones and sophomore Karah Foster. They finished in four minutes, 10.07 seconds.

James was the only competitor in the pole vault, successfully completing a 7-foot-6-inch vault.

Lady Warriors senior Zakiya Rashid won the shot put with a 42-foot-11-inch throw, sophomore Casey Williams won the 1600-meter run with a 5:47.14 time, and junior Kevin Tohak finished the boys’ 1600-meter run in four minutes and 53.44 seconds for the win.

Senior Kara Lyles, junior Dajae’ Goulet, sophomore Kiara Howard and freshman Indya Gipson made up the girls’ 4×200-meter relay team, which won with a time of 1:44.50.

“We got some really good performances out of some athletes that we didn’t expect,” Byron said, highlighting one of his distance runners. “Haley Neal has just come on so strong — first year participating in track, and she won the conference championship in the two-mile.”

Neal, a freshman, won the 3200-meter run with a 13:19.29 time.

“Asia Crocker had a good day,” Byron said, referring to another freshman. In the 55-meter dash, “she ran a 7.27, which makes her the second fastest freshman in the state of Virginia right now.”

Thursday’s meet was only her third competing in the long jump, and it was her first competing in the high jump, yet she qualified for regionals in both.

Regional qualification was possible on Thursday by either hitting prescribed times/marks in a given event or by placing in the top six in individual events or the top three in relay events.

Nansemond River’s new regional qualifiers on Thursday included Kiara Howard in the 55-meter dash, Goulet in the long jump and the triple jump, sophomore Monae Bynum in the triple jump, junior Kiara Price and Lyles in the shot put and Neal in the 3200-meter run.

All three Suffolk public schools, including King’s Fork High School, will have participants in the Region 4A South indoor track and field championships, to be held on Wednesday at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton.

Following are results from the Ironclad Conference indoor track and field championships held on Thursday in Hampton:

Girls’ team results

1) Nansemond River High School, 227

2) Phoebus High School, 152

3) King’s Fork High School, 34

4) Lakeland High School, 16

5) Heritage High School, 3

6) Denbigh High School, 1

Boys’ team results

1) Phoebus, 219

2) Nansemond River, 129

3) Lakeland, 55

4) King’s Fork, 17

5) Heritage, 5

6) Denbigh, 2

Individual results and top Suffolk finishers

• Girls’ long jump: 1st-Brandeé Johnson (NR), 18-05.25
• Boys’ long jump: 1st-Kadeem Middleton (NR), 22-09.75
• Girls’ triple jump: 1st-Ashaila Bunch (P), 35-07.00; 2nd-Dajae’ Goulet (NR), 35-03.00
• Boys’ triple jump: 1st-Elijah Nelson (P), 46-09.50; 5th-Miles Goodman (L), 39-02.50
• Girls’ pole vault: 1st-Courtney James (NR), 7-06.00
• Girls’ shot put: 1st-Zakiya Rashid (NR), 42-11.00
• Boys’ shot put: 1st-Garrett Whitley (L), 38-06.50
• Girls’ high jump: 1st-Carolyn Brown (P), 5-02.00; 2nd-Kara Lyles (NR), 5-00.00
• Boys’ high jump: 1st-Dartrez Thompson (P), 6-02.00; 3rd-Kadeem Middleton (NR), 5-10.00
• Girls’ 55-meter hurdles: 1st-Carolyn Brown (P), 8.06; 2nd-Brandeé Johnson (NR), 8.08
• Boys’ 55-meter hurdles: 1st-Charles Graham (P), 7.40
• Girls’ 55-meter dash: 1st-Carolyn Brown (P), 7.02; 2nd-Asia Crocker (NR), 7.27
• Boys’ 55-meter dash: 1st-Dartrez Thompson (P), 6.57; 4th-Alajuwun Langston (L), 6.84
• Girls’ 4×800-meter relay: 1st-Phoebus ‘A’, 10:25.05; 2nd-Nansemond River ‘A’, 10:44.44
• Boys’ 4×800-meter relay: 1st-Phoebus ‘A’, 8:28.34; 2nd-Nansemond River ‘A’, 8:40.05
• Girls’ 4×200-meter relay: 1st-Nansemond River ‘A’, 1:44.50
• Boys’ 4×200-meter relay: 1st-Phoebus ‘A’, 1:33.98; 2nd-Lakeland ‘A’, 1:35.24
• Girls’ 1600-meter run: 1st-Casey Williams (NR), 5:47.14
• Boys’ 1600-meter run: 1st-Kevin Tohak (NR), 4:53.44
• Girls’ 500-meter dash: 1st-Brandeé Johnson (NR), 1:17.19
• Boys’ 500-meter dash: 1st-Kadeem Middleton (NR), 1:07.43
• Girls’ 1000-meter run: 1st-Ashanti Jackson (P), 3:22.37; 2nd-Casey Williams (NR), 3:26.14
• Boys’ 1000-meter run: 1st-Davon Tonkins (P), 2:48.28; 2nd-Kevin Tohak (NR), 2:50.46
• Girls’ 300-meter dash: 1st-Carolyn Brown (P), 39.40; 2nd-Kara Lyles (NR), 41.25
• Boys’ 300-meter dash: 1st-Kadeem Middleton (NR), 35.47
• Girls’ 3200-meter run: 1st-Haley Neal (NR), 13:19.29
• Boys’ 3200-meter run: 1st-Baron Freeman (P), 10:57.60; 2nd-Adriece Sharpe (NR), 11:24.20
• Girls’ 4×400-meter relay: 1st-Nansemond River ‘A’, 4:10.07
• Boys’ 4×400-meter relay: 1st-Phoebus ‘A’, 3:35.58; 2nd-Lakeland ‘A’, 3:35.62