Brandeé, NR set records in Texas

Published 10:08 pm Friday, April 8, 2016

Brandeé Johnson and the Nansemond River High School track team took their show to Texas this past weekend and continued to deal in the realm of the amazing.

Nansemond River High School senior Brandeé Johnson helped break four Virginia state records over the weekend during the Texas Relays. She set new records in two individual events and contributed to new records in two relay events. (Photo by Mary Ann Magnant/MileState.com)

Nansemond River High School senior Brandeé Johnson helped break four Virginia state records over the weekend during the Texas Relays. She set new records in two individual events and contributed to new records in two relay events. (Photo by Mary Ann Magnant/MileState.com)

Johnson competed in two individual events and collaborated with her teammates in two relay events at the Texas Relays, and the result in all four instances was a new Virginia state record.

“Nansemond River went in there and cleaned up, led by Brandeé,” track and field coach Justin Byron said.

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MileSplit Virginia Editor Nolan Jez wrote that Johnson had arguably the best 24-hour span in Virginia track history with her string of performances in Texas.

It was her first track meet of the outdoor season, but she was primed to go. She won the 300-meter hurdles in the girls’ 17- and 18-year-old division with a Virginia record time of 40.87 seconds.

The time earned the No. 1 spot in the country for this season. It was also a Texas Relays record, remarkable considering the event is in its 89th installment.

Johnson ended her run in Texas with a 13.18-second run in the 100-meter hurdles for 17- and 18-year-old girls at the D2 level.

The Virginia state record in that event had been 13.30 seconds, but Johnson’s accomplishment made more than just an impressive state-level impact.

For the entire country in the 100 hurdles, “she’s the seventh fastest high schooler of all-time,” Byron said.

Johnson’s time was a national record for season-opening times. She placed second in the race in Texas, but the girl who won — with a time of 13.04 seconds — was not running in her first outdoor meet of the season.

The Lady Warriors’ 4×200-meter relay team took third place in the girls’ 17- and 18-year old division at the D2 level with a Virginia record time of 1:36.19.

The team featured Johnson, senior Dajae’ Goulet, junior Syaira Richardson and freshman Kori Carter in the finals. Senior Morgan Towe ran in place of Johnson in the prelims.

Nansemond River’s 4×100-meter relay team placed third in the same division at the D2 level with a 45.73-second time that broke the Virginia record.

The team consisted of Johnson, Richardson, Towe and Goulet.

“These are records that have stood the test of time,” Byron said.

The handoffs in both relays left much to be desired, and with refinement, the teams will likely break the records again.

In the high school division of the girls’ sprint medley relay, the Lady Warriors took sixth with a time of 4:10.17. The team featured freshman Tre’Breh Scott-McKoy, Carter, Richardson and senior Amirah Jones.

Texas is known for producing some of the best relay teams in the country, and Byron was pleased that Nansemond River came to the event as planned and showed it could run with the best.

“We expected to be competitive, and it was just one of those things where we looked at our season schedule, and we actually did a lot of preparation for this (meet) in the indoor season,” Byron said. “We treated that meet as if it was our second national meet.”

Nansemond River is currently competing in the Taco Bell Classic in South Carolina.