Brentwood track in running for first-ever national title

By Marcus Stone, Staff Writer
mstone@williamsonherald.com

Five members of the Brentwood High School track and field team will make history this Friday by competing in the Nike Track Nationals at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field.

Graduates Ford Bell and Kevin Lazas along with rising seniors Steve Wade, Patrick Kellett, and Josh Killett are one of only 12 teams running in the first-ever national championship competition to name the best high school track and field program in the country.

“This is the biggest deal in high school track, ever,” said Brentwood High assistant track coach Gary Kinder. “It is the coolest thing that I’ve been associated with, and I’ve been to the Olympics.”

Boys and girls programs across the nation have been in a four-month virtual competition from March 1 through June 13 with coaches updated statistics from meets on the tournament’s website. The top teams from eight regions advanced to Oregon with the four programs with the next-highest scores also qualifying.

Ranked seventh in the national standings, the Bruins fell in the second category as Snellville, Ga’s, Brookwood High School beat them out for the Southeast’s No. 1 spot.

Brentwood could be at a disadvantage in Oregon though thanks to the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s dead period rule that will not allow Kinder or head coach Ronnie Seigenthaler to attend the event. Steve Wade’s father will make the trip and manage the team in their absence.

“Not to pat myself or Coach Seigenthaler on the back, but they’d probably do a little better if they had all their coaches there,” Kinder said. “ They’re put a little bit behind the eight ball.”

Even so, Kinder says the five will compete admirably as Bell, Lazas, and Wade are all national caliber athletes in their events. Lazas recently qualified for the world championships in the decathlon, Bell has been at nationals multiple years in a row, and Wade won an international meet in Puerto Rico last month.

“At the high school level, they’re as good as you get,” he said. “Patrick and Josh are the glue. They’re the guys that do their specialty and help us out by doing a great job competing.”

The events include 100m, 110/100m hurdles, 400m, 800m, mile, long jump, high jump, pole vault, shot put, and discus throw. Teams enter their top marks for each event with a two-event max per athlete. Scoring is decathlon style with the lowest scoring event being dropped.

It is this set up that makes the Nike Track Nationals special and truly a team championship.

“Mostly all other national track competitions end up being an individual type setting,” Kinder said. “It’s such a big country and the talent level is so spread out that there’s never been a team championship and this is kind of the beginning of that.”

The event is an unbelievable opportunity given by Nike as the company is going as far as paying everyone’s way out to Oregon and including accommodations, according to Kinder.

“We are excited to bring Nike Track Nationals to young high school aged runners as a way to recognize the unique and diverse athletic abilities it takes to make up a winning team,” said Nike’s Vice President of North America Running Amy White in an article on the event’s Web site. “Track and Field has traditionally been looked at from an individual sport perspective but for the first time ever, high school aged teams across the country will be recognized as a while and a national champion will be crowned.”

Teams from 10 states will be in attendance with California being the only state with multiple squads (three) competing.

Posted on: 7/1/2010