“Our very first meet, we went down to South Carolina and our boys won the meet down there and we set meet records and school records as well,” said Michael Fernandez, a Wayne alumnus who has been the head coach of the Warriors track teams since 1997 and was an assistant and Wayne athlete himself before that. “And that kind of set the tone because those meet records and school records were pretty impressive records.”
Scintillating sophomore Jamier Averette-Brown had a hand in setting three new school marks, running a 10.47-second 100-meter, a 21.67-second 200 and anchoring the 100-meter relay team that finished in 41.28 seconds.
The relay mark had stood since 2000 when John Hollins, Bobby Long, Ernest Tucker and Jeremy Richardson set a state record.
“The weather was so nice down there I knew we would run fast,” Fernandez said. “I didn’t think we’d run that fast. So that kind of parlayed into the next couple of weeks because then we had cold weather.”
The Warriors returned to Ohio and had strong showings in a quint meet with Alter, Northmont, Beavercreek and Dayton Christian on April 1 followed by the Greenville Invitational three days later and their own relay meet Tuesday night.
That has Fernandez thinking big: The goal for the girls is to repeat as state champions when the state track meet rolls around in June and for the boys to finish on top of the podium after coming up one point shy last year.
“As long as we kind of stay status quo with that, I think the season is only going to get better, and it’s only going to probably get faster,” Fernandez said. “That’s the goal this year, and we’ve got the numbers, we’ve got the personnel, and we’ve got the right attitude to go do it this year. So it’s gonna be a fun year as long as we stay healthy.”
Averette-Brown, who is verbally committed to play football at Ohio State, headlines the group despite being just a sophomore.
He finished second in the 100 at the state meet last year and harbors hopes of winning that event this year along with the 200, which he missed last spring because of dehydration.
“If I were to describe Jamier, I mean, you’re talking this is one of the elite kids, not only at Wayne, but probably within the state, but you would never know that unless you ask him,” Fernandez said.
“He is just a simple young kid that kind of just enjoys what he’s doing right now and is very humble. I mean, you won’t see him bragging about it. You won’t see him trash talking. You’re only going to see a kid that’s, at least in the track field, very coachable. He wants to get better, even as good as he is. He takes coaching well, just probably the thing that people don’t realize that they need to see is what kind of teammate he is. He is Mr. Team.”
That is a plus for the record-breaking rely team that also includes Keng Martin, Key’Shawn Garrett and Semarion Sroufe.
“He elevates the other kids, and as a sophomore, that’s huge,” the coach said. “Sophomore and freshman kids like that should not be the leaders, and he is a leader not necessarily by being a vocal guy, but more by what he does out on the field. I mean, he is business when it comes to it.”
That includes juggling offseason football work, including seven-on-seven competitions, with his track responsibilities.
“He’s all about the team, and that speaks volumes for his work ethic and his character,” Fernandez said.
At the indoor state meet, Averette-Brown won the 60-meter final with a time of 6.83 and the 200-meter final at 21.58 while Garrett was third in the 200 (21.88), won the long jump (23-0) and was third in triple jump (46-8.25).
Martin finished third in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.09, senior Antonio Enayzi was second in high jump (6-6) and freshman Nehemiah Smith was tied for 14th (6-0), senior Larreon Brodie won the weight throw (62.45).
On the girls side, senior Te’aira Branham-Patrick won the 60-meters at 7.56 and ran 24.57 to win the 200 while classmate Trinity Bibbs was third (7.65) in the 60 and 10th in the 200 (25.41) and junior Rick’eya White won the 60-meter hurdles (8.54).
Already in during the outdoor season Branham-Patrick has set a school record with a 11.75 in the 100-meter while Bibbs has been clocked at 11.88 in the 100 and 24.67 in the 200 and freshman Makayla Bass posted a 59.1 in the 400-meter.
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