Godby seven earn chance at Nike Track Nationals title

Seven Godby High School athletes--T. J. Davis, Dieumy Duclos, Brandon Hollifield, Eddie Lloyd, Devin Screen, Quayshun Smith, and Kenny Young--learned this evening from a beaming Coach Chris Sumner that they had won an invitation to compete in the Nike Track Nationals on June 25 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.


"I don't think you'll know how awesome this is until we get there," Coach Sumner told his athletes.


Judging from the their reactions, they already have some idea.


"This not only puts Godby on the map but Tallahassee as well," said Coach Jesse Forbes. "Not many teams in the state of Florida can say they've competed for a national championship."


Selection to the meet is based on a team's performance in their best nine of ten events--the 100 meter dash, the 400 meter dash, the 800 meter run, the 1600 (or 1500 or mile) run, the 110 hurdles, the pole vault, the high jump, the long jump, the shot put, and the discus throw. Points are awarded in each event using a decathlon-style scoring system, and only the highest-scoring team in each region automatically qualifies for the national meet. The next four highest-scoring teams in the nation also win a trip to Eugene. In 2010 Godby was the fourth-ranked team in the southeast region, narrowly missing qualifying. This year Godby amassed 7,757.51 points, the best score in the southeast and enough to win the Cougars the honor of representing the region at nationals. Coach Sumner learned on Sunday that his team had come out on top in the region on Sunday, but couldn't believe the news at first.


"I was nervous and trying to figure out whether this was real or not," admitted Sumner.


It was real. Godby's total of 7,757.51 points came from Kenny Young's 11.32 100m (783.33), Deiumy Duclos' 2:01.26 800m (722.57), Duclos' 4:25.74 1600m (792.62), T. J. Davis' 14.69 110m Hurdles (882.09), Eddie Lloyd's 14' 6" Pole Vault (867.39), Brandon Hollifield's 6' 9-3/4" High Jump (942.86), Quayshun Smith's 23' 7" Long Jump ( 956.60), Devin Screen's 52' 9" Shot Put (859.77), and Screen's 183' 9-3/4" Discus Throw (950.28). The Cougars chose to omit the 400m as their weakest event.


So the seven Cougars will be flying out to TrackTown, USA on Thursday, June 23, with Nike picking up the tab for them and the other eleven teams. The meet will be scored with the same decathlon-style point system used for qualifying, and the longest event will be the romantic mile rather than the prosaic 1500 or the freakish 1600. Competition in all ten events happens on Saturday evening, June 25, in conjunction with the USATF national championship and the USATF junior nationals, also taking place at Hayward Field. Joining Godby in the boys' team competition will be Vista Murrieta of Murrieta, California; North Shore of Houston, Texas; Loyola of Los Angeles, California; Ben Davis of Indianapolis, Indiana; Sam Barlow of Gresham, Oregon; Great Oak of Temecula, California; DeSoto of DeSoto, Texas; Brophy Prep of Phoenix, Arizona; The Woodlands of The Woodlands, Texas; Don Bosco of Ramsey, New Jersey; and Bismarck of Bismarck, North Dakota.


Links:

• Nike Track Nationals
  http://www.niketracknationals.com/
  
  
• Photos of the Godby team the evening they learned about the invitation
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100790500048413.3156191.5215641&l=dd8083896e
  
  
• "Godby High School boys' track team headed to Nationals"
  http://www.wctv.tv/highschoolsports/headlines/Godby_High_School_boys_track_headed_to_Nationals__123433684.html