Centerville girls, Wayne boys win GWOC track titles
BEAVERCREEK — The Wayne boys and Centerville girls won the Greater Western Ohio Conference track and field team titles Wednesday. Wayne did it with lots of firsts, and Centerville did it with lots seconds, thirds and fourths.
Finishing at the top was a marathon pace for both teams. Wayne’s boys finally pulled away to a 142129 victory over Centerville. The Warriors now own 19 league titles since winning their first one in 1989 when longtime head coach Mike Fernandez was a senior.
Centerville’s girls went back and forth with Beavercreek before finishing with a 148-140 advantage. The Elks’ only victory came in the 400-meter relay. They finished second to Beavercreek in the other three relays.
“We thought it’d be kind of back and forth,” said Elks coach Matt Somerlot, whose girls team won its fifth GWOC meet since he became head coach in 2015 and 34th league title in school history. “We thought our depth was going to be really good for us, and we thought our second kids were really going to be in the mix.”
Somerlot said the depth will serve the team well at the district meet and beyond.
“We can load up our relays and we can get kids to focus on one individual event and not have to spread kids out,” he said.
Wayne’s boys were led by freshman sprinter Jamier Averette-Brown, who owns the fastest Division I times in the state this season in the 100 and 200. On Wednesday he won the 100 in 10.83 seconds, which is .30 off his best time, and he won the 200 in 21.49, which is .12 off his best time. And he was close to meet records in both races.
“I had a strong push coming off the curve and then I just maintained my speed to the finish,”
Averette-Brown said about the 200, which he said was his best race of the day.
Averette-Brown also anchored the winning 400 and 800 relay teams. The 800 team broke Trotwood-Madison’s 19-yearold record by more than half a second with a time of 1:27.37. The 400 time of 42.37 was .11 off the meet record. Both times fell a little short of their best times, which are both top four in the state.
“I told him that it’s one of those things where he doesn’t realize what he’s doing right now,” Fernandez said of Averette-Brown. “But he’s so humble about it. He just works hard at it, runs well, wants to get better, is very coachable.”
Wayne sophomore Ric’Keya White won three events, set two meet records and had her best day of the season to lead her team to third place. White won the 100 in a season-best 12.10 seconds, narrowly beating teammate Te’aira Branham-Patrick’s time of 12.11. The meet record is 12.09, set in 2022 by Wayne’s Gianna Cameron.
Then White won the 100 hurdles in 14.28 seconds, breaking the record of 14.55 she set last year. She saved her best performance for last with a time of 42.87 in the 300-meter hurdles that shattered the record of 44.79 set by Maria Rotello of Lebanon in 2010.
White’s previous best this season was 45.24. Her time Wednesday was a personal record beating the 43.12 she ran last year at the regional meet.
“I’ve been trying to work lately on 23 steps to the first hurdle, so today I did that,” she said. “I unintentionally went over with my right leg over the first hurdle — normally I’m a left leg first — which was crazy. After I came off the first hurdle, the speed was there and those last two hurdles on the straight I felt myself moving.”
Centerville senior Sopuluchi Anosike also won three events: high jump at 6 feet, five inches, long jump at 21-113/4 and 300 hurdles in 39.13.
Miamisburg senior Lauren Zanotelli won the 1,600 and 3,200. Centerville junior Daniel Emmert won the 1,600 and 800. Springfield senior Tahjaie Clark-Crowley won the girls shot put and discus.
Wayne junior Trinity Bibbs set a meet record with a 24.57 in the 200.