CJ girls defend title; they ‘know how to compete’

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By John Cummings, Contributing Writer 12:12 AM Sunday, May 8, 2011

DAYTON — Chaminade Julienne High School girls track coach Jerry Puckett has become a wizard at shuffling the pieces into the right places this season.

Saturday at Welcome Stadium was no exception.

Puckett’s Eagles had just enough to defend their title at the Don Mitchell Roosevelt Memorial track meet, earning 107.5 points to edge New Albany by two.

“We have good athletes and a lot of girls that have been running quite awhile and know how to compete,” Puckett said of his 12-member team. “We did it last year and we’ve been doing it this year. Nothing they do surprises me.”

This winter, Puckett took six individuals to the state indoor meet and won the team title, and “it carried right over to outdoors,” he said.

While CJ’s girls were taking the crown, the Dunbar boys were shuffling pieces around themselves.

Dunbar ran without Ohio State signee Antonio Blanks and moved some other runners around during the two-day event.

The Wolverines were the top local team, finishing third with 114 points behind champion La Salle (151) and Cleveland Glenville (128). Trotwood-Madison was fifth with 78 points.

“Antonio is good for 30 points everywhere we go,” Dunbar coach Sidney Booker said. “If we were really trying to win the meet, we would have run him. We didn’t put things together to win — we wanted to make sure we kept everyone healthy.”

The big race comes Tuesday when Dunbar shoots for its 17th consecutive league title.

“Winning our 17th straight league title is important,” Booker said. “Winning meets like this can’t be the priority. The league meet and up to state ... those are the priorities.”

BACK IN THE GROOVE: The meet gave CJ’s Cierra Brown a chance to get to know the hurdles again.

With the Eagles running in a lot of relay meets this season, this weekend was just the third time Brown got a chance to run the hurdles.

“I wasn’t expecting to go really, really fast,” Brown said. “It can get a little tough just because I have to get myself ready. ... I have to get in the mind-set of the hurdles.”

Brown was second in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.35 seconds and fourth in the 300 hurdles in 46.21. Brown also won the triple jump, going 37 feet, 6 inches.

“It was a shock,” Brown said of her success in the hurdles. “I’m relieved because I know I am there, so next week I can do better and run a faster time.”

CHAMP’S DEDICATION: Trotwood’s Julius Ruby dedicated his championship in the 200 meter dash to Randy Waggoner after winning the closest race of the day.

“He pulled me through,” said Ruby of the legendary Trotwood track coach who died Dec. 13 from complications of heart failure at age 66.

Ruby came storming back from fourth down the stretch to win the event in 22.39. Teammate Cameron Burrows was second in 23.13 with all seven runners finishing within a second of the winner.

“You just got to get out,” Ruby said. “You can’t worry about anyone else you are racing against, you just got to go out and go your hardest.”

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