Top 10 Performances of 2014: #3 Western Branch Scores 149 at 6A State Meet

In our newest feature we are announcing our Top 10 Performances of 2014 by Virginia athletes. Check these out throughout the next couple days and see who and what made our list! 

#3 Western Branch Girls Score 149 Points, Win by 104 Points at 6A States

As you can see by the previous seven, you have to dominate to get on this list and that is exactly what Western Branch did this year at States. Blame Felecia Majors and South County for beating the Bruins and reigniting a fire because they were/are on a mission these days. You have to dig really far back to find another team that could even compete with this one. They were not only deep but ridiculously talented as well. Head Coach Claude Toukene likes to move his athletes around to score points in different events but if we really saw this team compete in everything they could then the score would be even higher! Not to mention they swept the relays handedly. 


Let's break this team and performance down for you. 


These girls completely wiped the floor with their competition winning by an astonishing 104 points. So let's have some fun with this... 

If you took just Faith Ross' score and included relays she scored 35 and would have finished in third in the team title race! She won the 300m hurdles, was on the 4x400 and 4x800 which both won. Not to forget she helped set a state record in the 4x800 as only a sophomore. She also picked up points in the high jump.

But wait, you could take Funlayo Oluwole and do a few points better and score 37 and finish in second! Funlayo may have a difficult name to pronounce but it is not difficult to see how good she is. She won the 100m hurdles, triple jump, and 4x100 and scored points in the long jump and 300m hurdles as well. 

 Oh, wait you could also take Ebony White's 30 points from her 800, 4x400, and 4x800 wins. I guess being the only Bruin to go three for three makes up for her scoring only 30 points...

Yep, there is more! You could, if you felt so obliged to, take Milan Parks' whopping 42 points that she scored at the state meet and finish in second by a mere three points. Milan won the long jump, 4x100, finished second in the triple jump and 100m dash, and finished third in the 100m hurdles. 


So in theory, if we broke up the teams the team title race would look like this:
1. South County 45, 2. Milan Parks 42, 3. Funlayo Oluwole 37, 4. Osbourn Park 37, 5. Faith Ross 35, 6. Ebony White 30.


So wrap you mind around that... in the 6A classification, which is supposed to be our hardest classification, one team could place four girls inside the top six for the team competition. You can say all you want about MileStat being bias towards them but that fact remains true whether you like it or not. 


The crazy thing is that at 99% of the high schools in the state if you win a state title you are setting school records, but that isn't the case here. You have to be an all-time great to even come close to some of the records Western Branch has. Though they have had more talented individuals here and there, this team has to be one of the deepest and most talented top to bottom teams we have ever seen or heard of. 


Here are the individuals who won a state title and who is returning:
Milan Parks: 4x1, Long Jump
Funlayo Oluwole: Triple Jump, 4x1, 100m hurdles
Faith Ross: 300m hurdles, 4x400, 4x800
Ebony White (graduated): 800m, 4x400, 4x800
Amanda Thomas: 4x400, 4x800
Jewel Smith: 4x400
Irielle Little (graduated): 4x100
Crystal Eley: 4x100


To see the full top ten click here: #10-6, #5, #4