Western Branch鈥檚 track championship streak still intact, but for how long?
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (BVM) — The word 鈥渢rack鈥� in Virginia has almost become synonymous with the words 鈥淲estern Branch Bruins.鈥� One seemingly cannot exist without the other. Many times, all of the words are paired together. Sometimes, these words are paired together with another word 鈥� champions.
Both the boys and girls programs at Western Branch have been dominating the tracks of Virginia year after year. This past February, the boys team won their fifth indoor state title in a row while the girls won their seventh in a row, both state records. The wins also marked the school鈥檚 32nd and 33rd track state titles.
鈥淚 was definitely very pleased the kids were able to pull together and pull off such a win on both the boys and the girls side,鈥� Bruins head coach Yolonda Golden said. 鈥淚t was definitely a victory and very pleasing to me for those kids to come together and pull together like they did to make it happen.鈥�
The dominance is nothing new for the Bruins. However, the way they鈥檝e achieved it in recent years has been. For 14 years, the team was coached by Claude Toukene who became a track and field legend by leading the team to 25 state titles. Toukene鈥檚 resume also included coaching a future Olympian in 2016 U.S. team member Byron Robinson.
In 2018, Toukene gave the reins to longtime assistant Yolonda Golden, who 鈥済ave up everything鈥� to move to the area and have her daughter be a part of the program years prior, and she ran with it. Golden鈥檚 biggest challenge was to get her athletes to understand the transition of her role from motherly assistant coach, who was known by athletes as 鈥楳omma Landa,鈥� to now the head of the program. But through Golden鈥檚 mentality of new coach, same program, the team stuck to what it knew best and built on the program鈥檚 own legacy.
For Golden, the state victories were a bittersweet culmination of her and her staff’s hard work and dedication.
鈥淚t was bittersweet,鈥� Golden said. 鈥淚t was something I never imagined would happen in my wildest dreams. I was very proud, I was under the mentorship of coach Toukene and just to know I could pull off such a victory was overwhelming and it just gives me something to push forward to next year. 鈥淚 have a phenomenal staff of coaches from every aspect. 鈥� If I say I did it all by myself, I would be lying. I鈥檓 just happy I could pull together the right group to come together.鈥�
In two years leading the program, Golden has extended the school鈥檚 championship streak while also coaching them to the top of the National Scholastic team rankings. Last year, both programs also won the outdoor championships, which marked the fourth consecutive wins for both programs in the outdoor competition.
However, the streak is in jeopardy.
On March 27, Virginia High School League executive director Dr. Billy Haun released an op-ed about the obstacles facing high school athletics during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the piece, Haun said all Virginia spring sports and the traditional spring season has been cancelled. The VHSL also stated in a March 24 release that if spring games were to be played in the summer, there would be no 2020 VHSL Champions recognized for spring sports.
鈥淚t was a total shock, but one thing we teach our kids don鈥檛 be surprised by anything,鈥� Golden said. 鈥淲e were hoping and looking forward to going into the outdoor season and hopefully pulling off another championship for both boys and girls.鈥�
Would this eliminate the streak or would the streak remain as the Bruins would not have technically lost the streak? The answers will have to wait until after the summer. Either way, Golden鈥檚 team is preparing as if they have a title to defend.
鈥淪o right now, we still provide daily workouts and our track is still available; it’s a public track. So we tell them to definitely practice (the social distancing guidelines), but we give the routine and basically I can say the kids are out there and still training as if we never missed a beat,鈥� Golden said.
Whenever the Bruins can return to the track, they will be ready. With Golden at the helm and a tradition of hard work and dominance, it鈥檚 likely they will either add to their streak or start a new one.
鈥淲e always aim high,鈥� Golden said. 鈥淭o keep the legacy going would mean everything. That鈥檚 just the聽 history of what this track program has been about.鈥�
