Brentwood Academy's Josh Davies, a Samford signee, runs the middle leg of the winning shuttle hurdles.

Brentwood's Steve Wade shatters the Charlie Harper Relays' discus meet record set in 2005 by Briarcrest's Michael Oher, a current NFL player whose poignant story was told in the  movie Blind Side. (Photos by Renee Yarbrough).

Updated and corrected 10:30 a.m. Saturday
By CAROL STUART
For Brentwood Home Page
Brentwood High senior Steve Wade not only broke the discus meet record held by Michael Oher -- whose poignant story is told in the football movie Blind Side -- but shattered it at the Charlie Harper Relays on Friday.

Wade set his own personal record with the throw of 174 feet, 8 inches at the Brentwood Academy meet to beat Oher’s six-year-old mark by an incredible 8-plus feet. Harper, the BA coach retiring after this season, thinks Wade’s new mark may be one of the five best in the state ever.

“I knew I was one foot behind his record last year, and I was trying to break it today,” said Wade, an East Tennessee State University signee. “It’s a great feeling to get the mark, and it’s even better knowing it was to break his record.”

Wade and Lady Bruins thrower Amber Sudzius also received the Brian Ralls Outstanding Thrower Awards, given at the relay event for the first time this year. Ralls, a BA standout killed in an auto accident in 2009, actually beat Oher in the 2005 state championship at Oher’s school, Memphis Briarcrest, the year the record was set in the BA meet.

“What Steve was able to do is remarkable,” Harper said.

He remembered seeing Oher’s record-setting attempt – long before the current Baltimore Ravens lineman’s story won an Oscar for Sandra Bullock’s portrayal of his adoptive mother.

“He was one of the most remarkable athletes we’ve had at this meet,” Harper said. “But, more remarkably, Brian Ralls was able to win the state championship that year.”

Brentwood's Grant Seckman passes to Paul Stuart.

RHS pole vaulter Zach Gilroy sets personal record.

BA celebrates with retiring coach Charlie Harper.

Austen Barrett runs shuttle hurdles for RHS.

Ralls had a really good first throw at the state meet, and then the BA coach thinks Oher got a “little edgy and pressed. Each one of Brian’s throws was over 150 feet. He was sharp that particular day.”

Wade, the defending state champion in the shot put, said Friday he had a good feeling when he let the record discus throw go.

“I knew when it came off my hand it was a good throw,” he said. “I saw it flying through the air and looked farther than usual.”

Wade, who scratched several times in the state discus last year, was happy to have the PR with sub-sectionals coming up next weekend. He started out the day disappointed in his shot put efforts, however, even though he had the best toss at 55-10.

Sudzius also had the girls' best throw in the discus with a 120-9.

Harper “graduates” with BA seniors

Athletic director Ralph Potter, also the Eagles’ football coach, recognized Harper in his last meet at BA after all the seniors were honored. Harper, who will stay on as an American history teacher, has been head track coach at Brentwood Academy since 1983.

“We have one more graduating senior, Coach Harper,” Potter said. “We’ll let you graduate with your group of seniors.”

Brentwood Academy sent Harper out a winner at the meet named in his honor, capturing both the boys and girls titles. Brentwood High girls were second and the boys squad third, while Ravenwood was fourth in boys scores and six among girls teams.

Potter, who came to BA four years ago after coaching at both McCallie and Baylor in Chattanooga, noted that Harper had mentored dozens of coaches and had helped him a lot when he arrived at the school.

 He thanked Harper for his dedication and hard work and commended his skill and commitment.

“More than anything, I’ll remember him for the kind of man he is, for being positive and encouraging all the time, and for his wry sense of humor.”

The Eagles recognized 15 graduating seniors on the track and field squad, 12 on the boys side – many who are continuing their athletic careers in football or track at schools such as Vanderbilt, the Naval Academy Prep School, Samford and Tennessee Tech. Honored were: Jaqueline Helton, Sarah Sermonet, Betsy Bailey, John Baker, William BeAird, Kwazel Bertrand, Jackson Buchanan, Carlos Calloway, Josh Davies, Zeno Dupree, Derek King, Bryson Lillard, Josh Pleasant, Cody Russell and John Yarbrough.

Girls
1 Brentwood Academy 93, 2 Brentwood High 85, 3 Evangelical Christian 51, 4 Ensworth 50,  5 Independence 49, 6 Ravenwood 48.50, 7 Centennial 44.50,  8 BGA 27, 9 Page 19, 10 LaVergne 18, 11 Overton 12

4x100 yard: 1 BA 48.94 (Malone, Molly; Tate, Breanna; Tate, Deanna; Whitehurst, Abbie); 2 BHS 49.04 (Gildamister, Anna; Vangrinsven, Holly; Ootout, Emma; Bickel, Kelly). Also:  5 RHS 50.85 (Robertson, Alliyah; Leath, Kennedie; Lyndley, Maddie; Lamasters, Halie)

4x200 yard:  1 BA 1:43.83 (Tate, Breanna; Tate, Deanna; Whitehurst, Abbie; Jones, Justina) 2 LaVergne 1:46.31. Also: RHS 1:49.16  (Robertson, Alliyah; Leath, Kennedie; Gray, Alece; Rein, Jessa)

4x400 yard: 1 BHS 4:03.24; 2 BA 4:05.13 (Jones, Justina; Harvey, Caylyn; Balser, Maddie; Whitehurst, Abbie); 3 RHS 4:08.88 (Barrett, Austen; Robertson, Alliyah; Lamasters, Halie; Lyndley, Maddie)

4x800 yard: 1 BA 9:42.74 (Cheeseman, Allison; Murray, Kaylor; Balser, Maddie; Harvey, Caylyn); 2 ECS 9:42.79; 3 BHS 9:56.45 (Alexander, Brittany; Thorton, Emily; Stack, Emily; Scott, Elizabeth). Also: 4 RHS 10:13.08 (Chitwood, Dabney; Lefler, Eleanor; Spinden, Rachel; Finnegan, Abby)

800 sprint medley: 1 BHS 1:48.87 (Flowers, Sarah; Ootout, Emma; Vangrinsven, Holly; Bickel, Kelly);  2 Independence 1:55.55. Also: 5 BA 1:59.81 (Malone, Molly; Brown, Bailey; Johnson, Becky; Lee, Caroline); 6 RHS 2:00.04 (Barrett, Austen; McGuinness, Anna; Brown, Kacey; Gray, Alece)

BA's Molly Malone passes to Breanna Tate.

Derek King hands baton to Radir Anoor.

Lady Bruins girls relay passes baton.

RHS, BA runners battle with Independence.

Brentwood Academy winning boys squad

Lady Eagles winning girls team

Distance medley: 1 RHS 12:53.21 (Arnette, Allie; Lamasters; Finnegan, Abby; Peoples, Erika) 2 BHS 13:02.51 (Scott, Elizabeth; Flowers, Sarah; Thorton, Emily; Alexander, Brittany). Also: 4 BA 13:22.91 (Murray, Kaylor; Koehn, Savannah; Lee, Caroline; Cheeseman, Allison)

Shuttle hurdle: 1 BGA 49.40; 2 RHS 53.88 (McGuinness, Anna; Barrett, Austen; Reynolds, Rue)

High jump: 1 Wingerter, Ashley (Indy) J5-02; 2 Gittens, Nikki  (Ens) J5-02; 3 Koehn, Savannah (BA) J5-00. Also: 5 McGuinness, Anna (RHS) J4-08; 7 Shelby, Paige (BA) J4-06.00; 8 Weller, Hannah (RHS) J4-06.

Pole vault: 1 Dipilo, Danielle (Cent) 10-04; 2 Vochous, Abby (BHS) 9-00. Also: 6 Malone, Molly (BA) J7-06; 7 Berthiaume, Abigail (BA) J7-06; 8 Dickey, Alli (RHS) 7-00

Long jump: 1 Tillman, Chloe (BHS) 16-10; 2 Cobb, Madison (ECS) 16-04. Also: 5 Drulman, Haley (RHS) 14-11;  6 Tate, Deanna (BA) J14-10; 8 Tate, Breanna (BA) J14-10;  9 Gildamister, Anna (BHS)                           14-04

Triple jump: 1 Tilman, Chloe (BGA) 34-05.25; 2 Harvey, Caylyn (BA) 33-02.75. Also: 5 Griffin, Valerie (BA) 31-05.50

Shot put: 1 Rouse, Rejean (Ens) 39-05; 2 Biddy, Morgan (Ens) 36-11; 3 Sermonet, Sarah (BA) 34-01.50. Also: 4 Griffin, Valerie (BA) 31-06; 5 Sudzious, Amber (BHS) 31-05.50; 6 Nelson, Amy 28-08;11 Jeffries, Claire (RHS) 23-01; 16 Marotta, Gracie (RHS) 16-10.50

Discus throw: 1 Sudzious, Amber (BHS) 120-09; 2 Nelson, Amy (BHS) 110-09. Also: 5 Griffin, Valerie (BA) 98-09; 7 Sermonet, Sarah (BA) 96-05; 12 Jeffries, Claire (RHS) 58-08; 14 Marotta, Gracie (RHS) 51-10

Boys
1 Brentwood Academy 107, 2 Independence 77, 3 Brentwood High 63, 4 Ravenwood 56,  5 (tie) Evangelical Christian and  Centennial 44, 7 LaVergne 38, 8 Ensworth 28, 9 Page 24, 10 BGA 14  

4x100 yard: 1 BA 42.40 (Pleasant, Josh; King, Derek; Anoor, Radir; Wade, D'Montre); 2 Independence 44.46. Also: 5 RHS 45.65 (Jordan, Brandon; Nelson, Geoff; Greener, Morgan; Hagens, Samuel); 7 BHS 45.85 (Coffee, Nick; Ducks, Logan; Martinez, Isaac; Sanders, Austin)

4x200 yard: 1 Independence 1:33.27; 2 ECS 1:33.59. Also: 4 BA 1:34.64 (Calloway, Carlos; Russell, Cody; Booker, Philip; Wade, D'Montre); 5 RHS 1:34.99 (Turk, Austin; Nelson, Geoff; Greener, Morgan; Willams, Savon)

4x400 yard: 1 BA 3:23.29 (Dupree, Zeno; Gaulden, Rashaan; Davies, Josh; King, Derek); 2 Independence 3:26.03;  3 BHS 3:27.02 (Wilson, Andrew; Killet, Patrick; Lazas, Jake; Osman, Ty). Also: 5 RHS 3:30.29  (Breaux, Will; Nelson, Geoff; Saucerman, Steven; Greener, Morgan)

4x800 yard: 1 Independence 8:07.58; 2 Ensworth 8:11.40. Also: 4 BHS A 8:25.53 (Seckman, Grant; Stuart, Paul; Thomas, Nathan; Wild, Scotty); 5 BHS B J8:26.02 (Wilson, Andrew; Cardwell, Taylor; Thomas, Alec; Thomas, Aaron); 6 BA J8:33.39 (Yarbrough, John; Bull, Andrew; Gaulden, Rashaan; Buchanon, Jackson); 8 RHS J8:43.74 (Barahas, Juan; Atkins, Mark; Steed, Parker; Saucerman, Steven)

800 sprint medley: 1 BA 1:36.47 (Pleasant, Josh; Wade, D'Montre; Anoor, Radir; Dupree, Zeno); 2 Centennial 1:41.72; 3 Brentwood 1:42.46 (Sanders, Austin; Ducks, Logan; Martinez, Isaac; Kazmerick, Tillman)

Distance medley: 1 Independence 10:51.01; 2 BHS 10:56.76 (Thomas, Alec; O'Rouck, Sam; Thomas, Aaron; Cardwell, Taylor); 3 BHS 11:19.54 (Thomas, Nathan; Hoff, Eric; Seckman, Grant; Stuart, Paul). Also: BA 11:20.28 (Bull, Garrett; Bertrand, Kwazel; Yarbrough, John; Bull, Andrew)

Shuttle hurdle: 1 BA 45.62 (Booker, Philip; Davies, Josh; Lillard, Bryson); 2 LaVergne 53.77

High jump: 1 Tucker, Will (Indy) J6-00; 2 Hagens, Samuel (RHS) J6-00; 3 Nelson, Geoff (RHS) J5-10. Also: 9 Grooms, Will (BHS) 5-04; 9 Lester, Josh (BA) 5-04; 11 Currin, Chris (BA) 5-04

Pole vault: 1 Hoff, Eric (BHS) 13-06; 2 Gilroy, Zach (RHS) 13-00; 3 Reynolds, Will (BA) 12-06.00. Also: 4 Davies, Josh (BA) J11-00

Long jump: 1 Caro, Victor (BA) 21-06; 2 Booker, Philip (BA) 20-08. Also: 4 Hagens, Samuel (RHS) J20-05; 9 Willams, Savon (RHS) 16-11

Triple jump: 1 Edmiston, Rodney (Ens) 42-07.50; 2 Lockridge, Markise (Page) 41-06.50; 3 Russell, Cody (BA) 39-10.50; 5 BeAird, William (BA) 38-08.00; 10 Gilroy, Zach (RHS) 35-01.00

Shot put: 1 Wade, Steve (BHS) 55-10.00; 2 Brown, Cameron (RHS) 46-06.50. Also: 4 Schuler, Graham (BA) 45-08.00; 6 Baron, Woody (BA) 45-01.00; 9 Miller, Adam (RHS) 40-02.00; 11 Cardwell, Christian (BHS) 36-06.50

Discus throw: 1 Wade, Steve (BHS) 174-08; 2 Staten, Aaron (Lav) 156-11; 3 Brown, Cameron (RHS) 149-05. Also: 5 Baron, Woody (BA) 137-02; 7 Mason, Amos (BA) 128-01; 8 Miller, Adam (RHS) 126-04; 14 Contini, Nick (BHS) 90-11