Clarke Central High School varsity track and field assistant coach Zay Brown, athletes Gyasi Miller, Jackson Brooks, La’Gracion Little, Torin Trotter and head coach Zachary Brown (from left to right) pose on the CCHS track on March 2. Little and Miller broke the 60 meter record, both with a time of 7.24 seconds, which was set by Brown in 2016. “(Little and Miller) got God-given talent right there. We’re adding the mechanics in there now, so they’re gonna be, and they can be, way faster. They can break their own record,” Brown said. “(They’re) just learning how to run. They’re fast. But once you add the mechanics to it, you get way faster.” Photo by Dream Freeman
Members of the CCHS boys varsity track and field team broke a total of five CCHS records at the Third Annual Berkmar Patriot Preview on Feb. 11.
It’s the afternoon of Feb. 11 and the Clarke Central High School boys varsity track and field team has just participated in their first meet of the season: the Third Annual Berkmar Patriot Preview at Berkmar High School in Lilburn, Ga..
During the past several hours, four members of the team have broken a total of five CCHS records.
In the 60-meter race, both running a time of 7.24 seconds, CCHS varsity boys track and field athletes La’Gracion Little and Gyasi Miller, both juniors, broke the record previously set in 2016. The previous record holder was CCHS boys varsity track and field assistant coach Zay Brown, with a time of 7.33 seconds.
“Records are meant to be broken. I think being broken by your athletes is (saying) something about what you’re coaching, because, I told (Miller and Little), ‘Hey, y’all are faster than me, so that means I’m coaching y’all to be faster than I ever was. So, take that on the shoulder and keep it moving. Don’t settle. Just keep moving,’” Brown said
For Miller and Little, the race represented not only individual work but the pinnacle of a longstanding relationship and competition since the two played football together as middle schoolers.
“Coming into the meet, the plan was to break the record. That’s what the goal was. So, I just tried to work on my start as much as I could and just keep that going well,” Miller said. “(Little and I) have been neck and neck since middle school. We run, (and) we play football together. like brothers, and it feels great to see him breaking the record and doing good things, too.”
CCHS head varsity track coach Zachary Howard took over the team during the 2024-25 school year and has seen the energy Brown has poured into the team.
“Zay Brown, he will do anything for anybody, (and) for the kids. He’s not in it for himself, and he works really hard at what he does. He’s a Clarke Central legend. He played football here, went to (the University of South Carolina and) played football at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga,” Howard said. “(It) was really neat to watch somebody like Zay get to coach these kids and break his own record. Coach Brown, he’s a phenomenal person.”
A graphic shows data about the records the Clarke Central High School boys varsity track and field team broke during the Third Annual Berkmar Patriot Preview on Feb. 11. Graphic by Lea D’Angelo
In addition to Little and Miller’s break of the 60-meter record, CCHS boys varsity track and field athletes Jackson Brooks, a sophomore, and Torin Trotter, a senior, also broke a total of four additional records.
Brooks broke the record for the 300-meter with a time of 36.79 seconds and the one for the 600-meter, which was previously set by CCHS senior James Daniel, who committed to running track with the University of Georgia in the fall, with a time of 1:25.79 minutes.
“I try not to get in my head because I have a lot of room for improvement, and I’m not near where I want to be, but I’m extremely happy to be in the school record book,” Brooks said. “It’s been a dream of mine growing up, getting ready to go to Clarke Central, and dreaming (about) here, and now holding school records, no matter what weight they hold, it’s still a huge deal.”
“Records are meant to be broken.”
— Zay Brown,
CCHS boys varsity track and field assistant coach
Trotter, who has been on the team for all four years of high school, broke the records for the 1200-meter and the 1500-meter with times of 3:26.29 and 4:17.31 minutes, respectively. Although not his main goal of the season, Trotter still expressed pride in the wins.
“I was happy with (the record), but I didn’t get too high because those are just two events that we don’t run very often,” Trotter said. “My mindset (for the meet) was just getting a really good double, win both of my events,have fun out there,get a good (training session) and run in.”
Although the team made strides at the first meet, Brown emphasized the importance of continuing momentum rather than settling. In doing so, he’s worked to embody the philosophy of former CCHS head varsity track and field coach Bode Osagiobare, under whom Brown broke the previous 60-meter record.
“(Under Osagiobare), I didn’t have a choice, I just had to do what he told me to do. That’s what (current runners) are gonna have to do. You gotta want to do it. Nobody can’t want it more than you. You got to want to do the things you do in life,” Brown said. “Trying to keep in mind, (not to) settle on that record, break another one and another one.”
