NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State men's track and field coach Kenneth Giles announced Friday the addition of 11 athletes to his program, which has won the last three MEAC indoor and outdoor titles.
Giles signed an array of accomplished sprinters, hurdles, middle distance specialists and throwers who he feels will help NSU remain among the top track programs on the East Coast. The recruiting class includes two national champions and five state champions.
Leading the list of sprinters to join the Spartans is Sean Holston (Fairfax, Va./Robert E. Lee HS). Holston, a 2007 high school graduate who originally signed with Florida State, has enrolled at NSU and plans to join the track team this season. He won the 200 and 400 meters at the 2007 Nike Indoor National Championships. Holston clocked a meet-record time of 47.12 seconds in the 400, the seventh-fastest time ever run by a U.S. high school athlete. He went on to run a PR of 46.47 outdoors last year at the Southern Track Classic.
Holston, the 2007 Virginia (VHSL) outdoor champion in the 200 and 400, has also run personal-best times of 21.07 in the 200 and 10.59 in the 100.
“Sean could be the next Chris Brown for us,” Giles said, referring to the NSU All-American and current Olympian for the Bahamas. “Simply put, Sean is one of the top recruits we've ever had here.”
Other sprinters who will suit up for NSU next season are Darryl Brickhouse (Suffolk, Va./Nansemond River HS), Keith Nkrumah (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood HS), Thomas Speller (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River HS) and Quentin Walker (Hampton, Va./Hampton HS). Brickhouse has run a PR of 48.71 in the 400 meters and ran the lead-off leg on the Warriors' state championship 400-meter relay team this outdoor season.
Nkrumah won the New York state outdoor championship in the 200 meters and has run top times of 10.62 in the 100 meters and 21.30 in the 200.
Speller, who signed with NSU last season but sat out, finished second behind Holston in the 200 meters at the 2007 Nike Indoor Nationals (21.98). He was also second in the Eastern Region in the 200 meters outdoors last season, and came in fourth at the state indoor meet in the 300 as a senior. He has run top times of 10.89 in the 100, 21.55 in the 200, 34.83 in the 300 and 48.46 in the 400.
Walker placed second at the Peninsula District meet in the 100 and has run a PR of 10.87. Walker also won the district indoor championship in the 55 meters as a senior and has a PR of 6.46 in that event.
Giles helped beef up NSU in the intermediate hurdles with the additions of Sherrard Marrow (Hampton, Va./Bethel HS) and Michael Jackson (Norfolk, Va./Lake Taylor HS). Both excelled in the 300 hurdles as seniors. Marrow ran a top time of 38.13 and has also run a 48.51 in the 400 meters. He was a member of Bethel's 1,600-meter relay team that won the national title at this season's Nike Indoor Nationals and also won the VHSL outdoor state championship. Marrow was named a Daily Press All-Star on multiple occasions.
Jackson won the Eastern District title in the 300 hurdles and has run a top time of 38.52.
“Sherrard and Michael will be the quarter-mile hurdlers we've been missing,” Giles said. “Last year, we had to put someone out of position in that event, but they are both natural at it.”
The Spartans will be formidable in the middle and long distance events with the additions of Josef Tessema (Springfield, Va./Robert E. Lee HS) and Silas Lagat (Lesos, Kenya/Teriga HS). Tessema, who like Speller sat out at NSU last year, was a first-team All-Northern Region cross country selection as a senior in the fall of 2006. He also finished second in the region (indoors and outdoors) in the mile run as a senior, and placed in the top six at both the 2007 indoor and outdoor state Group AAA meets in the mile. His top times are 4:16 for the mile, 9:27 for two miles, and 15:49 for 5,000 meters.
Lagat should continue a long tradition of stellar Kenyan runners for the Spartans. He specializes in the 800 meters (PR: 1:51) and will also be a key factor on NSU's cross country team, which has won seven of the last eight MEAC titles.
Rounding out the class are two strong throwers, including four-time state shot put champion Fred Spellman (Chesapeake, Va./Oscar Smith HS). Spellman swept the indoor and outdoor VHSL state shot put championships his junior and senior seasons. His personal-bests are 61 feet, 11 inches in the shot put and 157-2 in the discus.
Darryl Thomas (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville Area HS) will combine with Spellman to add depth in the throws for NSU. His top throw in the shot put has been 56-6.
“Everyone in the country wanted Fred Spellman,” Giles said. “He turned down some top schools from conferences like the ACC and Conference USA to come here. Darryl also has a promising future, and those two athletes should make us tough to contend with at the conference level.”
