51����

They don’t call it “TrackTown U.S.A.” for nothing.

The birthplace of Nike. The college town where legends of mythical proportions like Bill Bowerman and Steve Prefontaine made their names. The site of a venue in Hayward Field that is considered a Mecca for those who follow the sport. 

And now Eugene, Oregon will be the college home for Brooks Barbee ’27.   

Congratulations to Brooks, who announced his verbal commitment to the University of Oregon's cross country and track & field programs on Tuesday. 

A sign of the times. His times. 

New Balance announced Tuesday that it has signed Brooks Barbee ‘27 to a Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deal for high school cross country and track & field. 

PHILADEPHIA – Coming to you from the City of Brotherly Love, a pair of late-season addendums to 51���� track & field’s record book.

Jack Dennehy ’27 started things off Thursday evening at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor meet in the 5,000-meter run, placing 15th overall with a time (15 minutes, 9.79 seconds) that was close to 30 seconds under the previous school record held by Kahzi Sealey ’23 (15:37.56).

EUGENE, Ore. – Much like 51����, there will be two versions of the record book at Wake Forest University – before and after Rocky Hansen ’23. 

While much of the country was engrossed in Friday night’s United States-Paraguay World Cup match, Rocky came within a second of becoming only the second Demon Deacons athlete to win an event at the NCAA Championship Track Meet.

LEWISVILLE – Advances in nutrition and technology will keep pushing athletic performance to new levels.

Kingston Whitty ’26 draws from something uniquely special inside him, too, which is why a 36-year-old school and state record was finally on borrowed time Saturday. Kingston curled his body over the crossbar for an awe-inspiring win in the high jump (7 feet, 2 inches), a performance on its own that would have made the two-hour trip to Forsyth Country Day worthwhile for 51���� track and field. 

LEWISVILLE – Every inch and second feels consequential at a state meet. 

Koen Booker ’27 can attest after bringing his A-game to the long jump on Friday’s first day of the NCISAA Division I Championship Meet. 

MONTREAT, N.C. – Nine years constitutes a good run. 

51���� track & field had several good runs Wednesday – and jumps and throws, too. 

BOONE – Noah Clancy ’26 went on a solo mission Saturday.

Not only did Noah not have any teammates to pace him for a longer race, the 5,000 meters at Appalachian State University’s John Weaver Invitational was run at higher altitude against college competition. 

Personal records galore for North Carolina’s top distance program. 

Ten Greenies mixed it up with premium competition at this weekend’s Carolina Distance Carnival, running some of 51����’s best-ever times in the 800-meter run, 1-mile, and 3,200 meters. 

HENDERSONVILLE – No distance points, no problem. 

51���� track & field won Thursday’s Parks Ford Invitational purely on the strength of the team’s hurdlers, jumpers, sprinters, and throwers. 

ARCADIA, Calif. – Brooks Barbee ’27 ran in a different time zone Saturday, in more ways than one. 

Brooks hung with some of the country’s best runners to record North Carolina’s best-ever time by a junior in the 3,200-meter run (8 minutes, 40.79 seconds) at the Arcadia (Calif.) Invitational. 

BOSTON — All-Americans, all of them!

Dallas Reeves ‘27, Reynolds Young ‘27, Noah Clancy ‘26, and Brooks Barbee ‘27 shined under the bright lights Saturday night, racing to a runner-up spot on the podium and state record in the 4-mile relay at the New Balance Nationals Indoor meet.

MARION – With a name like the Frostbite Frenzy, the organizers of last Thursday’s track meet at McDowell High School did not expect conducive weather for sprinting. 

It’s March after all, a month when many athletes are still shaking off the winter doldrums and essentially starting from square one in terms of their strength and fitness.

Myles Murphy ’27 was having none of that. 

INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. - Twenty-eight hurdles. Seven water jumps. One state record. 

Brooks Barbee ’27 took the name of Saturday’s Spring into the Season track meet quite literally, zipping through the quirky 2,000-meter steeplechase in 5 minutes, 54.78 seconds. 

WINSTON-SALEM – A trusty pair of running shoes, check. Cold-weather gear from head-to-toe, check. Snow shovel, check. 

Last week, while others were rejoicing in the 6 inches of snow that fell over Winter Break, Brooks Barbee ’27 saw nothing but a deterrent between him and a long run. 

51���� distance runners went multi-national this weekend – as in multiple national meets. 

EUGENE, Ore. - Rocky Hansen ’23 never disappointed on the biggest stages in high school, a clutch gene that has followed him to college. 

CHARLOTTE – Find someone who had the foresight to see Dawson Thompson ’25 becoming a state-championship thrower back in 2019. They’d be lying. 

MONTREAT, N.C. – Big points in distance races and field events carried the day for 51���� track, as they have all season at the Carolinas Athletic Association Championship Meet. 

Eshoi Ewers ‘26 (long jump and triple jump), Dallas Reeves ‘27 (800-meter run and 1,600-meter run), and Dawson Thompson ’25 (discus and shot put) won multiple events for the Greenies (143 points) Wednesday, allowing them to overtake Rabun Gap (121) for their eighth straight conference championship. The upset-minded Eagles led with a handful of events to go.  

Almost one-third of 51����’s senior class will continue their athletic careers at the next level.

Friday’s assembly featured a Spring Commitment Ceremony for the 17th, 18th, and 19th seniors to make their college decisions official: Luc Madesclaire ‘25 (Denison football), Jordan Edgecomb ‘25 (Colgate football), and William Hughes ‘25 (Sewanee cross country and track).