Arhmad Branch loves the sand pit at Herculaneum.
Two weeks in a row, the Festus senior broke school records in the long jump and triple jump at Herky.
The long jump mark fell first as Branch leaped 6.89 meters (just over 22.6 feet) to win the event at the 75th annual Mineral Area Relays on April 1.
Five days later, at a quadrangular hosted by Herculaneum, Branch triple-jumped 14.16 meters (46.46 feet) for another Tiger record. That same day, he also won the long jump (6.62) and the 400-meter run (51.61) and placed second behind teammate Reece Johnson in the 200 (23.14).
It’s almost enough to make you forget that the versatile Branch is an all-state talent in football – a sport he’ll continue playing this fall at Purdue University – and an all-conference MVP point guard in basketball.
“He’s wanted the triple jump record for a while and he’s been dedicated to his training,” said Festus head coach Chris Partney, who put the pieces in place to win meet titles at Herculaneum twice. “He’s got a lot more in him. You could see it (the record) in the air and you could see where he landed.”
The Tigers scored 237.5 points to dominate the quad, which actually had five teams – Fox, Jackson and Farmington along with the Tigers and Blackcats. Senior Ian Schram won the 1,600 again, as he had at the relays, this time clocking 4:19.06, a new PR, while also taking the crown in the 800 in 1:56.71. With fellow Tiger senior Cullen Krieg pushing Schram every step of the way, look for this pair to fill half of the defending-state-champion 4x800 relay and score state points after they’ve got their diplomas in hand.
“We’ve got five guys under 2:05 in the 800. That’s great for our program,” Partney said.
Pole vaulting is another Festus specialty and senior Austin Johnson will challenge for a high place at state. Johnson wasn’t able to vault at the relays because of high winds, but in the quad he cleared 3.96 to edge out Herculaneum senior Michael Moloney, second at 3.65. Moloney was sixth in the state in Class 3 in 3.79 last year. The upcoming JCAA competition in the event should be a doozy.
Completing the dominating performance in the field for the Tigers at the quad was senior Tyler Shepherd, who won the javelin in 44.59 over junior teammate Cody Evans (43.92). Shepherd also won the shot in 13.50.
Partney’s got some tricks up his sleeve and the midseason addition of sprinter Essien Smith makes the Tigers an even stronger contender in Class 4. Of course, Hillsboro will have something to say about that. I’ve only seen the Hawks in action once this year. They’re better than Festus in the hurdles and equal in the distance runs while Festus is deeper in the throws and can drop Branch like a bomb over the jumps. It’s going to be fun.
From what I heard – I was in Imperial covering the Windsor girls soccer tournament – it took a herculean effort for Herculaneum officials to organize the quad, which had around 500 athletes and more than a dozen heats in certain events.
“It’s equally balanced in talent and everyone walked away and said it was the best meet of the year,” Partney said. “It was a fantastic meet. It’s a great midseason meet where we get a look at everybody’s times and distances.”
Coaching changes continue
Seckman has job vacancies for its boys and girls basketball head coaching positions after Tim Meeks (girls) and Travis Williams (boys) resigned from those jobs at the end of the 2022-2023 season.
Meeks replaced Brian Metteer before the 2020-2021 season and had a previous stint as the Jags’ head coach from 2008 through 2011. The 1985 Northwest graduate also has coached basketball at Fox and Northwest. After posting a record of 10-34 in their first two seasons under Meeks, the Jaguars finished 15-12 this year.
Williams coached the Seckman boys to a record of 60-119 in his seven seasons. The Jaguars had one winning season, going 16-8 in 2021-2022. Seckman’s chances at a second straight winning record this winter were severely hampered when senior Anthony Westervelt was injured during football season and didn’t play basketball until February. He still almost equaled the 14 points per game he’d averaged as a junior.