Chandler pays tribute to late coach Williams by repeating as national champions, this time defeating Western Branch

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

The mission didn’t change for the Chandler High girls track and field team this season. The goal remained to be the best program, not only in Arizona, but the entire country.

But on March 28, the Wolves’ purpose and inspiration to reach those goals became much greater.

Ted Williams, the throws coach at Chandler for 21 years, passed away that day at age 59 from cardiac arrest.

From that point forward, the Wolves’ season became dedicated to “field and track.”

So, it was only fitting that it was another exceptional performance in the six field events that carried Chandler to a 71-61 victory over Western Branch VA and back-to-back hypothetical DyeStat dual meet national championships.

CHANDLER TAKES A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE BY FACING WESTERN BRANCH

“I wasn’t a thrower, but I knew coach Ted for eight years through club track. In a way, his passing brought our team closer together. Everyone knew he was an amazing coach: throwers, distance, everybody. We dedicated the rest of our season to him and called it ‘Field and Track’ because that’s always what he called it,” said UCLA signee Jai Gruenwald, who helped Chandler win its third consecutive Arizona Interscholastic Association Division 1 title and 12th in 13 years.

“It was motivation because everything we did was for him. We had a new sense of pride and a reason to do things right, the practices, the championships, the titles, it was all for him. We have a big team and we don’t agree very often, but in that moment we all decided that the rest of the season was for coach Ted.”

Anne Menlove, who had been coached by Williams since her youth track days and worked alongside him as an assistant for four years, took over the coaching duties for the Chandler throwers the remainder of the season and the trio of Samantha Ponds, Ciera Jackson and Makayla Hunter continued to be one of the strongest in the nation.

“I really have to commend Anne for that because Ted and I had been together for 28 years,” Chandler girls coach Eric Richardson said. “It was a mega-loss for her because it was like losing a second father because they had been together for so long. She has that drive and determination and that ‘I’m not taking anything less than the best attitude,’ so things remained status quo. It wasn’t a big change because of a different philosophy, it was exactly the same, and that’s a testament to her because it had to be tough on her, as well as super tough on the kids.”

Ponds won the shot put and discus throw in all five rounds, with opponents only managing a combined two second-place finishes and a pair of third-place results the entire tournament against Jackson and Hunter.

“That was crazy how well they did, all things considered,” Chandler distance coach Matt Lincoln said. “They took it pretty hard at the beginning, but it was definitely fuel to the fire for them in the end. They just didn’t want to let him down toward the end of the year.”

The Wolves’ field-event success wasn’t just limited to the throwers, as Chandler also prevailed in the long jump, triple jump and pole vault in every round, in addition to winning the high jump in three of five matchups, including the semifinals against DeSoto TX and tying for first place against Western Branch.

Diamond Black, Teryah Payne and Gruenwald – the state record holder in the long jump at 20-6.75 (6.26m) – led the way in the horizontal jumps, with fellow senior Raven Jordan providing significant points in the pole vault and sophomore Kimarah Holt holding her own in the high jump.

“I think Chandler has been great for so many years because of the dedicated coaching staff,” Gruenwald said. “Also, there are high expectations on the team. Expectations to work hard, be prepared, encourage each other and ultimately, to win championships. The coaches have been here so long that they have created a legacy; they know what to do and how to train us to help us be at our best.”

Gruenwald produced one of the best performances by any athlete in state meet history by winning four individual titles – 100-meter hurdles, 300 hurdles, long jump and triple jump – to lead the Wolves to a 185 to 74.5 victory over Desert Vista.

“Jai’s a beast. During club season, she ran 11.9 in the 100, but I don’t think she ran more than one open 100 for us all season because she was so focused on the jumps and hurdles,” Lincoln said. “She’s unbelievable across the board. Having someone like Jai makes everything a little easier when it comes to the big meets like that because she is so good.”

Gruenwald also provided valuable points throughout the tournament in both hurdles events, despite facing some of the country’s elite athletes against DeSoto and Western Branch.

“It feels awesome to know that I was able to contribute to my team and help us win. It was a blessing to win four individual events, but knowing that it helped my team made it even better,” Gruenwald said. “We did lose some talented athletes (from last year), but we also gained some which was great. I’m just glad I could be a part of this national championship.”

Based on the 80 points alone accumulated by seniors Haley Wolf, Ponds and Gruenwald at the state championship, Chandler would have won the title.

“Between Matt’s group and the field, they held us up this year,” Richardson said. “In the past, we’ve stood on our sprints, relays, jumps and hurdles, but we’re extremely young now in the sprints and we’re developing some new kids, so while we were doing that, the field and distance folks held strong and we were going to ride them this year until the wheels fell off.”

The addition of Wolf, a transfer from Desert Vista, and the return of junior Morgan Foster to the lineup after she was involved in a serious car accident during the winter helped Chandler remain both deep and formidable in the distance events, with the Wolves winning the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 in every round.

With the Oregon State-bound Wolf, Mihajla Milovanovic and Becca Taylor, Chandler swept the 3,200 against all five opponents.

“Haley was a tremendous addition to the team in terms of her ability to go out there and put up good marks in multiple events and help on a relay,” Lincoln said. “She was on board from the beginning and she bought into the program right away and was great to everyone on the team.

“And anytime you can add someone like Morgan back into the mix, it makes a big difference. I think that was one of the things that helped Haley as well toward the end to have someone else in workouts to push her. It just brought everyone back together again. It was like, ‘We’ve got her back and we’re ready to go.’”

Added Gruenwald: “We already had a pretty strong distance team thanks to Coach Matt, but Haley and Morgan were the cherry on top.”

After winning the only two editions of Nike Track Nationals in 2010 and 2011, Chandler found its way back to the top for a second straight year in the dual meet tournament. The feat was even more impressive considering the Wolves graduated Anaya Bailey, Tiana Poirier-Shelton and LaMeyah Charlton from what many believe to be the deepest team in program history, in addition to Jayde Charlton transferring to Division 2 state champion North Canyon.

“This year was just a true, well-rounded track program in every single facet,” Lincoln said. “We had throwers, we had jumpers, we had distance and we had sprints. You couldn’t find somewhere where we were really weak.”

Tournament Bracket 

First round  BOYS | GIRLS

Second round  BOYS | GIRLS

Regional semifinals  BOYS | GIRLS

Regional finals BOYS | GIRLS

DUAL MEET CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

Chandler AZ 71, Western Branch VA 61

Inspired all season to perform in the final year leading the program for veteran coach Claude Toukene, Western Branch battled all the way until the last race, but it wasn’t enough for the Bruins to overcome the field-event strength and distance prowess of two-time national champion Chandler.

The Wolves won all six field events and outscored Western Branch by a combined 43-7 margin in an effort to neutralize the Bruins’ superior sprints, hurdles and relays.

Western Branch relied on Shadajah Ballard, Na’Taja Ballard, Jazmine Tilmon, Adriana Shockley, Jessica Tucker and Shardonnay Nichols to win both relays, sweep the 100, along with placing first and second in the 200, 400, 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles.

But even the Bruins’ 54-28 advantage in the 10 track events wasn’t enough to rally for the title.

Western Branch pulled as close as 62-56 following the 200, but Chandler responded with Haley Wolf, Mihajla Milovanovic and Becca Taylor sweeping the 3,200 to secure the championship repeat, despite the Bruins winning the 4x400 relay.

Wolf doubled in the 1,600 and 3,200, in addition to placing third in the 800 behind victorious teammate Morgan Foster to give the Wolves another impressive distance showcase when they needed it most.

Samantha Ponds was victorious again in the shot put and discus, with teammates Ciera Jackson and Makayla Hunter completing the shot put sweep.

Jai Gruenwald and Diamond Black combined to take the top two spots in both the long jump and triple jump for Chandler, with Raven Jordan winning the pole vault unopposed and Kimarah Holt tying Western Branch’s Joellen Driscoll for first place in the high jump. 

Meet Results