McNeese
State will have two standout javelin throwers looking for all-America honors in
next week's NCAA track and field championship meet in Eugene, OR.
Sam
Vidrine and Ben Chretien qualified last week with top 12 throws in the east
regionals in Greensboro, NC.
A
top eight finish for them in next week's meet will mean all-America status for
the Cowboys, something that only 13 others in McNeese history have achieved.
There
have been four in the 2000s, five in the 1990s, two in the 1980s and two in the
1970s.
The
very first was hurdler John Brasell who is also the only Cowboy to earn Division
I all-America honors twice, the first time in 1971 and the second in 1972.
The
others have been Edward Loyd (triple jump) in 1979, Stephen Starring (hurdles)
in 1982, Brian Cooper (sprints/jumps) in 1985, Kevin Toth (shot put) in 1991,
Michael St. Julien (high jump) 1993, Michael Roberson (high jump) 1996, Sarah
Salmon (distance) 1997, Samantha Chesson (javelin) 1997, Darrick Brown (long
jump) 2005, Michelle Rzepka (pole vault) 2006, Brad Gebauer (pole vault) 2007
and Chris Hill (javelin ) 2007.
It's
Brasell's career that Vidrine and Chretien would probably most like to emulate.
Brasell
was recruited out of Houma, LA by then Cowboy head coach Bob Hayes.
As
Hayes remembers, "John didn't have the most natural talent of the athletes we had on the team back then but he
certainly was the hardest worker.
No one was going to out work him.
"I
remember John and his Dad making a visit and talking about John coming
here. He wasn't highly recruited
out of high school but I decided to offer him and it was one of the best
decisions I ever made."
Brasell
recalls that the father of then Cowboy football player Larry Whatley, had made
a call to Hayes asking him to look at the prospect.
From
a rookie year with a 14.9 best in the high hurdles and 55.6 tops in the
intermediate hurdles, the 6-5 Brasell went on to establish McNeese records of
13.75 in the highs and 50.8 in the intermediates.
It
was during his junior and senior years that Brasell kicked his career into high gear.
"We
had a great group of hurdlers in the state during those years," said
Brasell. "There was Rodney Milburn
and Willie Davenport of Southern, Ricky Stubbs at Louisiana Tech and Roger Mann
at Louisiana-Monroe. Also, Thomas
Hill of Arkansas State was a Louisiana native. Going up against them you had to
be at your best."
Brasell
earned his first all-America honor with a fourth place finish in the
intermediate hurdles at the NCAA championship in 1971 and was awarded
all-America recognition the following year, the same year in which he
participated in both the high hurdles and the intermediate hurdles at the US
Olympic trials in Eugene.
"His
performance at the Olympic trials really got people to take a notice," said
Hayes. "Up to that point I don't think that many there really knew where
McNeese State was."
Brasell
didn't make the US team but he wasn't far behind the top three in either of the
events.
Also
during his collegiate career he participated in several USTFF championships,
running his career bests in both the highs and the intermediates at the meet in
Wichita, KN in 1972.
He
was his team's scoring leader in 1972 (12 first place efforts), the year that
McNeese competed as an independent, the Gulf States Conference having folded
the year before. McNeese
would join the Southland Conference for the 1972-73 season.
Brasell
earned his degree in Education at McNeese and then stayed on another year as a
graduate assistant to Hayes and received his master's degree.
"I
went to work with South Central Bell in my hometown of Houma," he said. "I
worked there, in New Orleans, back to Lake Charles and then was promoted in
1983 and moved to Atlanta with AT&T when they divested from the Bell
system."
Brasell
held management jobs in Atlanta and Raleigh, NC and moved to Basking Ridge, NJ
in 1993, remaining there until retirement in 2000, having achieved a vice
presidential position.
He
had earned a MBA in Finance from the University of Georgia while in Atlanta and
later a master's in project management from George Washington Univ.
After
his initial retirement he went to work with Comcast in Philadelphia as vice
president of operations in 2000 and later moved to Jacksonville, FL to managed
a Comcast region, where he is now.
Throughout
his career he continued his running and had also gotten into the management end
of track meets. He was the clerk
of course and a finish line official for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He's officiated track meets for the past
20 plus years and has been a part of three Olympics, as an athlete in 1972, as
a torch runner in 1984 and as an official in 1996.
"All
in all, I've had a very good career, been blessed with a healthy and loving
family and have traveled extensively throughout the US and some
internationally. I have backed off
running the last few years to keep my knees and back intact.
"I
enjoy playing golf as much as I did running and I play at least once a week
now. There are over 50 courses
here locally and I am trying to play them all."
