Looking back to May 2014: Brookhaven High School's glorious legacy comes to a close

Editor's note: This story originally appeared in The Dispatch on May 18, 2014, and is being reposted now that 20 Columbus City Schools buildings face potential closure. Brookhaven closed May 29, 2014.

An Olympic gold medalist in track and field once scurried through its halls. So did a five-time MLB All-Star, a two-time NFL Pro Bowl selection, NBA and WNBA players and a small army of former and current college standouts.

Brookhaven High School will close in a couple of weeks, a victim of declining enrollment and budget cuts in Columbus City Schools. But what a ride it has been. From its inception in 1963, the school tucked behind a row of trees off Karl Road, carved out an unrivaled legacy in athletics that continued to thrive though segregation, busing, the decline of a neighborhood and the advent of charter schools and city-wide open enrollment.

The school is packed with trophies from its City League, Central District and state championship teams and its athletes always have been and remain in the public eye. But some Bearcats greats wonder if their many achievements will be forgotten as time goes by.

How many sports fans younger than 50 can recall the school colors, mascots and accolades of North and Central high schools, which were closed in 1979 and 1982, respectively? Even the mention of Wehrle, which won four small-school state boys basketball titles before closing in 1991, is met with shrugged shoulders by some.

“I really, really hate to say this, but the reality is people today have short memories. I can’t say for sure that everyone will remember Brookhaven 25 years from now,” said Tom Blake, who was football coach from 2003 to ’07 and spent 15 years there. In 2004, his team won the Division II title – an unprecedented feat among City League football teams.

“Generations just don’t talk about this stuff that happened in the past,” he said. “We’re in a society that is saturated by athletics, and with so many things going on, it’s easy for history to fade away. Hopefully, people will remember us for a while. This was a pretty special place.”

Emotions about the closure have run the gamut. Some reluctantly concede that Columbus schools officials made the correct choice in shutting down an aging building with substandard facilities. But some with deep ties wonder why Brookhaven, among others, was singled out among high schools.

“The rich athletic tradition alone should have been reason enough for Columbus to revitalize the school,” said Moushaumi Robinson, who attended Columbus Alternative but ran track for Brookhaven from 1996 to ’99. She and Khalilah Carpenter powered the Bearcats to a Division I title in 1998 and a runner-up finish in ’99.

“I don’t understand why they didn’t rezone or sacrifice another school. I realize that this has been discussed for the past few years, but that doesn’t take away the disappointment of it all. So many people came out of there that went on to do phenomenal things in sports and in life. … People can’t forget Brookhaven. It’s our responsibility now to keep the legacy alive.”

Robinson was a six-time NCAA champion and an honor student at the University of Texas. She won a gold medal as a member of the United States’ 1,600-meter relay at the 2004 Olympics. She is only one of a number of renowned athletes to wear the blue and gold:

• In baseball, Paul O’Neill (’81) won five World Series rings with the New York Yankees and Cincinnati Reds, won an American League batting title and made five All-Star teams in a 17-year career.
• In football, Terry Glenn (’92) won a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots, was a two-time Pro Bowl choice and rookie of the year. His former Ohio State teammate Marlon Kerner (’91) played four seasons for the Buffalo Bills. Charles “June” Henley (’93) played one season with the St. Louis Rams, and Jeff Cumberland (’04) is a tight end for the New York Jets.
• In basketball, Chris Johnson (’08) spent this past season with the Boston Celtics after a fine career at Dayton. Jamelle Cornley (’05) and Ron Lewis (’02) are playing professionally overseas. Andrew Lavender (’03) was a McDonald’s All-American who played overseas.
• Two Brookhaven girls basketball players, Helen Darling (’96) and Brittany Hunter (’03), were McDonald’s All-Americans. Hunter was named Ms. Basketball. After starring at Penn State, Darling spent 10 seasons with four teams in the WNBA. After transferring from Duke, Hunter endured an injury-riddled career at Connecticut.
• In track, Carpenter (’01) is recognized as one of the greatest sprinters in Ohio track history. She won nine gold medals in state competition and still holds the all-divisions state record in the 100 meters (11.59 seconds) and a regional record in the 200. She went on to run at South Carolina.

From the beginning, Brookhaven asserted itself as an athletic powerhouse. It started when the Bearcats won the Central District championship in boys cross country in 1964.

“Right from the start, we were at the head of the class in the City League in cross country, tennis, wrestling and golf,” said Ralph Marinello, a 1965 graduate who went on to win three Big Ten track titles at Ohio State. “It wasn’t much longer when we caught up in the major sports. We were a neighborhood school then, of course, so when the Northland building went up (in 1966), our quick rise was sort of cut in half. We endured that, though, and built up some great programs.”

Brookhaven eventually would be best known for its success in football, basketball and track.

The football team turned the corner in 1985 and embarked on a run in which it lost just 30 games in City League play over its final 29 seasons. During that span, the Bearcats made the playoffs 15 times, including state semifinal appearances in 1990, 1991 and 2003.

The 2004 team was one for the ages, ending when Brookhaven knocked off defending champion Avon Lake 42-21 in the title game to cap a 15-0 season. The fast, athletic Bearcats outscored their opponents 577-98.

“The most impressive thing about that championship is the fact that we’re still the only public-school team from Columbus, Cleveland or Cincinnati to win a state title on the field,” Blake said.

Gregg Miller was the architect of the program during its glory years, coaching the team from 1986 to 2002. He plans to retire next fall after his fifth season at Mifflin.

“At Mifflin, I’ve tried to instill the same sort of things I did at Brookhaven, but they don’t quite get it,” said Miller, who went 130-58 as the Bearcats’ coach. “Everybody bought in at Brookhaven, and they had high expectations there year in year out regardless of how many seniors graduated the year before. Those kids always had a championship mentality, and not only in football.”

The boys basketball tradition was built by Dick Meloy, who went 242-118 from 1972 to ’89.

But it wasn’t until 1992 when an ambitious first-year coach, Bruce Howard, took the helm that Brookhaven asserted itself as one of Ohio’s elite programs. The Bearcats rolled to an unprecedented 13 straight City League-North titles (1994 to 2006), seven consecutive district championships (2000 to ’06) and four straight appearances in the Division I state final four (2001 to ’04). The state tournament teams went a combined 103-7.

In 2002, Brookhaven defeated Cincinnati Winton Woods 66-49 to win its only state title, capping a 27-1 season. Six members of that team went on to play Division I college basketball.

The program’s prolific run of success came with a jolt felt throughout central Ohio. During a tournament in Orlando, Florida, in January 2003, Howard collapsed outside the locker room.

After emergency surgery, it was determined that he was suffering from cirrhosis. After handing over coaching duties to assistant Drew Williams, he watched the team reach the state title game. Less than a month later, Howard died of liver failure. He was 43.

Hali Robinson, a longtime track coach and girls assistant, took the reins for the final 11 seasons, guiding the team to five 20-victory seasons and one state appearance.

The girls basketball team made its mark under demanding coach Reggie Lee, whose teams went 515-155 and won seven district titles from 1982 to 2011. The shining moment came in 1996, when Brookhaven capped a 28-0 season by defeating Wooster 56-46 for the Division I championship. Darling and Kahli Carter were the stars on a team that prided itself on pressure defense.

Robinson, an assistant for Lee, said winning the state championship wasn’t his greatest memory.

“Beating Pickerington in the regionals (59-52) was the moment I’ll cherish most because that was a team that was the benchmark for girls basketball at the time, and to knock off that team and Dave Butcher – who is the regarded as the greatest coach in Ohio history – showed us that we had really arrived,” Robinson said.

Lee takes pride that so many of the students who came through Brookhaven made their mark outside of athletics.

“They weren’t just great athletes. They’re out doing great things in the world right now,” he said. “If I had to pinpoint one thing that made Brookhaven special, it was that we had outstanding leadership from the top down and some coaches that really carried the tempo of the building.”

From the school’s inception, the track program excelled. Until his retirement in 1982, the late Mark Whitaker was one of the most esteemed coaches in the area. Scott Wallick became Brookhaven’s first NCAA champion, winning the indoor pole vault for Miami University in 1971.

Marv Whiting and Hali Robinson guided their respective boys and girls teams to many team and individual titles.

The high point came in the late 1990s with the girls teams, powered by Carpenter and Moushaumi Robinson. In 1998, Brookhaven shared the Division I title with Cleveland Collinwood; the following year, the Bearcats were runner-up to Collinwood.

During the height of Brookhaven’s success, some rivals were quick to point out that it drew the best athletes in Columbus via open enrollment. That cannot be denied. Given a choice, players flocked to hot teams and coaches.

Even so, no one will deny that there was something special about Brookhaven, from its mix-and-match basketball uniforms to the students’ colorful cheers. The school always was in the spotlight, whether in triumph or tragedy. The deaths of Howard, football star Jayson Gwinn (car accident) and track standout Jimmy Greggs (drive-by shooting) shook the community.

“People think of Brookhaven because of sports, but even though we came from many different parts of town, we were an extremely tight bunch,” said former football star Maurice Hall, a 2002 graduate who went on to play at Ohio State.

“I was senior class president, and I knew every single person I graduated with. We had terrific teachers and coaches who really embraced us and often served as role models and parental figures. Who knows what will happen with all the trophies and team pictures, but these relationships we formed will last forever.”

Darling said Brookhaven always will hold a place in her heart. Many of her relatives also attended the school.

“We had a core group of people there that was so cool,” she said. “The teachers and administrators set the tone for the building. That’s why so many people wanted to go there. We had a unity and closeness that I don’t think most of the other (Columbus) schools had.”

The trophies will remain in the building for as long as it remains open, said Vincent Clarno, director of student activities for Columbus schools. The majority of Brookhaven’s students are expected to migrate to Mifflin and Beechcroft.

Closing day will be sad even for some of Brookhaven’s rivals. During a boys basketball game, Northland’s students honored their neighborhood rival with a familiar Brookhaven cheer.

“Brookhaven was the benchmark for a lot of teams in a lot of sports,” said former Northland boys basketball coach Satch Sullinger. “You worked your tail off to try to beat Brookhaven, and when you did, they were moments you always remembered.

“To a lot of people around Columbus, this is like losing an old friend. There’s a whole lot of history – positive history, that we’re losing.”