Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE pionship by winning the triple jump in a state meet record (51 feet, one-half inch), winning the long jump (23-9), and finishing second in the 200-meter dash (21.9 seconds), while also com- peting as a member of the state cham- pion 400-meter relay team. And as a senior, Brown scored his second state championship in the tri- ple jump (49-5), and added second- place finishes in the 100 (10.81), the 200 (21.6) and the high jump (6-6). Remarkably, Brown scored 34 indi- vidual points as a senior at the 2012 state championships, a score that would've been good enough to place seventh if he competed all by himself. Brown finished his track career hav- ing competed in six different events at the state meet, and set five Hanahan school track records along the way, four of which still stand: 100-meter dash (10.5); high jump (6-10); long jump (23-9); and triple jump (51-1). Brown's triple-jump school record was the best mark of any high school ath- lete in the country that season. "I think Chris Brown is the best track athlete to come out of South Carolina, ever, and there have been some great athletes from this state," said Pratt, who was a football coach on the Woodruff High School team in Woodruff, S.C., that featured future Irish quarterback Tony Rice. Brown added to his tremendous track success a terrific football career that earned him scholarship options in both sports. A Notre Dame foot- ball offer was accompanied by a full track scholarship to Alabama and a chance to work under legendary coach Dick Booth, who helped Mike Conley Sr. and Christian Taylor win Olympic gold medals in the triple jump. But filled with a passion for foot- ball and a love of team sports — but mainly out of a loyalty to his high school coach — Brown surprisingly and fully retired from track and put all of his efforts into football only, instead of trying to juggle both sports at Notre Dame. "Once I got to Notre Dame," Brown said, "I wanted to focus on football because I just didn't have that love of track without the person that inspired me to do it in the first place." The mutual appreciation between a coach and a player — a mentor and an understudy — was on emotional dis- play Oct. 23 (Notre Dame's bye week- end), under the Friday night lights at the high school, during halftime of Hanahan's game when Brown helped to present Pratt with the 2015 South Carolina Coach of the Year award from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Brown also stood beside Pratt that night when the announcement was made that the legendary track coach was retiring after 30 years in the coach- ing business. "Having Chris there [for the pre- sentation] is what made that night so special," Pratt said. "That meant the world to me." And even more to Chris Brown. ✦ Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com