Glorious legacy
Brookhaven’s closing will end its remarkable run as home of state champions, as well as college and pro stars
An Olympic gold medalist in track and field once scurried through its halls. So did a five-time major league baseball 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.
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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 smallschool 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 Colunbus 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 team 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 AllAmerican 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
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