The Virginia-bound twins are stars on and off the lacrosse field. Huntington coach Steve Muller regards the Brattons as the best athletes he has coached in his 19 years on the job. Check out this recollection from Muller about how athletic the Brattons are:
"Nothing illustrates that better than the day he saw them take a few running steps and jump over a Hyundai in the school’s parking lot," Thamel wrote. "Muller was stunned, and petrified by the thought of a potential injury.
"'That’s great,'" he recalled telling them. "'But never do that again.'"
Speaking of 'The NYT': Nice timing by Karen Crouse of The New York Times, writing a Jenn Stuczynski piece in advance of the the pole vaulter's latest triumph.
Stuczynski, a former Fredonia High all-purpose athlete who went on to an OK basketball career at a relatively obsure upstate NAIA school, cleared 16 feet Saturday at the Reebok Grand Prix at Randall's Island.
It was the first time an American woman cleared 16-0 and ranks second all-time to Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia, who reached 16-4 3/4 two years ago.
Extra points: Allison Stokke, the California pole vaulter whose popularity on the Internet made her front-page news in The Washington Post last week, finished fourth in her high school state meet Saturday. Stokke cleared 12-10, well below her PR of 13-7. The title went to Tori Anthony of Palo Alto's Castilleja High, who set a national high school outdoor record of 14-1.
