Brookville's Epperson digging deep for Group AA state title

Carpe diem.

Brookville senior Andrew Epperson had the Latin motivational phrase, which translates “Seize the day,” tattooed on his right biceps on New Year’s Eve Day.

He will try to live it out tonight on the first day of competition in the Group AA state track and field championships at Harrisonburg High, where he is seeded first by a full foot in the pole vault.

After finishing a disappointing third behind Jefferson Forest’s Josh Drablos and Jamestown’s Nick Durante at the Group AA indoor state meet at Liberty University on Feb. 28, despite being seeded first six inches ahead of both, Epperson is determined to go out on top.

He did just that at last weekend’s Region III meet at Broadway, where he broke his own school record and the meet high mark by clearing 15 feet, helping the Bees defend their team title.

“My adrenaline was just pumping and I just went for it,” said Epperson, who had previously cleared 14-6 to place third behind two Group AAA vaulters in the May 8 Southern Track Classic in Richmond. “The conditions were perfect.”

While senior teammate Shelley Parker seeks to defend her outdoor girls pole vault state title, after defending her indoor championship by clearing 11-0 at LU, Epperson won’t let on to just how much he wants his first state crown.

But after placing second in the 2008 indoor meet to Staunton River’s James Bell, now a decathlete at Lynchburg College, and fourth last spring, clearing 13-6, less than a foot behind Durante’s winning height of 14-3, he knows its within reach.

“I’m not going to look at it as a big meet,” said Epperson, who first set the school record at 13-6 as a sophomore. “I’m just going to have fun with it (and) give it my all.”

Bees first-year coach Andy Rollins, who replaced former LU decathlete and fellow Tennessee native Ramsey Moore, now coaching at Liberty Christian Academy, said Epperson is as prepared as possible.

“He’s peaking at the exact right time,” said Rollins, who cleared 16-7 before graduating with his master’s degree at LC last year, after never getting above 13-6 at a private high school in Chattanooga. “He came into the season with a PR of 13-9 and has steadily increased all year. He had a huge PR at regionals.”

Epperson is complemented by senior teammate Kyle Broda, who also achieved a PR in eclipsing 13-6 to finish third at the Region III meet behind Epperson (15-0) and Drablos (14-0).

“He doesn’t want to admit it, but I was the reason he cleared 15-0,” Broda said of Epperson. “I calmed him down, got his mind off the competition and got him to relax.”

Broda has a knack for that, as he showed at the Seminole District meet two weeks ago at Amherst, where he lied flat on the runway in front of the pit and stared up at the standards and the sky before his third and final attempt at 13-6.

“They made me relax because I get kind of crazy sometimes,” Broda said of his coaches.

Moments earlier, after finding out it was not his turn but Epperson’s to race down the runway toward the pit, he shouted, “Oh man, I was zoned.”

“He’s definitely the comic relief of the group,” Rollins said. “He does his own thing. I just leave him alone.”

Broda wore a mini tribal mask on his necklace after Wednesday’s practice, an expression of his inner personality and passion for the sport.

“I’m like a mighty warrior, except without the tattoos,” Broda said. “Andrew has to use track meets to get adrenaline. I’m just like pure adrenaline.”

Epperson will have all the adrenaline he needs tonight, when he can fully focus on the pole vault after also winning the high jump at the Seminole meet, an event he narrowly missed state qualifying in at the Region III meet.

“Fifteen’s the highest I’ve gone,” Epperson said. “I think I can get higher. At regionals, I was getting a little tired.”

“Sometimes, he doesn’t vault too well in practice and in meets he vaults really well,” Broda added. “I’m kind of the opposite in that regard. Sometimes I jump really well in practice and not good in meets.”

The Bees as a team could contend for a state championship after qualifying 12 guys and eight girls from the Region III meet.

“At the region meet, most people had PR performances or close to it, which was great,” Rollins said, noting senior Logan Thomas PR’d in the shot put, discus, high jump and 110 and 300 hurdles, winning all but the shot. “He’s definitely made a name for himself in track and field.

“It was a really good meet for us,” he added. “They did great and we’re hoping they can do it one more time. If everyone does their absolute best, we’ve got a great shot (of winning state). I’m not going to say it’s going to happen, but the possibility’s always there. We’ll see how the points play out. It’s never a guaranteed thing (but) it could happen.”

That is, if the Bees can seize the day, both tonight and Saturday, on the track and in the field.