Benedictine's Brandon Boyd, inspired by Bengals' greats, closes with solid 400 third at Division II state track and field
Jun. 6—Brandon Boyd is keenly aware of the responsibility that is donning that familiar blue and white at the state track and field meet.
Benedictine has a rich lineage in the sport, of course, and the senior wanted to do his part before his turn was over.
Consider that objective achieved.
Boyd was a solid third in Division II 400 on June 4 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus with a time of 48.84 seconds.
He is the third Bengals' 400/440 runner in school history to crack the top four at state, along with Leonard Collins, who was third in Class AA in 1976 back when it was a 440-yard race, and Justin Fraley, who won the 1999 D-II 400 state title in the event.
The student-athletes who traverse the halls on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Cleveland know all about those who preceded them. So for Boyd, that was part of the reward for getting on the podium.
"It feels good just putting us back on the map," Boyd said. "Justin Layne and some big names coming out, I just wanted to be one of them.
"(Seeing Layne and Jerome Baker competing in track and field) let me know that I could do multiple sports. Even though they're in the NFL, they can show out on the track in different spots and different areas."
Layne, about to enter his fourth season as a cornerback for the Steelers, was a state qualifier in 400 and long jump as a senior in 2016. Baker, a standout linebacker for the Dolphins and 2021 Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee, didn't log an individual-event state track and field berth. But he, too, was an impressive performer in sprints, long jump and sprint relays.
In an era of specialization, Boyd is a prime example of the benefits of competing in track and field in addition to football, in a sense like Layne and Baker before him.
"I just feel like more people should come out and run track," Boyd said. "Track, it helps with everything. Football, basketball. Lot of endurance. It helped me during football, and track, too. I just felt like I got better running track."
In his D-II final run, amid his second straight state appearance after advancing as an at-large in 2021, Boyd gave himself a chance on the homestretch.
Benjamin Logan's Brady Burrey pulled away late to win the title with a 48.45, but Boyd nearly got himself into second, .08 off Columbus Eastmoor's Isaiah Pressley.
Boyd is the ninth Benedictine 400 runner to qualify for state all-time and joins Collins as the lone Bengals to make multiple trips to state in that event.
Amid a rich lineage, consider an objective achieved.
"I got a good start, getting off the curve," Boyd said. "I got caught on the backstretch, but I still finished strong. I tried to move toward the 150. It was kind of late, and it may not have been the time that I wanted, but I could have turned it on there and got a better place. But I'm still kind of satisfied."
