Braverman rallying from losses, contender for handful of 2A state titles

The No. 50 has rattled around in Josh Braverman’s head a lot lately. It has most of the season.

“That’s my goal,” Braverman said in March, before the first race of the year had even been run. “I’m trying to get there.”

He has three days and four events to get there. Braverman, a junior, is a contender to be River Ridge High School’s 50th track and field state champion.

“Every kid wants to be No. 50 because River Ridge is where it’s at, I think, for track, and everyone wants to be on the top in the top school,” he said in March. “Your name’s going to be there forever and no one can take that away from you.”

Flash forward two months, and Braverman is on the cusp of being No. 50. He’s qualified for the Class 2A track and field state championships, which begin Thursday, in the 200-meter dash, 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles and long jump.

He could be No. 50. He could also be Nos. 51, 52 and 53.

“He’s got everything right in front of him,” River Ridge coach Phil Lonborg said. “…He gets to write a new chapter this week, and we’ll find out how it ends.”

The last chapter wasn’t what Braverman envisioned.

Much of his track season has been clouded by the deaths of three family members during the last three months. His great aunt died early this year, and his maternal grandmother and grandfather both died within a three-week span this month.

“It’s been really hard,” Braverman said. “I was sad about it, but it was more just realizing — wow, that actually happened. There’s really nothing you can do about it except to accept that it happened.”

Braverman said he still wanted to run — he didn’t take a break from track.

“I just had to keep pushing through it, and now I’m at the end,” he said. “This is the last stretch, I’ve got to give it my all.”

He’s retooled his focus after a trio of losses at the 2A West Central District championships last weekend in Bremerton. Braverman is still the top-ranked 2A hurdler in the state, but took second in the 300 hurdles qualifier to Sequim’s Oscar Herrera.

“I was just so accustomed to winning that I didn’t think it was possible (to lose),” Braverman said. “I kind of slacked up on the curve and didn’t give it what I usually give it. … That’s not going to happen at state.”

He also took third in both the long jump and 200.

“What he found out last week is he’s got a lot of competition,” Lonborg said.

Last weekend ended — hopefully — what both parties would consider a tough stretch.

“He kind of lost his way, lost his fire a little bit,” Lonborg said. “It’s not that his performance has been bad, but right now my goal is for him to be the best Josh he can.”

Braverman’s focus started to dwindle after the team returned from the Oregon Relays in Eugene in April.

“As we rolled into Oregon, his work ethic was super,” Lonborg said.

There’s a piece of paper in Lonborg’s office at River Ridge — “Joshua Top 10” — that lists the top 10 Division I programs Braverman wants to compete for.

No. 1 on the list is Oregon.

That’s where much of his mother’s family lives, and that’s where his late family members wanted to watch him play football and compete in track and field.

“That’s been a big part of the motivation to get to Oregon,” Braverman said. “When I was hanging out with them, they were always telling me, ‘You’ve got to get to the Oregon Ducks, so I can see you run and play there in the cool uniforms, and see my baby boy doing good.’”

To press his spikes into the rubber at Hayward Field in April was surreal, he said. He often compares film of his races to Oregon’s Devon Allen — the 2014 NCAA champion in the 110 hurdles.

Braverman set school records in the 110 hurdles (14.06 seconds) and 300 hurdles (38.17) this season. He also tied the 110 record at the 52nd Shaner Invitational, and set a new one at the 2A SPSL/Seamount sub-district meet two weeks ago.

He said he’s eyeing a handful of state records before his high school career is over next year, but his primary goal remains the same.

“I’ve got to get to Oregon,” he said.

Plenty of work yet to be done to make that a reality.

“We call it a process — stay the course, be humble, be a great teammate,” Lonborg said. “I’ve really spent some time breaking things down with him and talking to him. I want you to respect your craft and respect your sport and technique.”

Braverman said he’s revamped. He’s ready.

“Nothing like what happened at districts is going to happen this meet, it’s going to be a lot better,” Braverman said. “I’ve got my mindset right and got refueled after the losses.”

He said his late family members planned to come to Mount Tahoma High School to watch him compete. He believes they’ll still be watching — just from a different seat.

“You’ve just got to move on and just know that they’re watching you,” he said. “You’ve just got to shine for them.”

They are who he’ll be thinking about.

“That’s usually what pops in my head right before I get in the blocks,” Braverman said. “The longer I think about it, the more determined and motivated I get. If they hold me down there for a while, that might be a really good thing.”

This story was originally published May 25, 2016 at 8:27 PM with the headline "Braverman rallying from losses, contender for handful of 2A state titles."