Bradley Technical Preseason Practice

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at Milwaukee Lynde & Harry Bradley Technology & Trade School
Special Note from June 6, 2009: Bradley Technical Was the 2009 D1 State Champion
Milwaukee Tech

Division: 1
Enrollment: 1579
Coach: Ken Williams
Conference: Milwaukee City
Conference Schools: Arts, Bay View, Bradley Technical, Custer, Hamilton, King, Madison, Marshall, Metropolitan, North, Northwest, Pulaski, Riverside, Ronald Reagan College Prep, School of Languages, South, Vincent, Washington, and Conservatory of Lifelong Learning
Notes: Ken Williams girls team was the '08 D1 state runnerup
Above right: Coach Ken Williams is the head boys and girls track and field coach at Milwaukee Bradley Tech.

Left: Jasmyn Hudgins is a senior sprinter at Tech. Below [L-R]: Jasmyn Hudgins [SR], Symona Gregory [SR], Dezerea Bryant [SO], and Sharonda York [SR].



Back for '09: The Tech relay team that set a W/TFA record in the 4x2 on April 5 during the indoor '08 season returns for this season - Dezerea Bryant, Symona Gregory, Sharonda York and Jasmyn Hudgins. On May 31 the team set a State Record at the WIAA State Meet. Jasmyn Hudgins placed second in both the 100m and 200m dash events at the 2008 State Meet. At the 2007 State Meet Hudgins took 2nd in the 100m and was the WIAA Champion in the 200m dash.

The pictures above were taken by Larry Scheunemann at the 2008 Waukesha North D1 Sectional

The Lynde & Harry Bradley Technology and Trade School was completed in 2002 and was made possible by the vision and generous support of Lynde and Harry Bradley, Jane Pettit Bradley, The Bradley Foundation, and other civic and cooporate leaders in Milwaukee. The well designed building has a spacious commons area with an immense American flag in the atrium entrance area. An artificial football/soccer field was completed in 2008. The track team will sometimes bus [distance runners run] to the field house at Milwaukee South High School for workouts. When the weather warms the Tech athletes use the Marquette University outdoor track and field complex near the Potawotami gaming area.


400m runner Tahje Whittley [left,SO] placed 6th in the D1 400m event at the 2008 State Meet.

Bradley Tech 800m runner Tiffany Matthews [right, JR].


Ken Williams has been a teacher at Milwaukee Tech for 30 years. He has coached girls basketball and boys and girls track for 28 years as well as guiding the National Honor Society and student government at Tech. His '95 boys team was D1 champion and the '97 boys team was D1 State runnerup while his girls team was the 2008 D1 State runnerup. Prior to practice Coach Williams issued a challenge to his athletes. He said that they might be the greatest at text messaging but that they had a ways to go to be champions and now was 'the time to train.'

Warmups were led by Sharonda York [above left], Jasmyn Hudgins [above right], and Symona Gregory. Hudgins plans to attend Indiana State University for track while Gregory will participate in track at Youngstown State University.

After warmups all athletes participated in the 3-2-1 circuit training. Coach Kevin Wildes boys basketball team was using the gym to prepare for a sectional basketball game against Milwaukee Washington. However Tech has a feature that helps prepare the athletes for the rigors of a season. There are four floors at Tech and two of those floors and the stairs to the floors served as a very rigorous challenge for all the athletes. After running up and then down the stairs three consecutive times the athletes then work on their 'abs' before repeating the routine twice, then more abdominal exercises and finally one more cycle up and down the long flights of stairs finished off by a final set of abdominal exercises.

The circuit begins on the ground floor commons area at Tech. The stairs showed no mercy but the athletes rose to the challenge and attacked the circuit with intensity. Dezerea Bryant [right] concentrates as she climbs the stairs. 'Keep to the right' and 'keep moving' were the only rules. After the '3-2-1' was finished athletes spent time stretching. The '3-2-1' circuit helps build a 'base' and toughness for the athletes.





Symona Gregory [above left] will carry on a tradition of track and field in her family. Her father Bernard was a standout at Milwaukee South High School and both her mother and father participated in track in college. Assistant coach Tracy McCubbin [above, standing on the left] supervised the girls 'abs' segment of the '3-2-1' circuit. McCubbin who is a Milwaukee Riverside and St. Thomas University [MN] graduate is a first year English teacher at Tech.


Coach Harden [left] worked on starts with the boys and girls teams. Above: Dezrea Bryant [R] and Tahje Whittley work on starts.
Coach Williams and veteran hurdler Sharonda York [below left] instruct a younger athlete.
Derricka Wesley [below middle] in a starting drill. Athletes make use of the commons [below right] to warmup with striding drills.