Erin Brooks, Seton Keough Run To Victory

By: Keith Mills

It has been three weeks since Seton Keough's Erin Brooks set a record by winning four individual events in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland indoor track and field meet. Brooks won the 55-meter dash in 7.35 seconds, the 300-meter dash in 42.14, the triple jump in 39 feet, 8.5 inches and the long jump in 17-5.75. Both the triple jump and long jump are meet records.

That performance led the Gators to the team championship over McDonogh and helped Brooks deal with a devastating death in her family.

Brooks' cousin, Maryland Transportation Authority police officer Courtney Brooks, died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver. The incident took place New Year's Eve on Interstate 95 near the Inner Harbor. Courtney Brooks was 40 years old and a 13-year veteran of the transportation police.

That tragedy occurred a little more than four years after another of Brooks' cousins suffered a serious injury in a high school football game. Van Brooks was a junior defensive back at Loyola Blakefield in September 2004 when he was paralyzed after making a tackle in a game against Georgetown Prep in Rockville.

Van Brooks was airlifted to Shock Trauma in Baltimore, where doctors performed surgery on a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed. He is still in a wheelchair and is now a sophomore at the University of Maryland.

Loyola coach Brian Abbott made Van Brooks an assistant coach during his senior year at the school, and last November Van was the guest of Fran and Jim Smith at a tailgate party in College Park before Maryland played Boston College in football. Brady Smith is a starting defensive end for Boston College and was a teammate of Van's at Loyola.

Now, Erin Brooks, through her marvelous performance in last month's IAAM track and field meet, and her parents, Derrick and Yolanda Brooks, are doing their part in helping the family deal with the trauma.

Issue 3.7: February 14, 2008