The Cunningham family was well-represented April 17 at the Western Brown Invitational track and field meet. Pictured left to right: Liz Cunningham-Benjamin, Clermont Northeastern coach; Liam Cunningham, seventh-grader at Mt. Orab Middle School; Kruse Cunningham, seventh-grader, Clermont Northeastern; Gabe Cunningham, seventh-grader, Hamersville; Camdyn Cunningham, junior, Western Brown; AJ Cunningham, ninth-grader, Clermont Northeastern; Kenny Heflin, ninth-grader, Clermont Northeastern (his mother is a Cunningham); Jack Cunningham, ninth-grader, Western Brown; Corbyn Cunningham, senior, Western Brown; and Martha and Greg Cunningham, officials at track and field meets in Clermont and Brown counties. Photo courtesy of Liz Benjamin

The Cunningham family was well-represented April 17 at the Western Brown Invitational track and field meet. Pictured left to right: Liz Cunningham-Benjamin, Clermont Northeastern coach; Liam Cunningham, seventh-grader at Mt. Orab Middle School; Kruse Cunningham, seventh-grader, Clermont Northeastern; Gabe Cunningham, seventh-grader, Hamersville; Camdyn Cunningham, junior, Western Brown; AJ Cunningham, ninth-grader, Clermont Northeastern; Kenny Heflin, ninth-grader, Clermont Northeastern (his mother is a Cunningham); Jack Cunningham, ninth-grader, Western Brown; Corbyn Cunningham, senior, Western Brown; and Martha and Greg Cunningham, officials at track and field meets in Clermont and Brown counties. Photo courtesy of Liz Benjamin

<p>Members of the victorious Western Brown High School girls track and field team pose with the championship trophy April 17 after the Western Brown Invitational. Photo courtesy of Chad Sexton</p>

Members of the victorious Western Brown High School girls track and field team pose with the championship trophy April 17 after the Western Brown Invitational. Photo courtesy of Chad Sexton

It wasn’t a Guinness World Records attempt, but maybe it should have been.

After all, how often do you see seven members of the same family competing in one event at a high school track and field meet? Oh, and two members of the family also officiating, another coaching and yet another competing in a different event.

Yes, the Western Brown Invitational on April 17 could easily have doubled as a Cunningham family reunion – particularly in and around the pole vault area, where three generations of the family were on hand as three sets of brothers and a first cousin competed.

Five of those pole-vaulters were from the host team, so it should come as no surprise that Western Brown dominated the event. Freshman Jack Cunningham was first at 11 feet, 6 inches, followed by Bronco teammates Ryder Smith (10-6) and Ruben Latham (10-0) in second and third, respectively. Fellow Cunninghams Albert, a freshman from Clermont Northeastern, and Camdyn, a sophomore from Western Brown, were fifth (8-6) and sixth (8-0), respectively.

Led by that domination in the pole vault, the Broncos finished second in the boys team competition. Wilmington was first with 156.5 points, followed by Western Brown at 129, Goshen (111.5), Clermont Northeastern (70), Blanchester (62), Western Brown B (32), West Clermont (30), Felicity-Franklin (22), Clermont Northeastern (16), Eastern Brown (16), MVCA (10), Western Brown C (3), Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington (3), and Fayetteville-Perry (1).

“The Cunningham family name is synonymous with track and field, specifically in the pole vault,” Western Brown coach Chad Sexton said. “They are talented, hard-working and devoted to the sport.”

It all started in the early 1970s with Greg Cunningham, who starred at Clermont Northeastern High School. He set the school pole vault record of 13 feet in 1973 – a record that stood for 33 years. And the eventual record-breaker? Christian Cunningham, one of Greg’s sons, who cleared 13 feet, 3 inches in 2006.

Many of these Cunninghams are now in Brown County, with most of the family’s current middle and high school competitors at Western Brown. Liz Benjamin, Greg Cunningham’s only daughter, is the boys and girls track and field coach at Clermont Northeastern. Her son, Kenny, competes in running events at Clermont Northeastern but not the pole vault. But she has a daughter who she says will also continue the family pole-vaulting tradition starting next season. Her boys and girls teams both finished fourth April 17.

“I was the first female to pole vault in Clermont County – it wasn’t a sanctioned event in Ohio until ’02,” Benjamin said. “I started jumping in ’99. I held CNE’s record until an athlete I coached broke it.

Benjamin said that, when her dad started pole-vaulting in the early 1970s, he collected mattresses to make a pole-vaulting “pit” at the school and, when Benjamin was growing up, “Our backyard had one,” she remembered.

Benjamin’s oldest brother, Joe, who volunteers at Western Brown, still holds the pole vault record at Goshen High School, which he set in 1992, Benjamin said. Jack Cunningham, the pole-vault winner at the April 17 meet, and fellow Bronco pole-vaulter Liam Cunningham are Joe’s sons.

“Pole vaulting is very near and dear to my heart as it’s something that our family really enjoys to do together and teach others,” Bemjamin added. “Even though we are at CNE and Western Brown, we will try to coach any athlete that is willing to listen. My dad, Greg, coached athletes from Bethel and Williamsburg who went on to have amazing success at the college level.”

The Broncos’ pole-vaulting prowess appears to have carried over to the girls division, too: Madelyn Miller won the event April 17 with a school-record vault of 10-6, while teammate Olivia Stephenson was sixth (7-0), leading a dominant Lady Broncos performance.

Western Brown won the girls competition with a whopping 182 points. Wilmington was a distant second at 155, followed by Goshen (105), Clermont Northeastern (44), Eastern Brown (44), Blanchester (42), Fayetteville-Perry (22), Felicity-Franklin (21), West Clermont (19), Western Brown B (17), Western Brown C (4), and Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington (1).

Cassidy Armstrong, Tiana Roland and Alyssa Campbell each won two events for the Broncos. Armstrong was first in the discus (102-9) and shot put (35-1), Roland in the 200 meters (28.04) and 400 (1:02.22), and Campbell the 100 hurdles (16.45) and 300 hurdles (49.44). Other winners for the Broncos were Sierra Elam (long jump, 15-7.5), and the 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams.

Goshen High School freshman Peyton Dooloukas was the lone triple winner April 17, finishing first in the 800 (2:29.11), 1,600 (5:26.24), and 3,200 (11:37.39).

Along with Jack Cunningham, Brayden Dill led the Bronco boys, winning the 800 (2:11.10) and 1,600 (4:46.78). Also winning events for the Western Brown boys: Cash Smith, 300 hurdles (44.95); Dane Tomlin, shot put (47-7.5); and the 4×400 (3:49.95) and 4×800 (9:05.74) relay teams.

“We were very happy with both our girls and boys performances at the meet,” Sexton said. “We had some very solid marks on a longer and colder evening. The girls had a very dominant performance by winning 10 events. The girls have now won their last two meets.”