The Columbia Academy Lady Cougars brought home their third consecutive cross country state championship Tuesday with six girls placing in the Top 10 in a dominating performance at Choctaw Trails in Clinton.
The Lady Cougars took first by 20 points and finished with over a minute and 20 seconds in average time over second place Central Holmes Christian School.
Charlee Brees Franks finished second, setting a CA record with 20:55.81. Madelyn McKenzie finished third with 21:48.61, followed Macy Roberson sixth (23:09.34), Briley Speights seventh (23:23.72), Madison Bond ninth (24:25.25) and Natalie Ragan 10th (24:25.81). All six were named All-State runners. Hannah Rodgers finished 13th (25:49) despite a nagging leg injury. Natalie Ragan, who is still recovering from an early season broken ankle, made history by becoming the first CA runner to be named to five All-State teams.
“This is an awesome group of young ladies,” coach Duane Powell said. “They continue to amaze me with their work ethic and ability to put it to work when it counts. I’m so proud of them. No group of kids anywhere deserves this ‘three-peat’ more.”
The Lady Cougars will have a good chance at winning a fourth straight title with only one senior, Ina Claire Parker, graduating.
“Our senior, Ina Claire Parker, despite dealing with injuries including a past stress fracture, had her best run of the season. She’s been with us for seven years, and we’ll miss her dearly,” Powell said. “I’m very proud of her and thank her for years of dedication.”
Their team captain, Franks, will be back to lead the Lady Cougars after becoming the first Lady Cougar to ever win a meet individually.
“Franks is showing strength and dedication of a much more mature runner. She had a great run with her second-place finish. I look for her to be one of the best runners in the state next year,” Powell said. “This team is loaded with talent and could produce several college runners.”
Meanwhile, the CA boys finished only five points behind Lamar Christian to take second place in Class 3A. They placed four in the Top 10 with Drake Arrington finishing third with a time of 19:26.97, followed by Hagen Bracey seventh (20:17.50), Casey Haddox eighth (20:17.80) and James Ragan ninth (20:30.01). All four were named to the All-State team. Ian McEwen (21:38.08) finished 14th to round out the top five runners for the Cougars. First-year runner and seventh-grader Jessie Harvey had a good run in 21st with 25:02.
“Drake stepped up big this season. He showed me from day one he intended to be our No. 1 runner. In fact all these guys really stepped up,” Powell said. “They were over 20 points behind in the final regular season rankings and managed to pull within five points of the championship. They overcame numerous injuries to pull this off. They are all definitely overcomers. I couldn’t be prouder.”
However, the Cougars will take a big hit next year with three seniors, Arrington, Bracey and James Ragan, graduating.
“We will definitely miss them, especially James, who has been a team member for seven years,” Powell said. “There’s no doubt they will succeed in whatever they undertake.”
The veteran coach said they will have a solid core to build on with Haddox, McEwen and Harvey, but he will need to search the halls to find more talent.
With the season coming to a close, Powell said he’s proud of the way every single runner worked hard the past 17 weeks.
“It takes a special kid to train as hard as we do,” he said. “Hard work does pay off.”
