In 2005 Duane Powell began training with Yousri El Mejdoubi, who ran for Southern Miss and was a member of the Moroccan Olympic team. The two worked together through two track seasons and one cross country season. Later in 2007, Powell approached then-Headmaster Tom Porter about starting a cross country team at Columbia Academy. Porter immediately was on board, and the rest is history.
Prior to his successful stint at CA, Powell joined the U.S. Marine Corps at the age of 17. He was stationed at Camp Lejune, N.C., in the Fleet Marine Force as a 3.5 Rocket Gunner, earning him the nickname “Rocket Man.” He was deployed to the Caribbean Sea and spent four months in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Later, he received his orders for combat duty in Vietnam.
While in Vietnam, he managed to throw back an activated enemy hand grenade, saving his five-man fire team. He was recommended for the Silver Star and later received the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V.” Although, this was a heroic action, Powell humbly states it was an instinctive reaction with the help of God.
Two months later he was wounded by incoming mortar rounds and woke up five days later aboard the hospital ship, USS Sanctuary. He was awarded the Purple Heart and was honorably discharged.
Last week, this war hero led the CA girls cross country team to its first state championship.
Notably, not only is this team the first high school girls sports state championship team in Columbia Academy history, but the first one in all of Columbia and Marion County.
Powell has coached the boys and girls cross country teams voluntarily for the past 11 years, and past and current team members and parents understand the gift that he possesses. He is a gentle coach — no yelling or cursing — but with huge expectations for each runner that ultimately pushes them to their personal best.
One parent jokingly states, “These girls will run through a brick wall for that man. I know of no other coach where this would be the case. He is the best coach I’ve ever been around.”
Parent Ralph Franks states, “I played football in high school, I played baseball one year in college, and I’ve never been around a man who has a gift in which all the kids love him. They just want to run for him.”
He also acknowledges that the practices for 5K training that his daughter participates in every day are absolutely harder than any sport he has ever played.
The team runs five days a week at school and two days at home, known as “homework.” These practices last 1½ hours and many times lead to runners throwing up or passing out.
Powell believes that students with a heart for running can all be successful regardless of their talent or athletic ability. He gives equal time to all players whether they are the 10th runner or the No. 1 runner on the team. Often times he stays late to work with runners who are members in additional sports.
One example of this is when Caleb Coleman played football and ran cross country. Powell would wait for football practice to end and stay late to work with Coleman, a practice he has maintained with many runners.
Powell started the Columbia Academy Cross Country Invitational in 2009. The meet drew around 10 schools and just over 100 runners. In 2012 he renamed the meet to the Caleb Coleman Invitational in honor of All-State runner Caleb Coleman, who died in an automobile accident just after the state championship in 2011.
The meet has continued to grow bigger with each year, with 27 schools and over 400 runners participating this year.
Former cross country team members frequently drop by practice and attend cross country events. They all have a story to tell about how Powell influenced their lives.
“Columbia is full of great kids with strong work ethics, and Coach Duane is one of the finest distance coaches in the country, full stop,” former cross country star Jon Luke Watts says. “His coaching talent comes directly from his character. Coach Duane is about daily excellence, hard work and details. These principles guided him as he served our country, and they govern every workout he plans. On top of this, he's big hearted, humble and kind. If there are better things to want in a coach, a mentor, a friend, I don't know of them. But let's not gush - I still get queasy when I hear him say ‘on the line!’”
Kenny Price reflects on his time as a cross country member, “I joined the Columbia Academy cross country team during my sixth grade year and stayed through my senior year. The time I spent on the team helped shape who I am today, not only physically, but mentally as well. I made life-long friends and became a much more confident person as a result of being a part of the team. We were very successful throughout my time on the team, winning three additional state championships on top of the three the team won before I joined.
“First, I give God all the glory for allowing us to compete as well as we did. Second, I cannot take any credit for the accomplishments because it was Coach Duane who was willing to put in countless hours to train my teammates and me every day to ensure we were at our peak performance. He instilled in us the value of working hard and working as a team all while never having to raise his voice to us, as many other coaches do. It is because of Coach Duane Powell that our team was successful, and it is because of his leadership that we are able to use the skills he taught us throughout the rest of our lives.”
Anna Marie Smith, a charter member of the CA girls cross country team, states, “Cross country is a sport that tests your limits both mentally and physically. Coach Duane takes runners who have heart, dedication and a mentality to go farther than they ever thought possible and turns them into champions.”
Powell fondly remembers the year he was in a meet in North Carolina where the best of the best run. Columbia Academy was the smallest school of all those competing, but that year the Cougars received the award for overall fourth and received a standing ovation by the thousands of people in attendance.
Pictured Above: Columbia Academy cross country coach Duane Powell poses with members of the 2018 girls state championship team. The popular coach gives each player a nickname. From left are Samantha “Flipper” Ragan, Natalie “Sparkle” Ragan, Ina Claire “Nikki” Parker, Duane “Rocket Man” Powell, Hannah “Hurricane” Rogers, Charlee Brees “Feather” Franks and Myla “Magic” McLaughlin. | Submitted Photo
