Columbia Academy hosted its annual Caleb Coleman Invitational Wednesday and had hundreds of runners participating at the Columbia Water Park despite heavy rains Tuesday and early Wednesday.
The event began in 2009 but was renamed in 2012 to honor Coleman, a CA cross country runner who died in a car accident.
The race was initially scheduled for Tuesday but had to be moved because of the inclement weather. Runners still had to withstand less-than-ideal conditions Wednesday with the course featuring numerous large puddles.
Despite having 10 registered teams back out of the event, Columbia Academy cross country coach Duane Powell said he was pleased with the turnout.
“Just the fact that we got it in after all that (rain), I was well satisfied that we had 24 total schools show up,” he said.
Powell said the girls performed well by tying for second place behind Simpson Academy even though one of their top five runners was out.
“Considering that we still tied with PCS even though we lost to them on a tiebreaker. They performed real well,” he said. “We had three girls set personal records, so I was really proud of them.”
The Cougars and PCS each had 55 points, but PCS earned the tiebreaker despite having a worse overall average time because it had two runners place in the top five.
Charlee Brees Franks led the girls team in eighth place overall.
The boys teams finished seventh despite having just five runners Wednesday with Hagen Bracey leading the way in 18th place and James Ragan right behind in 19th. Bracey also earned the 19:48 award, which is given to the boys runner who has the closest time to Coleman’s personal record.
“We only have six boys, and actually our third runner was out (with an illness),” Powell said. “We’re hoping and praying we get him back by state, but they ran well.”
Powell told his team before the race that he wasn’t that worried about the results because he wanted the Cougars to be healthy for the state competition Tuesday at Choctaw Hills in Clinton.
Pictured Above: Macey Robertson, left, and Briley Speights cross the finish line simultaneously Wednesday and were given identical times for the virtual tie. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
