STEENS — Greg Watkins and Chris Webber poured over the numbers for hours.
It didn’t matter which way the coach or standout distance runner crunched the times, the conclusion was the same: The Columbus Christian Academy boys track and field team was in a tough spot.
With only seven competitors for the second-straight season, CCA nearly won its second-consecutive Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Class AA State title. But Canton Academy used superior depth to outscore CCA 102-90 Friday and Saturday to take the championship.
“You look at all of those little things and you think, ‘What if?’ or ‘If this happened or that happened,’ ” Watkins said, “but it didn’t. You hate to come in second, but I told the kids I was really proud of them because there was only seven of them and, for the most part, they stepped up and ran some of their faster times.”
With only seven qualifiers, Watkins said the workload might have affected some of the Rams. Nate Parker won the 300-meter hurdles, took third in the 1,600, and then finished eighth in the 800. He said Parker also wasn’t feeling good and was coming off a stone bruise to his heel, which prevented him from training for the last week and a half.
CCA also was hurt by a nine-point swing in the 400, which saw a Canton Academy athlete who was seeded eighth win the event. Glenn Misiak finished fourth in the event with a time of 52.86 seconds that was his fastest of the season. Misiak was seeded third in the race.
“It was pretty disappointing to me because I knew for us to have a good chance of winning state I would have to get first and I ended up getting fourth,” Misiak said. “I got a better time than I did than at North Half, but it really didn’t matter because I still got fourth place. That race disappointed me a lot.
“I figured when I went back to the 800, which was about 30 minutes later, I was going to have get first or else I would be pretty mad at myself.”
Misiak said he and Parker were far behind and things didn’t look promising after the first lap. After not finishing first in the 400, Misiak said there was no way he was going to settle for anything less than a win in the 800.
“I just gave it everything I got and I barely caught him at the finish line,” said Misiak, who admitted to feeling a carryover from the 400. “It was tough. I was tired.”
Misiak said the team had a good start, buoyed by Nate Parker’s win in the 300 hurdles (4×400 Misiak, Whitfield, Meek, and Parker), but he said it felt like an uphill climb for much of the afternoon, which was similar to 2016. Last year, CCA trailed by 30 points about midway through the meet before it rallied to win its first state title in track and field.
“Everyone out there did their best, so there are no regrets,” Misiak said. “We all ran as hard as we could. We tried. It just didn’t fall for us. We’re going to get it next year.”
Misiak said the Rams were going to try to recruit more schoolmates in hopes of bolstering its contingent of seven in the state meet.
As it was, the power of seven nearly was enough to win another crown. Chris Webber won the 1,600 (4:58.19) and the 3,200 (11:26.46). The 4×800 relay team of Glenn Misiak, Webber, Parker, and Ian Misiak (9:08.07) and the 4×400 team of Kimarri Whitfield, Jordan Meek, Parker, and Glenn Misiak closed the meet by taking 11 or 12 seconds off its North State time with a winning time of 3:44.99. He said that showed each of the members of the team was going to fight to the end. Unfortunately, the points couldn’t help the Rams overcome the deficit.
“When you think about it, this is the first time we have been disappointed as far as running goes,” Webber said. “We have never really been beat in cross country. Last year in track we weren’t supposed to win and we did. This year, we kind of had an X on our back. When you look at it statistically, we really weren’t supposed to win because Canton had like three times as many guys as we did, so the odds were kind of against us.
“It was disappointing to get second, but whenever we heard other people talking, they were saying we only had seven guys out there.”
Watkins said he and Webber, who is like his assistant coach, went over numerous possible ways the meet could play out and figured things would go down to the wire. The day of the meet, Watkins said he told Webber the team that hit 100 points would win and that the runner-up would be right around 100.
Unfortunately, other things also worked against the Rams. Watkins said two competitors who qualified second and third in the 1,600 didn’t compete, which allowed Canton Academy to finish fourth and fifth. There were only five runners in the event. Watkins said he didn’t know those runners wouldn’t compete until it was time to run.
“I was really proud of the kids,” Watkins said. “When you do like you in cross country and win back to back and then last year win the state in track, it we hadn’t won it last year dropping down to Class A would the guys work as hard as they need to dropping down to Class A. I think us finishing second puts a little more emphasis on we don’t want to let this happen again. We want to make sure we get out there and take care of business.”
Glenn Misiak, who has developed a reputation for being the team’s prognosticator, spoke confidently about the squad’s chances for 2018 when it will compete in Class A. Canton Academy will move up to Class AAA.
“We’re going to win by 30 points next year,” Misiak said. “Just watch.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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