LEXINGTON -- Lexington High senior Colby Coulter is pumped about his and his team’s chances this weekend at state, especially following a very successful October.
Colby, and teammate Tony Morales, placed one and two at the Disney Cross Country Classic and led the Wildcats to victory there in early October. Then, two weeks ago Colby again placed first - followed by Morales and three other Wildcats - in the Region 5-4A 5,000-meter event held at Lexington High.
He finished the course in 15:41 to earn male Runner of the Week. The award is given weekly during the cross country season to the top male and female high school runners and is presented by On On Tri and Go-Green Timing.
Colby, the 2009 Rookie of the Year in cross country, said he likes his team’s chances this week at state.
“I haven't PR'd yet, but I believe it's coming at the perfect times,” he said earlier this week. “With the team as a whole, on the other hand, I believe I am leading the greatest team that has ever come through Lexington. We are very strong and very motivated and only getting better.”
Like many young athletes in the sport, Colby backed his way into cross country via football. He started running track in middle school to condition himself for the gridiron.
“I wasn’t fast enough to run the 100/200 meters, so I hopped up to the mile,” he said.
After a few races, Colby knew he was a “pretty decent” long-distance runner. But he said he was “incredibly stubborn” about leaving football and continued to play that sport into his freshman year at Lexington.
He finally left the football team at the end of his freshman year. A year later he received the Rookie of the Year award in cross country in 2009 and won at the state championships that year.
His coach, Bailey Harris, has been teaching Colby since he quit football three years ago. He said his son, Drew, told him about Colby.
“My son was on the track team and kept telling me how good (Colby) was and that we had to have him for cross country,” Harris said. “He wasn’t sold on it at first, but after some success in track he decided to give it a try.”
Harris said Colby has “really progressed” over the past three years in his knowledge of cross country training and competition.
“Colby is incredibly competitive and motivated. He gives you everything he’s got in workouts as well as in meets.”
Colby said getting the state ring in 2009 sealed his decision to cross over to running. Now “it’s pretty much cross country and track or me, with a few football games with the guys in between.”
Still, there are times when he would prefer to be doing something other than running.
“I speak for a lot of runners when I say me and cross country have a love/hate relationship,” Colby said. “There are sometimes where you just want to say ‘this is too hard’ or ‘I can't make it’, but I have amazing teammates who pump me up more than anything.”
He said he also gets a boost from his classmates.
“We have the best fans in nation for a cross country team. I've seen some football teams that don't have fans that paint up in 50-degree weather. We got 'em.”
