Members of the Lamar School girls cross country team are, from left, front row, Anne Preston McRae, Elizabeth Scott Boyd, Hannah Grace Hannington, Kailey Dowling and Katelynn Smith; middle row, Mary Griffin Jackson, Reece Shaffer, Maggie Grace Triplett, Sarah Pate Shirley, Emma Kate Stephenson, Ava Temple and coach Jim Redgate; back row, Sara Pierce Swift, Truett Bott, Mollie Degeneres, Sophie Hines and Emily Hannington.

Coming off a state championship last season, Lamar School cross country coach Jim Redgate was left heartbroken when all but two of his runners left the team for other sports.

Only Hannah Grace Hannington and Sarah Paige Shirley, both eighth graders, remained from the 2015 squad. Of the 17 runners who came out for cross country this fall, 10 of them are sixth-graders.

Hannington didn’t think the Lady Raiders could repeat as champions at first, but then they won a public school cross country invitational, and all of a sudden, she believed. Her belief paid off, too, as the Lady Raiders returned from state Oct. 31 with another championship in tow.

“I didn’t think we could do it at first, but once we started running all the races and ran in the Northeast (Lauderdale High School) Invitational, I realized we could,” Hannington said. “We won (the invitational), and I didn’t think we could do it.”

Redgate didn’t think it would happen before the season, either, but even though none of his girls finished in the top two spots individually at the state meet, there were enough top finishers to secure the team title for Lamar. Hannington came in third at state, followed by Elizabeth Scott Bond in fourth, and Maggie Triplett, Ava Temple and Sara Pierce Swift all all finished high enough to give Lamar the points they needed.

“The more I worked them out in the summer, the better I felt,” Redgate said. “These kids will work. I’m so proud of them, because this sport is no picnic. It takes a special type of person to run, and I can’t say anything but great things for these kids.”

Redgate’s background is golf and basketball, which he coached at Meridian Community College for 2 years in addition to teaching health and swim classes. While he was at MCC, he recalled leaving the gym one night and noticing then-MCC track runner Vonette Dixon practicing the hurdles. Redgate asked Dixon why the team was so good, and Dixon explained some of the men from Kenya got their workout routines from their home country — and they filled Redgate in on those routines.

When he took over as cross country coach at Lamar several years back, he began implementing those plans, though he toned down the intensity since he was working with middle schoolers. 

“Having access to that helps me get the kids to work, because they know it works,” Redgate explained.

Shirley credited Redgate’s coaching for winning the high school state title — a significant accomplishment, considering every member of the Lamar roster was in sixth, seventh or eighth grade.

“We were running against high schoolers,” Shirley said. “It makes you really excited, knowing the future must be good, since you’re only going to get better. It challenges you mentally and physically. You want to stop, but you just have to keep going.”

Triplett recalled running in the blistering heat back in June but said it was no problem for her and her teammates since they all enjoy the sport.

“We love it,” Triplett said. “If you don’t like running, you shouldn’t be in cross country, because you’re going to work hard and get better. It makes you stronger.”

Bond was a newcomer to cross country this season and had reservations about being coached by Redgate at first, but looking back, she’s glad she made the commitment.

“When I started I was nervous, because everyone said he was tough, but he’s really encouraging, and I realized people were actually scared of the running part, not him.”

While he admits he has an old-school philosophy to coaching, Redgate said he genuinely enjoys coaching the girls and helping them beat high schoolers.

“I don’t put up with no bull, and I treat everyone fairly,” Redgate said. “Everyone from my worst runner to my best runner is treated the same.”

Redgate said he wanted to thank head of school Leigh Ann Ballou, middle and high school principal Linda Delaney, athletic director Shane Blanton, assistant cross country coach Jennifer McRae and all of the runners’ parents for their help in making the cross country program the best it can be. He also said he’s excited about next season, since 95 percent of the roster has pledged to return.