"Coulter Makes A Running Audible"

-Reposted from an article written in The State Newspaper, Columbia, SC-

Lexington’s Coulter makes a running audible
Switch from football to track and cross country has been a good one
By JOHN DEVLIN

Colby Coulter remains a football player at heart.

The Lexington senior always has had the speed, athleticism, work ethic and drive needed of a football player. What Coulter doesn’t have is the size required to compete at the Class 4A level.

“A coach in middle school suggested that I give up football and concentrate on track once I got to high school, but that’s not what I wanted to hear at the time,” he said.

“Football was my sport, but I eventually realized that running was the way I had to go. I wish I had listened to his advice because I ended up losing a whole year of (running) training to play that one last season of football.”

Coulter, however, did not pay a price for delaying the inevitable. He has been a standout in cross country and track from the start. Last year, he was runner-up to Dutch Fork’s Roland Hakes at the Class 4A state cross country meet while leading the Wildcats to their second consecutive team title. He earned two gold medals in the spring at the state track finals — anchoring the victorious 3,200-meter relay team and winning the 3,200.

“It was all about the team winning in cross country again, not about me winning the individual title, and the same was true in track,” Coulter said. “Winning the distance relay was the only real goal. The 3,200 race was the next day, and I just happened to have a good race. I always run to win, but I was a little surprised that I did.”

Nothing Coulter accomplishes surprises Lexington cross country coach Bailey Harris.

“He has tremendous drive to be the best he can be,” said Harris, who is also Lexington’s longtime boys basketball coach.

“Some guys use cross country for conditioning purposes, but we’ve been very fortunate to have had a recent run of guys who are committed to pushing this program to the top. Our workouts are intense; the guys compete hard and drive each other. If somebody takes a practice off, he runs the risk of being embarrassed. Colby was able to fit right in when he first came out, and now he’s the leader.”

Harris had no idea what he was getting when Coulter showed up for cross country duty. The coach’s son, Drew, filled him in quickly.

“When I asked Drew about Colby, he said he’d be very good right away,” Harris said. “Not many guys can come out for cross country for the first time and run that well right off the bat, but Colby did.”

Coulter earned all-state recognition as a sophomore, finishing ninth at the state meet.

“I didn’t know what I was getting into when I first came out because the thought of running three miles at every meet was not that appealing to me,” he said. “Drew and Will (Belue) helped me adjust. They told me to keep pace with them for as long as I could, and that was the challenge that drove me.”

Coulter’s task this season is to help Lexington become the first 4A team to claim three consecutive state championships since Mauldin (1983-85). He also hopes to become the Wildcats’ second individual state champ.

“It looks like it’s going to come down to Roland (Hakes) and myself again,” he said. “We’re so strong as a team this year that maybe I can concentrate a little more on the individual race.”