Stuart Bowen, the head track coach at Cumberland County High School, didn’t know how good his players would do last week at the TSSAA State Track and Field Championships in Murfreesboro.
Zach Ostrander and Isaiah McMillan had very successful regular seasons. Among other events, Ostrander stood out in the 3200 meters, while McMillan had developed into one of the top hurders in Middle Tennessee. But against some of the best of the best in Tennessee, how would they fare?
Ostarnder and McMillan didn’t disappoint as they both posted top-5 finishes at the state championships. Ostrander ran a time of 9 minutes, 32.9 seconds in the 3200. That was good enough to finish second overall. McMillan completed the 110 meter hurdles with a finishing time of 15.78 seconds, putting him fifth in the final standings.
“Going in, I think most of our boys are kind of in different places in their careers. Zach had already been to the state the two years prior to this, and so this time we knew that he wasn’t going to be maybe surprised or anything by the state meet,” Bowen said “So we knew for him that he was going to go.
“Isaiah, on the other hand, you got to realize, this is Isaiah’s first real full season training for the high hurdles. And so for him, it was a little different. We knew that this was going to be an experience on its own. He hasn’t been there before. So we were just hoping for him to be able to run a clean race and get to kind of experience it and use this as a springboard for next season.”
Bowen said he told McMillian to just be patient and do what he knows to do in the race. He told him he would do fine.
“They were each in a different place,” said Bowen. “ This was Zach’s third trip and Isaiah’s first time. One was probably feeling pressure and one probably wasn’t. However, both of them did very well.”
Bowen said Ostrander has gotten better each year. The coach said he finished sixth his sophomore year and third his junior season.
“I think Zach ran a really smart race. Whenever you get to the state meet, a lot of those guys aren’t running for time. It’s really about running for position,” Bowen said. “Fortunately, we had run against all the other major contenders before, so we had a pretty good idea of where we were at.
“We knew that Trey Bailey kid from Greenville had a really good shot at running pretty fast, but other than him, we felt pretty good about everybody in the field. It wasn’t really anybody we were afraid of, but we kind of knew where we sat with the rest of them. Zach ran a great race.”
Ostrander stayed close for most of the race.
“Zach sat in the middle of the pack, but when it was time to make a move, he kind of took it upon himself to move it out, which really secured his second place. Unfortunately, when he went, the Bailey kid from Greenville went as well. With about 200 to go, that kid went another level that Zach just couldn’t quite grab.”
McMillian popped on the track scene after football season. His speed made him a good match for the track events. He ran the 300 meter hurdles, then was switched to the 110 hurdles.
“He’s been working hard all season about improving his time and his technique. Honestly, this year we threw him to the wolves a lot. He didn’t win a lot of races during the regular season, but he finished well,” said Bowen. “We wanted to push him because we know if we put him in some smaller local meets, he was going to win most of those. However, he’s got a really, really high ceiling.”
Bowen said McMillian’s first race was interrupted by a competitor’s hurdle falling into McMillian’s lane. They reran the race and McMillian ran well. The coach said McMillian stayed calm and relaxed, and performed well.
“Isaiah kind of faded a little bit at the end, which is something we always have to deal with,” Bowen said. “We’ve got to work on his strength in the last three or four hurdles. The first six hurdles, he was right there with everybody, which is important for him to get to actually have that clean race, clean experience.”