Cedar Bluff track and field coach Joe Carpenter says he’s just trying to enjoy this week, take it all in and have fun with the kids.

That’s what you’d expect any coach to say the week of the state track and field meet in Cullman, but for Carpenter, it goes a little deeper.

Back in March, Carpenter announced he was stepping down. He’s been at Cedar Bluff since 1993.

In that time, Carpenter coached the Lady Tiger track and field teams to seven Class 1A state titles (2000, 2007-12).

At last weekend’s Class 1A sectional meet in Fort Payne, Carpenter helped the Tiger boys finish second overall. The Lady Tigers, under first-year coach Jessica Walker, took third.

Cedar Bluff’s boys claimed first place in both the 4×100 and 4×400 meter relays. Nick Clifton led the Tiger boys individually with a first place in the 110 meter hurdles. He was also third in the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes. Anbre Leek placed first in the javelin and second in the long jump. Artie Duvall delivered a second place showing in the 400 meter and Dylan Kinard earned second in the discus and shot put.

The Lady Tigers won the 4×400 meter relay and were also second in the 4×100 meter relay. Tara Stitts took second place in the 200 meter dash and Skye Jordan finished third in the 100 meter dash.

“We’ve gradually gotten better each meet and did our best in sectionals,” Carpenter said. “I am very proud of our 10 boys to come back and place runner up in sectionals.”

The Tigers are also proud of their coach and want to send him out as best they can this weekend.

“He means a lot to us,” lone senior Leek said. “He allowed me to do javelin this year. I came out No. 5 overall, and now I’m ranked No. 2 in the state. I just want to thank Coach Carpenter for that. He gave me the opportunity to throw it. That’s always been something I’ve been interested in and he let me do it. I feel like I’ve gained a friend out of Coach.

“I want the team to go to state and win some medals for him. Hopefully we can send him off well.”

“He’s meant a lot to us,” Clifton said. “He’s pushed me where no one else has. He’s believed in me and he believes in our team.”

Several members of this year’s Tiger track squads are first-year performers, but as Carpenter said, they’ve improved as the season has gone along.

One of those first-year track athletes is Kade Browning. Browning is part of the Tiger 4×100 team. He also runs in the 200 meter.

“I’ve really enjoyed it,” Browning said. “Anbre and Nick asked me to come out here, but I didn’t really know what to think about it. I’m just grateful we get to go to state.”

Like Browning, Kinard is grateful the Tigers have the opportunity to compete at state as well, particularly because last track season was taken away because of the COVID pandemic.

It was a time of uncertainty for everyone, but that didn’t stop the Tigers from training for this season on their own.

“All summer we worked out here with our masks on, just trying to get better for this season,” Kinard said. “We came out and threw javelin at least 20 times every day. I think that helped this season. All the throwers made it (to state). We just worked on it. I’m happy we get to do it this year and COVID is finally on the downhill. Last year, I realized how fast things can be taken away from you. This year, every throw and every minute isn’t taken for granted.”

“It really showed me I had to try a lot harder because it could be taken away,” relay runner Aden Green said. “I didn’t want it to be taken away with me not giving everything I could give.”

Like the Tiger boys, Walker feels the Lady Tigers have done well working on their own a lot.

“I have been so amazed at our track athletes and how much they love this sport. It makes coaching them so easy. They keep putting in the hard work and the results just happen,” she said. “Considering (last weekend) was my first ever sectional meet to attend, I was very impressed with our team and looking forward to seeing the results of our state meet.”

Walker also thanks Carpenter for lending her and the girls a helping hand throughout the season.
“It’s really rewarding to see how far we’ve made it,” runner Hayden Cannon said. “We thought with such a small team we wouldn’t be doing as much, but we’ve been doing so good this year. It’s such a supportive team we have. We have a really good bond. I think that pushes us more.”

Another first-year runner, Raven Cail, said this season has been “super-rewarding” for the Tigers.

“Four of us have just started this year, so the fact we get to experience something like this in our first year is pretty exciting,” she said.

“I’m really glad we were able to make it to state without our year getting cut off,” Jordan said. “I really didn’t think I would make it to state in a single event. I thought we’d only go in the relays, but I made it in a single event (100 meter) and the relays.”

The Class 1A-3A state meet begins Friday morning and concludes Saturday at Cullman High School.

“We don’t see it as a challenge. We just see it as another day to run, but it’s the last time to run together as a team,” Leek said. “We’ve been working on getting everything right. We’ve just got to keep doing what we do.”