April 11 marks the 2nd annual CCCHS Night of Miles, a night focused on the distance aspect of track. This past March Roger Bannister, who was first run the mile in under four minutes, passed away. Bannister did what was once thought impossible.  Since then, the boundaries have been pushed well past that. The closest race to a mile that is offered for high school athletes is the 1600 meter race, which is actually 9 meters short of a true mile. Last year Coach Nathan Wanuch introduced the idea to bring in the top athletes in the area for a true mile competition. 

With the right competition, and the help of pacers pushing the athletes to faster times, there is a possibility of seeing some fast mile times in the state. This year many athletes attending  have already run the distance in well under five minutes. Earlier this season Christian Locke from Warren County finished a 1600 meter with a time of 4:35. “Leo Penne, who is from France and we are borrowing him from Grundy, he will be up there mixing it up with Christian Locke from Warren County, and Ethan Pfister from Franklin County. Neil Slone might be up there as well and Jake Melton probably won’t be far behind him,” says Coach Wanuch.

Unfortunately, last year Coffee County had limited exposure and the date conflicted with another large meet which negatively impacted the turnout of the meet. Last year the fastest finishing time was 4:32 and second place time was 4:48. This year the times are projected to be in the low 4:30’s or even possibly under 4:30. Instead of having one athlete finish within that time, there will be a number of athletes finishing around that time. Additionally, this year Coffee County will be equipped with electronic timing which gives exact time down to the hundredth of a second. This year the Night of Miles will start at 1 pm Saturday, April 11.

Instead of running the regular schedule, the 1600 meter will be replaced with the mile and will be run last. Before the mile is run, there will be a special celebration to commemorate the team’s seniors and the contributions they’ve made. Along with this, the track will then be open to anyone in the community who would like to run, walk, or jog a mile. There will be prizes given to the champion for each gender in both the open mile and competitive mile. The track and field team appreciates the support of the school and encourages students to spectate and participate in the Coffee County Night of Miles.

Due to inclement weather, the event was canceled, and has not been rescheduled.