By JIM STEELE

Just a bit past 7 p.m. Friday at Murfreesboro's Blue Raider Track and Soccer Stadium, McKenzie junior Mark Cole crossed the finish line in the state track meet. About five minutes after that, Cole received his state medal and so ended McKenzie's participation in sanctioned athletic endeavors.

For me, it's always a bittersweet time and when I watch the last run, the last out, the last shot or whatever of a particular athletic year, I am reminded of all the things that occurred to get us to that point.

Friday at the Spring Fling, McKenzie senior John Campbell joined Cole in ending another bountiful athletic year for the red and gray. As the Rebels hang up their running shoes, let's review for a moment.

You just knew McKenzie was primed for an exciting year when football season rolled around. Of course, you also knew the pundits weren't going to give McKenzie any credit, but that's just fine with these Rebs, who reloaded for a magical football run. Even during that humid but overcast day at Liberty Magnet School in Jackson, when Cory Ellis suffered what was tantamount to a season-ending knee injury, McKenzie surged forward. Yeah there were the hiccups against Bolivar in the Kickoff Scrimmage at Alamo and a disappointing effort against Camden in the Huntingdon Jamboree, but opened a lot of eyes in the first quarter minute of the season opener.

Clint Kee caught a 14-yard TD pass with just 15 seconds elapsed in the first quarter and the Rebels were off to a 42-0 rout of Dresden. It was a record season for the Rebels, who secured five shutouts, won 13 games for the second time in school history, claimed its second straight Region 7A title and ventured all the way to the Class A state football championship round. McKenzie beat Huntingdon for the second straight year and that was the first time for back-to-back victories against the Mustangs since 1955.

Senior quarterback Derek Carr threw for 2,610 yards and 24 touchdowns and was selected as a Class A Mr. Football finalist, only the third player in McKenzie history to reach such lofty heights.

Meanwhile, the McKenzie Middle School Rebels completed an 8-0 regular season, played in its third straight bowl game and had six shutouts. The Rebs defeated Huntingdon for the third straight year and won the county championship for the third straight season. With the high school and middle school combined, McKenzie was 14-0 at newly-renovated Rebel Field (MHS was 9-0, MMS was 5-0).

Cole electrified Region 7A-AA once again, winning the cross country title and advancing to state to finish as the state runner up. More runners-up included the McKenzie High School cheerleaders. They finished as state runner up in competition at Murfreesboro. McKenzie Middle School cheerleaders won the Bradford Invitational title for the second straight year. McKenzie's golf team showed marked improvement as scores dropped for this youthful squad. The exciting thing for cross country, golf and cheerleading is that almost everybody is coming back.

Speaking of youth, McKenzie Middle School's softball teams fielded mostly sixth and seventh graders and scrapped to some key wins this year. If the Lady Rebes can find some pitching, they'll be hard to deal with next season.

The MMS boys' basketball team captured the county title, upsetting Clarksburg for the championship. The McKenzie High School Rebels finished as the regular-season District 13A champion. The Lady Rebels were in the hunt for a high seed, but the compacted basketball season and strenuous schedule impacted them and they ran out of speed, and offense. Zana Carter suffered a season-ending knee injury late in the campaign.

The MMS soccer team breezed through the season with just a tie to blemish an otherwise stellar record and the MHS soccer team, having replaced almost everyone from last year's team, showed improvement with big road efforts at the end of the season.

The Lady Rebel softball team scratched and clawed its way from the third-seed position to qualify for the Region 7A tournament. The Lady Rebels were leading 5-3 and just four outs away from qualifying for substate when South Fulton erupted, ending McKenzie's season. The Lady Rebels bid farewell to third-year coach Jessica Hardy.

The Rebel baseball team battled its own demons and reached substate for the third straight year. MHS was the regular-season District 13A champ, defeated host Union City in the region but ended the season against eventual state champ Jackson Christian School. And JCS played Huntingdon. McKenzie beat those two teams by a combined 19-2, yet sat at home. I'm still not over that.

Track continued to light up the scoreboard at Murfreesboro as McKenzie sent representatives to the Spring Fling for the fifth year in a row. Cole was third in the 1600, fourth in the 3200 and Campbell was sixth in discus.

It was a great season once again and it's likely that McKenzie will repeat as Class A Best of the West champ for the third straight year. There were 29 seniors who participated in one of the 13 TSSAA-sanctioned activities offered at MHS and among them were four all-staters (and counting). Baseball and softball lists won't be voted on until July 9. There were two repeat all-staters in Tyler Reeder and Derek Carr. Carr earned sports writer and coaches' all-state honors. Rusty Chapman and John Campbell were first-time all-staters.

At this time of year, I get a kick out of going back and recounting the year's efforts. I drove by the football stadium the other night and remember the night McKenzie played Mt. Pleasant in the state semifinals. I remember sitting in my car, in my usual parking spot, not wanting to go in. I was that nervous. That was six months ago and it seems like only yesterday. When I was at the 'Boro Friday, I looked down at the MTSU baseball stadium and recalled the events, magic, feelings, excitement that surrounded the state championship of two years ago. It goes by fast, but I guess that means we're having fun.

This year, I hope our young athletes learned a little something about themselves. Sometimes things don't always go as planned. Sometimes you have to fight through adversity, uncomfortable situations, unfamiliar surroundings and circumstances. We had a great year, but we weren't satisfied and that's a good thing. German philosopher Frederick Nietzsche once said, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." If that's the case, we could expect a banner year next year.

It has been a phenomenal roller coaster ride and I had the best seat in the house. Congrats to the seniors and all those who participated in athletic endeavors this season. You folks continue to establish McKenzie as an athletic power, despite apathy from the pundits. Thanks for proving them wrong and best of luck to you in the future. It's been another great year.

Thanks to all of you from mckenzierebels.com

Once again, McKenzie closes out another successful athletic season, but just because the weather heats up and the fun of summer beckons, it doesn't mean we're shutting down at mckenzierebels.com.

Keep checking us out for summer postings, camps, signings, all-state listings, features and the usual busy things that keep us going.

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