This is an opinion piece.

Mitchell Chenier has been the track coach at Loachapoka for nearly two decades.

His teams have battled obstacles many high schools don’t face, including having to travel to Beauregard High to practice every day after school.

Last week made it all worthwhile.

Chenier’s boys won the Class 1A state championship in Cullman, holding off Addison 84-82 in a battle that wasn’t decided until the final event. The Loachapoka girls finished third behind Marion County and Winterboro.

“We’ve overcome a lot of hurdles,” Chenier said. “Really, I think any success we have is about the kids. They’ve made a lot of sacrifices.”

Loachapoka is 16.5 miles from Beauregard. Chenier said his team would try to leave school at 3:15 to get to Beauregard for daily practice and wouldn’t return until 6:45 or 7 p.m.

“It just made it an added difficulty for the kids,” he said. “A lot of our students work also so sometimes we would have to drop them off along the way so their parents could pick them up and take them directly to work. It also put the coaching staff late getting home at night. It was a big inconvenience, but you have to do what you have to do to be successful. No one griped about it. Our kids just bit the bullet and got it done.”

Chenier said, in recent years, a sand pit, runway and slab for discus and shot put practice have been added at the school and the Lee County School Board voted this week to add a track. Those will be luxuries the Indians haven’t benefited from up to this point.

However, not having those tools, didn’t affect the team’s performance in 2023. The Indians brought home three individual state titles from Cullman. Jakeeria Melton won the girls 100-meter hurdles and Myana Chenier won the girls shot put. On the boys side, Jamari Payne won the shot put.

Auburn football signee Jacorious Hart finished second in the 100 meters and the 200 meters and third in the 400 meters.

Loachapoka’s state title run is a story of determination that shouldn’t be overlooked.

“I think this says a lot about our kids,” Mitchell Chenier said. “It shows the determination they have, the work ethic, the discipline, the grit and the fight. It takes a lot. There is nothing easy about it. Our track kids are a special group.”

Indeed, they are.

Coaching news

If you missed it this week, Trinity announced the hiring of Brian Seymore as head football coach and director of athletics. It’s a good hire for the Wildcats. Seymore has been successful at every stop, including his last six years at Demopolis. He replaces Granger Shook, who left for Pike Road.

Also, Spain Park named former Vincent boys basketball coach John Hadder as its new girls coach. He replaces Mike Chase, who left for Orange Beach.

Thought for the Week

“Out of all the voices calling out to me, I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth.” – Casting Crowns.

Ben Thomas is the high school sportswriter at AL.com. He has been named one of the 50 legends of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Follow him on twitter at @BenThomasPreps or email him at [email protected]. He can be heard weekly on “Inside High School Sports” on SportsTalk 99.5 FM in Mobile or on the free IHeart Radio App at 2 p.m. Wednesdays.