We congratulate Coach Larry Cosby and his Bainbridge High School Bearcats track team on winning the first state Class AAAA track championship in school history over the weekend in Jefferson.

The victory brings to an end one of the most successful spring sports seasons in school history.

Just a week earlier, Coach Nicki Shockley’s Region 1AAAA champion Lady Cats tennis team finished a strong second at the state Class AAAA Final 4 in Jonesboro.

The backbone of the Bearcats track program for the past 33 years has been current Jones-Wheat Elementary School principal Larry Clark, an outstanding educator and coach, who has been a great mentor and role model to untold numbers of young people.

While track is a team sport, it takes a lot of individual effort to be successful. It took a balanced combination of strong sprinters, hurdlers, triple jumpers, discus throwers and shot put heavers to nail down the state championship.

The Bearcats got stronger each day at the state meet. Following the first day of competition on Thursday, they trailed Clarke Central High School 22-20.

They went ahead to stay when their 4-by-100-meter relay team of Shawn Samuels, Brandon Handsford, Thomas Smiley and Denzel Reynolds turned in their record-setting first-place time of time of 41.31 seconds in the opening event of the day on Saturday.

Bainbridge’s state track championship and second in girls tennis proves that teamwork pays off.