NATCHEZ — Cathedral track and field coach Tommy Smith said, above all, he wants his runners to apply the success they earn while running at Cathedral to their everyday lives.

Smith witnessed his squads taste success at the MAIS District 4-3A championship on last week. The Cathedral girls won the district championship meet outright with a final score of 71, while the boys placed third in the meet, scoring 58.

The Cathedral girls had at least one runner finish in the top three in eight events.

“(Track and cross country) mimic life more than any other sports,” Smith said. “You can’t hide a lack of fitness. The kids who work hard, see the benefits of their hard work.”

The Cathedral girls brought home the district title in the first season since shifting from MHSAA to MAIS.

“I’ve been running for five years and this is the first time we won,” senior Abi Wheeler said. “We’ve had distance people but this is the first time we’ve had really good sprinters.”

The Cathedral girls team will be without some key runners at South State due to injuries. Tess Latham and Baylee Granning will be sidelined for up to a week, according to Smith.

Now Cathedral sets its sights on the South State meet, which begins with field events at 11:15 a.m. today at Silliman Institue.

MAIS track differs from MHSAA in that there is one fewer tournament meet; while MHSAA schools compete in a regional meet in between the district and south state meets, MAIS jumps straight to South State after district.

“Your competition becomes so great that your time is better spent in the events you are best at,” Smith said.

The events Smith said Cathedral’s boys excel at are the sprinting events, the 100-meter dash and the 200. Sophomore runner Greg Moore placed in second in both events in district, missing the 100 winner by approximately .1 seconds and the 200 winner by .27 seconds.

Moore said he is optimistic regarding the Green Wave’s prospects at South State. He was impressed with the times he and his teammates posted, although there were not personal bests.

Smith said since he doesn’t coach a team with the luxury of having lots of runners his team has had to develop flexibility in the track events.

An example he gives is one of boys Austin Gibson. Smith said Gibson ranks highly in the state in the 800, but also runs a leg of the 4×200-meter relay, the 4×400 and the 4×800.

“(Gibson) runs anywhere from a quarter mile to cross-country distances,” Smith said.

Distance plays to Smith’s strength as a coach, since he specializes as a cross-country runner. Smith said, however his girls team is also full of strong sprinters.

To be successful at South State, Smith said Cathedral will have to match their opponents’ depth with versatility.

“We don’t have a lot of choice,” Smith said. “We don’t have sheer numbers so we have to take a kid that shows potential to be what I like to call ‘omni-versal.’”