STARKVILLE — Kamau Bostic is leading Starkville High School”s charge to another boys track and field state title.
The junior distance runner logs the most minutes on the track as a miler, half-miler, and as a member of the 4×400-meter relay team.
At regionals, he was the only Yellow Jacket to win multiple events — the 1,600 and 800 — and was just one of three to earn a first-place medal.
Now, Bostic will have to duplicate that success Saturday at the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A/6A North State meet at Mississippi State.
Bostic is coming off a personal-record 4-minute, 39.82-second time in the 1,600 at regionals and a 2:01.16 mark in the 800, which by his admission didn”t reflect what he could have run because he was conserving energy for his relay leg.
Bostic is the top-ranked half-miler in 6A at 1:59.93, just 1.93 seconds off the Milesplit U.S. Second-Team Elite qualifying mark. He”s ranked third in the 1,600 in 6A.
The 4×400 team, though it took second at regionals with a 3:29.33, has a season”s best of 3:25.38 and is ranked third in 6A entering the weekend.
Last week, the Yellow Jackets tallied 112 team points, just 14 behind rival Tupelo.
If Starkville is to have a chance of claiming a North State title, it”ll need another dynamite effort from Bostic.
“I feel proud to be where I am because it means a lot to have people depend on me for advice,” Bostic said. “For the coach to tell me, ”We”re depending on you and need you to step up” makes me feel good. I”m just really glad to be a part of the team. We”re a big family.”
Bostic”s form at the beginning of the season was far from championship caliber, as he ran a 4:54.62 in the 1,600 at the season-opening meet at the Paul W. Bryant Invitational. Though he finished second, his performance was an eye-opening moment for how far he had to go to get to where he is now.
“It”s been baby steps, I”ll admit,” Bostic said. “I was real frustrated at the beginning and didn”t think I was doing that well. The first practice meet at Pearl, I did OK. The second meet, I did really bad. I don”t think I prepared that well and didn”t rest well that day. But I”ve gotten better and learned how hard I”ve got to prepare for each meet.”
Bostic, who finished 13th at the 6A cross country meet in the fall, could contribute as many as 30 points to Starkville”s North Half and 6A State efforts. To do so, he”ll have to beat Oak Grove”s Chad Moore in the 1,600. The MSU signee”s personal record of 4:23.25 is nearly two seconds better than the Milesplit US Second Team Elite mark.
Bostic wouldn”t face Moore until the state meet in Pearl, so his shot of earning two North State titles is favorable.
Last year, Starkville”s only points in distance events at the North State or State meet came from Nathan Ball, who finished seventh in the 3,200 at North State
“Chad Moore is extremely strong,” Starkville coach Chris Barnett said. “However I think that with him doing the triple it”s going to be difficult for him to come back and do that mile against Kamau on fresh legs. Now, he”s a heck of an athlete, or he wouldn”t have signed with State, but I think our kid can compete with the best of them.
“Kamau still has the No. 1 time in the 800 in 6A. He”s got the capability of running 1:57 or 1:58, and he”s got the possibility of running low 4:30s (in the 1,600).”
Though he transferred from Virginia before the 2009 cross country season, Bostic is developing rivalries with the state”s top distance runners. Bostic looks forward to facing Hancock”s Derek Westbrook, who he beat in the 800 but lost to in the 1,600 at the MSU Invitational, when the two meet in Pearl.
Bostic laughed when asked about Tupelo”s distance runners, including Andrew White.
“They are right there with me, but if we”re neck-and-neck at that 200 I”ve got more speed,” Bostic said. “But they give me a run for my money. I want to get low 30s, and I think that”s the only way I could win (the 1,600). I look forward to racing them this weekend.”
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