Vicksburg High runner James Wood practices on Wednesday for Saturday’s cross country state meet. (Meredith SpencerThe Vicksburg Post)

[11/4/04]One of the toughest cross country meets James Wood ever had was the 2003 Division 5-5A meet.

He was leading the race, trying to hold off another runner, when suddenly a car appeared on the course. It somehow had slipped through the barricades and wound up on the street in front of Wood. The driver slammed on the brakes, and Wood slammed off the car and onto the ground. He rolled off, got up and dusted himself off.

Then he kept running, eventually finishing second.

Compared to that, Saturday’s state meet in Clinton should be a piece of cake.

Wood, a senior at Vicksburg High, is one of the favorites to win the Class 5A state championship. He was fifth last year, and has finished in the top 10 in every meet he has run this fall and is usually in the top five. He won’t have to deal with any cars on the closed Choctaw Trails course, just a few runners ahead of him.

“That’d be real good,” the soft-spoken Wood said of winning a state title. “Every meet, I always try to win. Especially this year. I really want to win first in my last meet.”

Realistically, Wood said, he’d be happy with a top-five finish. Several runners in the field have beaten him consistently this year, and he knows it would take an extraordinary effort to beat them.

“I think he has a good chance,” VHS coach Jason Bennett said. “It all depends on him and how it goes on Saturday.”

Wood didn’t begin running cross country until he was a sophomore. He ran track his freshman year, then tried cross country the next fall after a short-lived football career.

“I wasn’t a good football player,” he said with a chuckle.

He was a great runner, though. Wood quickly became one of the Gators’ most consistent runners in both the fall and spring, and was a strong competitor at the state cross country and track meets last season.

He was fifth at the Class 5A cross country meet, and finished third in the 1-mile run at the state track meet. He also was fifth in the 800 meter run, and was part of the Gators’ 1,600-meter relay team that placed sixth.

“It’s a lot of natural ability. Everything just kind of flows. He’s got a nice rhythm to his running and a nice stride,” Bennett said. “I think track helps him with his finish in cross country. The sprints help him.”

And Wood has also been a help to the other Gators’ runners, Bennett said.

Using him as both a pacesetter and a leader, Vicksburg runners took the top three spots in this year’s Division 5-5A meet. Jeff Grimshell was second and Ben Rowland was third as VHS cruised to the team title.

Bennett said Grimshell, the Gators’ No. 2 runner, has improved simply by trying to keep up with Wood, and Grimshell’s goal has changed from finishing strong to finishing close to his teammate.

“If I didn’t have him on my guys’ team, as an example and a runner, I don’t think they would have done as well as they have,” Bennett said. “I think they understand what kind of gift he has, and it helps him out and helps them out in a lot of ways.”

Vicksburg and Warren Central will compete in the Class 5A meet, beginning at 10:30 a.m. St. Aloysius will run in the Class 1A meet, which starts at 2:30 p.m.

St. Aloysius will take seven girls and seven boys to Saturday’s meet in hopes of capturing one of the top spots.

Coach Drew McBrayer said the main competition should come from Magee, a team that defeated St. Al earlier in the season.

“We have a shot to do well,” McBrayer said.