Every week I continue to be more and more impressed by the sheer athletic talent athletes in Bainbridge possess.

Strong, agile, intelligent and fierce athletes have been raised here, and they are bringing their aggression to every sporting event they are part of. What strikes me hardest is just how fast some of these kids are.

Where to start?

How about with the Bainbridge cross-country team. At their 5K meet in Thomasville last Saturday, the boys came in second out of 20 teams, and the girls came in sixth out of 17 teams.

Junior Poncherella Leonard finished second out of 260 runners in a time of 17:08. Webster-Miriam needs to consider releasing a special edition of the dictionary to Bainbridge with his picture next to the word “lightning.” This young athlete is only going to get better. If you see Leonard in class or out around town, make sure to share a bagel or some pasta with him. At the pace he’s running races, he needs all the carbs he can get.

Freshman Caleb Harris also had an incredible finish with a time of 18:31. I ran two years of cross-country in high school—my junior and senior years. At the state meet in Carrollton, the final race of my running career, I hit my personal record 5K time of 18:32. Harris is a freshman and already smoking me out.

On the girls side, Uriyah Davis finished fourth out of 160 runners with a time of 22:50 last Saturday, another incredible performance. To all the cross-country runners: keep it up. I know what the constant grind is like trying to get faster every single day. So far, all the sweat, sprints and speed drills look to be paying off.

Who else? The football team.

The Bainbridge Bearcats are bigger, stronger and faster than they’ve ever been since coach Jeff Littleton took over in 2013. Want proof? They’re 4-0 this season, haven’t trailed in a game yet and have hung up 131 points on their opponents across all four games. Opponents have only managed to put up 43 points on Bainbridge.

Not bad.

But the quickness some of these players have is incredible and occasionally surprising. Take senior defensive tackle Calvin Isom, for example. Maxpreps.com has him at 6-feet-2-inches and 245 pounds. He is a clear leader for the defense, and his helmet is clashing against the man with the ball on almost every play. He’s a beast.

Last Friday during the Bearcats game against Thomas County Central, Isom snagged an interception from Yellow Jacket quarterback Kelias Williams. In the blink of an eye, Isom was already 20 yards into the backfield. He bolted 60 yards to the house for the pick-6. A kid that big and strong, and that fast, is a special kind of athlete. Littleton said after the game that Isom absolutely deserved a big play like that after the years of hard work he’s put into playing Bainbridge football. Congrats on the pick-6, Calvin.