Dexter junior runner brings unique approach to competing

There are high school athletes that compete in track and field each spring because they simply have the athletic ability to do so, but in reality, they probably devote more time to higher-profile sports such as football and/or basketball.

And then there is Anistin Kyle.

“With Anistin,” first-year Dexter High School track and field coach Chad Jamerson said, “he truly loves track and field. He truly loves it. It is something that he studies.”

So, when Jamerson took his Bearcat athletes to last weekend’s MSHSAA Class 3 State Finals at Adkins Stadium at Jefferson City High School, not only did Kyle arrive prepared physically and mentally to compete himself, but he also knew many of those athletes that he would be competing against.

“Anistin knows all of the big runners in the state,” Jamerson said. “He knows their times. He knows what they do in the summer. He is an encyclopedia of high school track and field knowledge.”

The Dexter High School junior brings a unique passion to the track, and it showed in his performances.

He claimed his first state championship by running a leg on the 3,200-meter relay squad, while he also helped the Bearcats place third in the mile relay race.

“Another thing that makes Anistin special is his work ethic,” Jamerson said. “He works non-stop.”

Sometimes, perhaps, too much.

While other young athletes are enjoying their summers, Kyle spends time training in the heat and humidity of the Bootheel for the upcoming cross-country season.

“If there is such a thing as working too hard,” Jamerson said, “Anistin Kyle is on the threshold of that.”

The diligence paid dividends, though.

Individually, Kyle placed eighth in the 800-meter event, which gave him three All-State finishes in as many events.

“He is constantly running to prepare for the cross country season,” Jamerson continued. “He is constantly preparing for track.”

And Kyle is constantly analyzing where his training has taken him.

This season, he wanted to increase his speed within his races, which would then help lower his times, if he had the individual speed to stay with the top runners in the state.

“In the last month,” Jamerson said of altering Kyle’s training, “we worked on more speed stuff to get him where he could withstand the lactic (acid) threshold that it was going to take to compete in a meet like (the state finals).”

Kyle had as difficult of a challenge as any runner at the state finals, as he had to run – at maximum effort – multiple races over the two-day meet.

On Friday, he competed in the 800 finals, followed by the mile relay prelims.

The following day, Kyle opened the meet by winning the state championship with his teammates and then had to close the day with another strong performance in the mile relay.

“That (mile relay) group worked so hard,” Jamerson said. “Not only did they work hard all season, they had to work hard this weekend. Those 4X400 and 4X800 kids competed in other events, as well.

“To walk away with multiple medals in multiple events, for all of those kids, it was a special experience.”