Winner for a moment, champion for life

 

Chris Cummings glanced at the scoreboard moments after he finished the mile run at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championship at Minnesota State -- Mankato last Saturday.

He was checking to see who won the race, becoming the national champion.

The senior had passed seven other runners over the last half of the race, and with five meters left had caught the race leader.

As Cummings took his final strides toward the finish line, the Mansfield native leaned his body forward as the overflow crowd screamed in frenzy.

It was a remarkable performance for Chris, whose entire career has been a series of remarkable performances.

He had started the race in the inside line but quickly fell into last place in the nine-man field.

I wasn't in Minnesota last Saturday, but I watched the race on the computer in my office through a live video stream from the championship.

After the first couple of laps, Chris was still in last place, and I was praying he could just pass one runner to finish eighth and earn All-American honors.

At the midway point, Chris started moving up, and I started standing up in the office as I followed the race.

In the final two laps, I was screaming at the computer screen, urging Chris to go, go, go as he moved into fifth, fourth, third and then second.

As the race came down to the final 25 meters, Chris and Daniel Kirwa -- a freshman runner from Kenya, Africa, who attends Harding College -- were literally step-by-step with Chris seeming to have the momentum.

My face was inches away from the screen back in Mansfield, and I was convinced Chris won.

I was just stunned, as was head coach Mike Rohl at track side.

Mike, who had been standing with the coach of a runner for Mankato, also glanced anxiously at the scoreboard.

So did Chris's fiancée Clarissa Correll. Clarissa and Chris started dating when she was still a student at Mansfield High School.

An outstanding student-athlete in her own right, Clarissa is a starter on the MU women's basketball team and one of our top female cross country runners.

Clarissa had driven with Chris's former teammate and best friend Josh Wooten 17 hours from Mansfield to watch the race.

Josh actually videotaped it from track side and posted it on YouTube the next day.

Both thought Chris had won.

Many did. The race was so close that it would have been a photo-finish at the horse track.

Chris had run the mile in two races the night before Saturday's final, and although exhausted, he glanced up with his hands on his knees to look at the scoreboard.

He honestly had no idea if he won or finished second.

The results were quickly posted and Chris went numb when the scoreboard listed his lane and his time as first.

He had become the first Mountaineer in history to win a national championship.

Chris had won a lot of races, but even he didn't know how a national champion should feel.

Thoughts and emotions flooded his mind has he made his way to his coach, his fiancée and his best friend at track side.

But by the time he got to them to share his joy, things had changed.

The scoreboard flashed again with corrected results.

Instead of being listed first, Chris was now second.

In what would be the closest mile finish in NCAA Division II Indoor history, Chris had missed becoming a national champion by one one-hundredths of a second, less time than it takes to blink an eye.

Instead of champion, Chris was now the runner-up.

I like Chris Cummings and don't know anyone who doesn't.

I wanted him to be the national champion so badly that I actually felt cheated when he was declared second.

But Chris didn't.

"When the race ended," Cummings said, "I looked at the scoreboard at the end of the track and it had my lane and time listed as the winner.

"It just took a moment for them to readjust and post the official results -- but it was a great moment."

Instead of hugging the group and crying out that he was number one, Chris hugged his supporters and yelled "Can you believe it? I finished second at the national championship!"

I've written a lot of stories about Chris. It would be hard not to.

In 2006, he finished second in the 1500 meters at the NCAA Division II National Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

He finished sixth in the mile at the 2006 Division II Indoor Championship months earlier and was an All-American at this year's NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship.

But what sets Chris apart isn't how good an athlete he is, but more importantly what kind of person he is.

It's hard to get Chris to talk about himself. Even when he was honored at the Fall Sports Banquet as the Male Athlete of the Year in December, Chris talked about his teammates and his friendship with Josh at his acceptance speech.

He didn't even mention his own accomplishments.

He's as academically gifted as he is athletically, and was cited as one of the Top Ten student-athletes in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference this fall.

It's an honor he's won before as well as national All-Academic honors in three sports.

Everyone in Mansfield knows Chris. They might not know him personally, but they know him as the guy they've seen running through borough streets every day for at least the last 10 years.

We're all proud of Chris Cummings, not so much for what he's accomplished as how he did it.

Chris Cummings is just like my kids and the kids of every parent in every small town in the country.

People sometimes tell me it's better to raise kids in urban areas where there's more opportunity and competition.

But Chris reminds us every day that it's not where you live but who you are and how hard you work that determines success in life.

That's what makes Chris a champion for life.