Another Bell County athlete will join a long list of Bobcats to take their talents to the next level. On Thursday, senior Mitchell Miracle signed a letter of intent to run track at the University of the Cumberlands.

“It feels good to get to go close to home and run, keep the name around and go to a good school that’s building up and is going to be pretty good,” said Miracle about signing with the Cumberlands.

Competing at the next level has been a long time goal for the senior Bobcat — who has an extensive list of success in both track and cross country. Miracle said the biggest challenge in making the move to the collegiate level is “going from the top to pretty much starting at rock bottom and having to build myself back up to the top.”

Miracle’s success in both track and cross country stretch back to his time as a middle school student. Last year, he placed 12th in the KHSAA 2A State Cross Country Championship. He was named to the All-SEKC Team in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. He was the SEKC Runner of the Year in cross country in 2015-17.

When it comes to track, Miracle was the SEKC MVP in 2016 and 2017. Last year, he placed eighth in the Class 2A 1600-meter run at the state championship. In 2016, he finished sixth in the same event. He was the Class 2A Region 5 runner-up in the 1600-meter in 2017 and the Region 5 champion in 2016.

“Mitchell’s a great kid. He’s a once-in-a-lifetime kid for a coach to get to coach, he works hard, he’s dependable, a champion, words can’t describe how good of a kid he is,” Bell County track coach Jason Stewart said. “He’s just a coach’s dream. I’m very proud of him and I’m going to miss him.”

Going into his senior year in track, Miracle said he would like to win state in the mile and medal in the two-mile run.

The University of the Cumberlands compete in the Mid-South Conference of the NAIA.

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Jay Compton of the Pineville Sun contributed to this report.

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Reach Anthony Cloud at 606-302-9090 or on Twitter @AnthonyCloudMDN