Overcomers:

Michael Manning -- a big young man with a big heart -- may not be winning races, but he IS winning friends on the track. Van'Go'photo An unlikely hero has emerged at the area track meets this season. Leon High School freshman Michael Manning, a half-miler running in his first high school meets, has gained a very vocal cheering section and appears to be a crowd favorite -- even as he crosses the finish line well behind the other runners.

Michael was born with autism and diagnosed at age two at the Fort Worth Child Study Center. He started school at age three so he could get extra help, and finally started to speak at age four. Michael, Sr. and Christy Manning thought sports might be a positive outlet for their son, and that certainly proved to be the case. Always big for his age, they decided to let him try football. Michael played in a Pee Wee football league in the first grade, loved it, and, his father recalls, "it really brought him out of his shell." Michael was in a self-contained classroom only until second grade, and has been mainstreamed since that time. Today he is usually on the All-A Honor Roll every six weeks, with no modifications.

"Big Mike", as he is often called, enrolled at LHS this year when his father, Michael Manning, Sr., came on board as the Cougars' head basketball coach.

In junior high, Coach Manning put Michael in the field events with the weight men, but Michael did not enjoy participating in the shot and discus. As the 2009 track season approached, Michael came to his dad with a surprising announcement: He wanted to enter the running events.

Anxious to protect his son from disappointment, Coach Manning bluntly laid out the negatives. "I said, 'Michael, you're not gonna win -- and you're probably gonna get last.'' " Then, knowing how teenagers can be, Manning gently concluded, "And Son, you might get laughed at..." The youngster still wanted to try track.

When Big Mike takes his place at the starting line, it is obvious that he's not your average runner -- like a draft horse in a race with slender thoroughbreds. But he's out there, usually competing in the 400M and 800M races -- two particularly grueling distances.

Two of his father's three warnings have come to pass, but Michael does not seem to care that he comes in last. And as for the third prediction... well happily, local track fans and the other competitors have responded not with jeers, but cheers. Coach Manning wears a grateful smile as he shares, "It's been the very opposite. He's been like a folk hero at every track meet!"

Asked what it is that he likes about running, Big Mike shared, "Knowing you can get better every time you do it. It can help you in other things, too. Learning to push yourself, you get mental toughness." The physical payoffs are coming, as well. Michael's times are, slowly, coming down.

That work ethic is one thing Coach Manning admires about his son. "He works tremendously hard. He does off-season and does extra weight training with me. And he knows his limitations -- knows he's not a speed demon. From an athletic point of view, he has a long way to go, but there's NO one that's going to outwork him. He's gonna stay and he's gonna work and work and WORK..." The youngster played JV football in the fall, a starting lineman going both ways, and JV basketball the following season. Manning admits that, as a coach, he's hard on Michael. "We decided 'what happens on the field stays there. When we walk off, I'm not his coach -- just his dad."

It's a good thing that the Manning men ARE able to do that, because they spend a lot of time together. The Manning family has a home in Crockett, where Michael's mother, older sister Brittney (17) and younger brother Dakota (11) live full-time. Michael and Coach Manning reside in an RV here in Leon County during the week and go home each weekend.

Michael's greatest strength is not seen in the field of athletics. His dad describes him as "a genuinely nice, nice person -- the sweetest boy you'd ever meet", and Michael's teachers are quick to confirm that. Coach Manning concludes, "I am very, very proud of Michael -- he's my hero."

Michael celebrated his 15th birthday this week, so wish him a happy birthday. And next track meet, give him a cheer.