The high school years have been a time of new interests and success for Hugo senior Mekii Bell. Growing up, Bell, an offensive and defensive lineman, did play some little league football until he got to high school and then he took a break.
“Then one day last year (former football) coach (Cody) Tramble stopped me in the hallway and talked me into trying football again and I’m glad he did because now I’m going to have a chance to play football at East Central University next year.”
Also in high school, Bell got into power lifting where he qualified for state two straight years. And then last year he also decided to give track a try where he throws the shotput.
“The coaches just kind of talked me into it. My initial goal was to get to 40 feet during the year and I did that on my first practice, but I just missed qualifying for state. So during my spare time in the past year, I hit the weight room hard and watched a lot of videos to improve my technique. The coaches and I would work extra on weekends too. I medaled in every meet we had this year which is tough because we had some pretty tough competition.”
But the hard work paid off as Mekii did qualify for state this year and finished fourth in the shotput in the Class 2A state meet with a toss of 48.06 feet.
“I didn’t have what I consider a good day at state because I felt I could have done a lot better. I thought I could make at least 50 feet.”
As a senior, Bell took on a leadership role particularly in football where he helped lead the Buffs to the first round of the playoffs.
“I think my role as a leader in football was to teach technique and show the younger ones how to handle themselves and stay calm if something went wrong on the field.”
Bell gave his mom a shoutout as a big motivator in his life.
“She’s such a hard worker and that just motivated me to work hard to help her.”
Obviously placing at state in track this year is a big highlight for Mekii, but there was also one in football.
“Beating Kingston this year for the time in about 40 years was really big for me.”
