8 straight! - Tupelo sweeps 5A titles again
Tupelo's Max Holman 15:51, Cory McGee (3A) 14:21 fastest of the day
Team Champs:
- 5A - Tupelo boys 33 over Madison Central 72; Tupelo girls 22 over Madison Central 97
- 4A - Pearl boys 52 over Oxford 57; Saltillo girls 45 over Pearl 45 (tie through 5, Saltillo's 6th runner 15th to Pearl's 21st)
- 3A - Corinth boys 36 over Kossuth 49; Corinth girls 45 over Pass Christian 65
- 2A - St. Andrews boys 30 over J.Z. George 36; J.Z. George girls 43 over St. Andrew's 51
- 5A - West Union boys 46 over Myrtle 60; Myrtle girls 41 over West Union 49
Class 5A Highlights
- Tupelo jr Max Holman repeated as 5A boys champ, running 15:51 for fastest boys' clocking of the day. Madison Central jr Adam Ruhl was runner-up in 16:25, and that's how the team competition went as well, with Holman leading all seven of his Tupelo teammates into the top 20 for a stunning 8th straight title, scoring 33 points over Madison Central's 72.
- The girls team competition mirrored the boys, as the Tupelo girls threw down an even more impressive 22 points behind the 1-2 finish of sr Maggie McFerrin and soph Katherine Steinman (both timed at 15:18 on the 4k course), well clear of Madison Central's 97 points. All five Tupelo scorers were in the top 8.
Class 4A Highlights
- Ridgeland sr Arash Taheri handily won the boys individual title in 16:21, with Saltillo sr Derek Scott second in 17:01
- Led by third placer Hugo Cordova (17:08), Pearl High held off Oxford, 52 - 57, for the boys team trophy.
- Poplarville jr Stacey Hagenson grabbed the one-second girls win over Pearl soph Kaileigh Hunt, 15:20 to 15:21.
- Despite the 2-3 finish of Hunt and jr Haley Brown (15:34), Pearl couldn't defeat a tough Saltillo girls squad that crammed 6 runners into the top 16, starting with Alyssa Kelley's 5th place 15:41. Scoring was all locked up after 5 runners, so the win came down to Saltillo's clutch 6th runner, Dawn Phillips, finishing 16th in 16:49.
Class 3A Highlights
- Houston High jr Josh Griffin took the individual boys gold with a 17:54 clocking.
- Corinth soph Brian McDonnieal (17:58) and jr Will Napier (18:19) led their team to the boys' title with their 2-4 front end effort, putting 36 points on the board for a comfortable margin on Kossuth's 49.
- Pass Christian jr Cory McGee continued her great run of Mississippi titles, boucning back from a stress fracture for a 14:21 clocking that was nearly a minute up on second-placer Katlyn Will (Corinth sr) at 15:13. Will, however, led her Corinth team to the top of the girls podium by starting a 65-point scoring effort to turn back McGee's Pass Christian squad.
Class 2A Highlights
- A 2-3 finish by St. Andrew's seniors Blake Johnson (17:24) and Sid Johnson (17:28) led their team to a repeat title over runner-up J.Z. George in extremely close, 30-36 scoring that exactly mirrored last year's outcome.
- Austin Epting (East Union sr) was the boys individual titlist, running 16:43 for the victory.
- J.Z. George soph Latifa Swims fronted her girls team to a 43-51 victory over St. Andrew's, running 15:23 to start the single-digit scoring. Last year's champ, St. Patrick's 9th grader Katie Bodin, was runner-up this time around in 15:33
Class 1A Highlights
- Sacred Heart soph Lex Agnew took the 1A boys indvidual victory with his 18:35 effort
- Junior Devin Brock (18:35) and 8th grader Reid Williams (18:36) teamed up to launch West Union toward the team title with a 2-3 effort, backed up by 3 more in the top 25, for a 46-point score that defeated runner-up Myrtle High's 60 pts.
- Myrtle High freshman Halle Knowles was well clear of the competition with her 16:40 victory, and with sophomore teammate Aimee Walker running second in 17:11, Myrtle was able to beat West Union in close 41-49 scoring for the girls state title.
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