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Billoxi CC Meet Preview
Teams Entered: Biloxi, St. Stanislaus, St. Patrick, Picayune, Harrison Central, Pass Christian, Long Beach, Pearl River Central, OLA, Gautier, Vancleave, d'Iberville, Pascagoula, Gulfport, East Central, Ocean Springs, Poplarville, Sacred Heart, Petal, Clinton, Seminary, Hancock, West Harrison.
It's going to be a big meet in Biloxi on Saturday, and this coach is excited and ready to see some fast times! What I'd like to do is highlight some of the top boys and girls and then give my ultimate picks for the team finishes at the high school level.
Let's start with the girls. Vancleave's Lina May, Ocean Spring's Sadie Smith, and Long Beach's Ashling Osness will lead the way. Lina May is the only girl in the field who has been under 20:00.0 this season, but Smith, Osness, Andrea Wheeler from OS and Isabel Letherman from St. Patrick have all gone under 21:00.0.
The boys race looks to be led by a duo from Ocean Springs and a duo from Petal. Look for James Harsch and Alex Whyte to lead for the Greyhounds while Petal's Hayden Shows and Ladarius Evans lead for the Panthers. These four plus Joseph Gallo from Ocean Springs have all already gone under 18:00.0 this season. Clinton's Demeyers Morrow ran 18:03.54, so he's looking to join the sub 18 club too along with Mosie Kirby and Matt Mestayer of OS who ran 18:12.75 and 18:13.6 respectively.
As far as the race as a whole, I think I will be among most coaches who are looking for individual improvement from the early season times. I encourage my athletes to have a "PR at every meet" mentality, so we shall see how it unfolds.
Now on to the teams. Ocean Springs is going to be extremely tough to beat on the boys side. I think the top six will look like this: Ocean Springs, Petal, Clinton, Saint Stanislaus, Long Beach, and host Biloxi. I think Ocean Springs wins the girls side too, with Saint Patrick and Long Beach finishing the top 3. After that, it's pretty competitive but the next three should be Gulfport, Clinton, and d'Iberville.