3. Sam Arnold - Brookhaven High School -
Last performance: 15:59 5k PR and runner-up finish at the Ole Brook XC Invitational
Next race: The Opener 2021: Mississippi College
Wow... this is one that I was not expecting. When I was talking to Brookhaven's coach, their game plan was to race the field and take it easy and just get a good season opener under their belts. If that is what I saw on Thursday, then that is just downright terrifying. Arnold opened up his season with a 25 second PR AND a sub-16 5k effort, running 15:59 on his home course to finish 2nd and be part of the 1-2-3 Brookhaven sweep. Arnold did most of the work in the first half of the race and found himself in no man's land the last mile, and still rallied to run one of the top performances in Mississippi all-time. It will be very exciting to see what this young man can do at the Opener can do next weekend, as he will be vying to jump up another spot in the rankings.
2. Keegan Leverett - Saint Stanislaus High School
Has not raced
Next race: George County XC Invitational / Mobile Cross Country Challenge of Champions
Though Leverett has not raced yet, he is expected to run at George County next Thursday and Mobile the following Saturday. I am not sure if he will actually run at both of those, but he will hopefully save something for Mobile, as he will have plenty of sub-16 5k performers from Alabama pushing him to snag a big PR. As I have preached time and time again, Leverett is a gamer and knows how to win. Expect him to use that skill next week to try and earn his #1 spot back.
Arnold finishing at the Ole Brook XC Invitational