Another week is done, and another weekend of Mississippi cross country is upon us!
Starting off, we have most of the Northern Mississippi powerhouses going head-to-head at the Mooreville XC Invitational, one of the faster courses in the state. The headliners of this meet are none other than the duo from Tupelo, All-State #4 Taylor Brown, and #6 Jaheim Bridges. As mentioned in yesterday's article, Bridges has been going off this season and has made some big improvements. I didn't even put him in the Top 10 of Way Too Early Rankings, and now he has found himself on the MileSplit Mississippi All-State Team. Of course, Brown has also had a fantastic season, which includes his 16:14 5k season opener. Mooreville is a very flat and fast course, so expect these 2 to go at it tomorrow.
Cooper Parmer of Pontotoc could also potentially be there, but it should be noted that he did not race at TCPS last week. Speaking of TCPS, the winner of that race was J.J. Lincoln of Saltillo, who will also be there tomorrow morning in Mooreville. On a hot day, Lincoln upset the field on the hilly course at TCPS. He should be able to run much faster tomorrow, and will not definitely not count him out as he has already proved me wrong on paper once.
On the ladie's side, we also have some very fast runners competing. Those runners would be none other than Brookelyn Morgan, Kate Gann, Mia Card, Hannah Sanders, AND the Meeks sisters - Ava Meeks and Katie Meeks. This is basically the same field at TCPS and we're eating Morgan to the mix. Although Mia Card is the fastest person to have covered the 5,000 meter distance, I would say Morgan is the favorite here. Here are the facts - Brookelyn took down Kate Gann, someone who has been on a tear this season, at her home opener somewhat handily. Gann then took down that whole field I just mentioned at TCPS last week plus All-State #7 Mia Dawson. With that being said, just looking at the stats, Morgan is the on-paper favorite, and for good reason with the season she has had this year.
The Meeks sisters might be in a separate race - The small school race - So they might not compete with everyone else in the field. If that is true, they should go 1-2 fairly easily.