Weekend Preview - by Hollis Johnson
Pontotoc XC
One of the biggest meets on tap for this weekend is the Pontotoc XC Invitational. There are a lot of teams coming from all over the northern part of the state, including teams such as Oxford High School, Tupelo High School, and Saltillo High School.
In the boys' race, a narrow matchup between Oxford, Saltillo, and Tupelo is setting up to be a rematch from the Tupelo Invitational where we saw some major fireworks there. There are a handful of guys who will be leading the charge in this race, including a duo matchup between Oxford's Luke Johnson and Ethan Knight and Tupelo's Jaheim Bridges and Taylor Brown .
Other competitors who will be in the mix include Oxford's Matthew Singletary, Pontotoc's Cooper Parmer, Saltillo's J.J. Lincoln, and Hernando's Graham Weiss. These 9 front runners have all broken sub 17 minutes in the 5k this season.
In the girls' race, a fight for podium positioning between Hernando High School, Tupelo, and Saltillo is shaping up to be an exciting race to watch. Tupelo's Brookelyn Morgan and Hernando's Jessica Cartwright set the tone for the meet, heading in with times of 19:05.63 and 19:08.30. Sophomore Riley Jackson of Hernando will also be competing for a top spot, running 19:48.00 earlier this season.
Note from the State Editor: We know this race would have already happened - A more in-depth recap will come on Monday but here's what we do know - Jaheim Bridges for the win in sub-16!!! Why does this even surprise me?... This man is on fire and does not seem to be stopping any time soon. Cooper Parmer also had a very strong showing for 2nd place, 16:07 for 5k - A HUGE run for Parmer. In the girl's race, Brookelyn Morgan took it out hard and never looked back, winning in a 19:22. There was also a slew of girls running around 20:00. (Hernando did not race) Congratulations to all!! We can not wait to see you at Watson!