Pontotoc XC
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS
As expected, the High School Varsity Boys Race was nothing short of spectacular on Friday morning. We had some major PR's and somewhat of an unexpected 1-2 finish...
In the 1st mile, Luke Johnson took it out hot, coming through the mile in around 4:47. Only Tupelo's Jaheim Bridges and Taylor Brown were brave enough to go with him. The rest of the field, a chase pack that included Ethan Knight, Matthew Singletary, JJ Lincoln, Cooper Parmer, and Parker Legoff, hung back.
At the halfway mark, runners were starting to dwindle away in the front group and chase pack. Bridges and Johnson were now neck-and-neck, and the chase group of Lincoln, Parmer, and Legoff were doing their best to work together and catch Brown.
I say this every single article... but Jaheim Bridges just keeps on surprising me every time he steps on the line. I knew he was putting in the work over the summer, but I never could have predicted the show he has been putting on this year. Last year, he had a PR of 17:17 for a true 5k - He was the first man out to qualify in the 800m at the State Championships.
That race must have lit a fire for Bridges, because he is now the 21st Mississippi High Schooler to EVER break 16 minutes in the 5k, taking down Chase Rose's course record (the course was lengthened last year) from 1 year ago running 15:57 for the Win!! Bridges did this with a huge charge, finally pouncing on race leader Luke Johnson in the last mile.
Speaking of fast last miles, another runner who had an outstanding run for 2nd was hometown hero Cooper Parmer of Pontotoc, somehow catching Johnson who had at least 70-80 meters on him with less than a mile to go, and finished in a huge PR of 16:07.
Across the board, it seemed like literally everyone ran faster than they did here last year - Especially Bridges and Saltillo's J.J. Lincoln. This is a great sign heading into Watson this upcoming weekend, as basically everybody will be in the Gold Race next weekend. If Pontotoc is a hint of what will Watson, there is no telling what could happen once you throw in Ruston, Brookhaven, and Keegan Leverett...
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS
Unlike the boy's race, the Large School Girls race played out exactly as expected - Brookelyn Morgan doing what she has been doing all season, which is taking it out hard and leading from the gun. This strategy worked out for Morgan yet again, as she won in a 19:22, her 2nd fastest time this season and almost a minute ahead of the next finisher.
Morgan will get another shot at Jessica Cartwright next weekend at Watson. Cartwright is the only Mississippian that has beaten Morgan this season, and both runners have run under 19:10 this year. Throw in defending champion Julia Stradinger and Emily Ireland, as well as Alabama's Lindsey Baxter, last year's runner-up, and Louisiana's Isabella Russell, a 5:17 1600m runner into the mix and we could see a great race - probably the best one Mississippi has had so far this year.
The battle for 2nd place was a tough one with a lot of girls in the fight, but it went to multiple-time state champion in MHSAA 4A Hannah Sanders of Mooreville in the end thanks to her sprint finish. Sanders somewhat hung back with the Saltillo pack buried deep in the chase pack, and it paid off in the end as she picked girls off and had a huge kick to earn her runner-up finish. Former All-State member Mia Dawson showed that she is back as she rounded out the top 3, leading the chase pack for most of the race. Dawson actually came from behind and barely edged out her teammate Maine Lund for the 3rd place spot. This race was also Lund's first time breaking 21, as she almost PR'd by a whole minute!
Finally, there was another very impressive performance in the High School Girls Race that should be noted, and that honor goes to Aubree Justice. Unfortunately, I only have race footage of the large school race so I'm not exactly sure how the race went, but what I do know is that this was a HUGE breakthrough race for the Alcorn Central sophomore. This was Justice's 4th win in a row, and an SB by over 2 minutes, breaking 20 for the first time in her career running 19:49 for the win in Small School Race. Justice took down the Meeks sisters from Kossuth High School, as well as Abi Alden Benton from MRA. Justice showed us on Saturday that she could potentially give Ireland a run for her money in MHSAA 3A - I personally can't wait to see the battle between those 2 when there is a state title on the line - especially once you add Katie Meeks into the equation.