Aubree Justice is the Real Deal
One of the main takeaways from the Championship girls race was that Alcorn Central's Aubree Justice's MHSAA 3A title was not a fluke, and she proved that with her win on Saturday, running a PR of 19:40 and winning by 16 seconds. Besides her 1st race of the season when she was coming off of COVID, Justice had been winning all season at some low-key races and harder courses. She first popped onto the running scene with her win at the 2021 Pontotoc XC Invitational - It was then I knew she would be in the running for the MHSAA 3A State Title. Well, then she went out and did it, somewhat handily at that, taking down defending state champion Emily Ireland for her first-ever state title, and somewhat handily at that. Finally, just to make sure she woke everybody in the state up, she won the Mississippi All-State XC Meet of Champions, a race that included 8 individual state champions.
On Monday's state championship win, Justice went hard from the gun, gapping 19:37 5k runner Emily Ireland by the 1k mark. I'm sure Ireland let her go thinking that she would come back to her on the second loop, but Justice kept pushing the pace hard up front and simply never faded, taking the win in 20:07. At the start of All-State, it was clear that this would be Justice's strategy yet again, as she took it out hard from the gun and was somewhat alone by the 800-meter mark, and had a chase pack of runners such as Ireland, Leah Collipp, Samantha Edwards, Lucy Littlejohn, Lindsey Hogue, and more. Justice kept dropping the pace more and more, and by the time she dropped the 3k mark, the race for 1st place was all but over.
The race for 1st Team All-State
The race for 2nd however, was a very interesting race that was taking place, a huge, tight chase pack that was led by Collipp and Rylee Blanchard at the halfway mark. Much like the guy's race, it was a pack of about 10 girls fighting for 6 spots, which was 1st team All-State finishing positions. This made for some very exciting championship-style racing, as they were giving it their all in the last race of the season, racing for place while also running very fast. In the end, 2nd-7th place was only separated a mere 9 seconds, and that group was led by Littlejohn as she was trying her best to hawk Justice down over the last kilometer, but Justice just had too much real estate on her.
I can't express how cool it was to see all of these state champion individuals and teams go head-to-head, which obviously made for some very fast and exciting racing (We need more championship-style racing!!). Something else that was pretty crazy, the amount of HUGE PR's that came from the girl's field, most of them being from private school! As a matter of fact, the MAIS showed up and showed out in the girl's field, and I was very impressed with the way that they held their own in one of the most high-caliber fields of their careers. I personally thought, even before this meet, that this was the best year the MAIS girls' cross country season has ever been, and the Meet of Champions proved that on Saturday. You will see what I mean when we get on into the team racing. However, before we get on into the team racing, let's take a look at all of the All-State Teams and commend them for their efforts, and you will see just how fast / how many PR's there were - And how many were from the MAIS!
FULL ALL-STATE TEAMS
21. Mary Murphy - Lewisburg High School - 20:58
20. Madelyn McKenzie - Columbia Academy - 20:55 -- PR
19. Audrey Mayatte - East Rankin Academy - 20:55 -- PR
18. Natalie Ragan - Columbia Academy - 20:50 -- PR
17. Taylor Benoit - French Camp High School - 20:48
16. Kaydi Blanchard - Lewisburg High School - 20:40 -- PR
15. Ava Sylve - Germantown High School - 20:33 -- PR
For McKenzie, Mayatte, Ragan, and Sylve, this was their first time breaking 21 minutes for the 5k in their careers. What a way to go out for Columbia's Natalie Ragan!
14. Briley Speights - Columbia Academy - 20:32 -- PR
13. Emily Williams - East Rankin Academy - 20:30 -- PR
12. Rylee Blanchard - Lewisburg High School - 20:29 -- PR
11. Layla Warren - Simpson Academy - 20:23
10. Hendrix Eldridge - Saint Aloysius HS - 20:20 -- PR
9. Olivia Smith - Jackson Preparatory School - 20:12
8. Samantha Edwards - Saint Aloysious HS - 20:06 -- PR
Columbia's Speights had the biggest PR by 50 seconds, breaking 21 for the first time in her career! All 7 of these ladies have been in their respective class's All-State positions, and there are also 2 State Champions - Warren and Edwards. Also proving my point from above, 6 out of 7 runners on this list are in the MAIS, and 5 of them are in MAIS 5A!
7. Lindsey Hogue - Benton Academy - 20:05
6. Catherine Truemper - New Albany High School - 20:05 -- PR
5. Lilly Overby - Simpson Academy - 20:04 -- PR
4. Emily Ireland - St. Andrew's HS - 20:02
3. Leah Collipp - East Rankin Academy - 19:58 -- PR
2. Lucy Littlejohn - French Camp High School - 19:56
1. Aubree Justice - Alcorn Central High School - 19:40 -- PR
3 more MAIS runners on this list, and 2 more from MAIS 5A (that class was stacked). Also, look how tight 2nd-8th place was!
Running through the field, Hogue, the MAIS 3A State Champion snagged the final All-State spot. Truemper just had the race of her life last weekend at the 2021 MHSAA 4A State Championships placing 3rd, and then backed it up with ANOTHER PR! Overby of Simpson had the absolute race of her life, running 20:04 for a Top 5 finish and a 35 second PR! Ireland, the 2021 MHSAA 4A 1600m and 3200m State Champion, showed that she is one of the best runners in the state with her consistency. Collipp had a mind-blowing performance, going out hard and handling her race situation like a veteran, breaking 20 minutes for the first time in 19:58 and a 3rd-place finish! Littlejohn, the 2021 MHSAA 1A State Champion and one of the best small-school runners in the state, broke 20 for the 2nd time in her career running 19:56 for the Silver Medal. And your 2021 Mississippi All-State XC Champion, one of the most aggressive front runners in the state, taking her 8th win in a row and is recently coming off her first-ever state title, Aubree Justice!!
Finally, with runners like Collipp, Eldridge, Eliza McCarley, and Noel Rice, the future of Mississippi High School Girl's distance running looks to be in good hands! Collipp, by the way, is now the 7th fastest 7th grader in Mississippi history.