MAIS 5A Girls Have Historic Year
Columbia Academy's Varsity Girls Squad
Just like the individual titler racing in this championship setting, the team race was just as exciting! Like I have been saying, although the public school girls definitely brought some heavy hitters to the table, the MAIS girls really showed up and showed out on Saturday, and that showed in the team racing as well. As a matter of fact, the top 4 teams were all part of the 'small school' sections in Mississippi, and the top 3 were all part of MAIS 5A. MAIS 5A girls had the race of the day at the MAIS State Championships, and it's no mystery why when you had teams such as Simpson Academy, East Rankin Academy, and Columbia Academy. In that team race at the MAIS 5A State Championships, those 3 teams took the top 3 and were only separated by a mere 7 points, with 1st and 2nd being 2 points apart. It was East Rankin that took the win on that day, and their performances on Choctaw Trails automatically qualified them to the All-State Meet... and man, were we in for a treat!
4th place on that day was French Camp High School, the 2021 MHSAA 1A Team State Champions in Cross Country in dominant fashion. They were coming in as the only undefeated team in the state and looked to be in the running for the team title this weekend. Not that French Camp ran badly! That is just a testament to how strong class MAIS 5A girls were this year. The top 3 teams of Simpson, East Rankin, and Columbia were separated by 18 points, and I would say each of those teams had the best races of their seasons on that day. All 3 teams crushed their 1-5 averages for the season, all 3 teams averaging between 21:02 and 21:08. It was oh so close, and this was when the coaches started calculating where their runners came in. Collipp of East Rankin was the first MAIS runner across the line, but then came Overby and Warren of Simpson right behind her as the next 2 scoring runners. Then another East Rankin, Then 3 from Columbia, then East Rankin, then Simpson...
All of Columbia's Top 4 had HUGE PR's on Saturday, and their #5 was only 2 seconds off of her PR. In the end, It was Columbia having the lowest 1-5 spread and the fastest 5th runner of the day by a solid margin, and that was what did it for Columbia as they snagged the Meet of Champions 1st place Chalace, and well deservingly. Simpson Academy finished runner-up, and East Rankin rounded out the top 3. What a performance from all 4 teams, and as most of these runners are all returning for next year, we will look forward to the team battles in the future.