School Performance of the Day: Walnut High School
The 'school' performance of the meet goes to the only school to sweep the podium on the boy's and girl's side, and that is Walnut High School in Class MHSAA 2A. They did this in a dominant fashion, winning by 45 points in the high school girl's competition and 72 points in the high school boys. That is a phenomenal improvement from last year, especially for the girl's team, who placed 7th at the 2020 MHSAA 2A State Title, and the Walnut boys placed 2nd. This could be the beginning of a dynasty in MHSAA 2A for Walnut, as they have a very young and are only losing 1 runner on each of their teams at the end of this school year.
Upset of the Day: Eliza McCarley and Senatobia Boys
Last but not least, the 'upset' of the day goes to the 7th grader out of Baldwyn High School, winning her first-ever state title and 5k race in only her second-ever 5k, Eliza McCarley! I think McCarley has proven that she is the best middle schooler in the state after her post-season performances. McCarley was going up against a strong MHSAA 2A field, with the favorite being 4-time state champion Aubrey Britt. McCarley had also just taken 2nd at her regional meet to Harley Garner of Walnut, so while McCarley was in the conversation for a title, was not necessarily the favorite going into it. You would not have thought that, however, as she ran like a veteran and handily won the 2A title in 20:00. Although the race went out hot, McCarley remained patient and worked her way through the field, and then threw down a huge last mile and broke the field. It was awesome to watch, and I myself was very impressed with her performance.
The team upset of the day of course had to go to the Senatobia High School boys. I could've perhaps given them a pack running award as well, as that is exactly how they took down Corinth and Pontotoc to snag the MHSAA 4A title. Senatobia also completed a 3-peat, just in a little bit different fashion than Brookhaven, their 2 prior titles have been in MHSAA 3A and this was the first MHSAA 4A since reclassification. When talking to Coach Bain, the head coach of Senatobia's cross country and football teams, said the fans back home were definitely very proud, but since Senatobia is so used to winning, they didn't realize how big of a deal this one truly was. Saying Senatobia came out of nowhere would be an understatement. You would not have that though, with the way that they ran in the 2021 MHSAA 4A Cross Country State Championships. Their low stick Austin Winstead set the tone when he went out with the lead group and looked confident doing it, and their 2-5 simply marked Corinth from the beginning and beat them. Their pack came in right in front of Corinth's pack, and Senatbobia won the battle of the 5th man as well. It truly was a beautiful form of pack running, and will most likely remain as one of the best team races I have ever seen. Like I always say, I absolutely love it when people prove me wrong, and I don't think I'll ever forget the look on those young men's faces when they officially found out they pulled off the upset.
