The Rundown
The end of the cross country season is finally here, and what better way to end it than at the RunningLane Cross Country Championships! The RunningLane Champions is a national-caliber cross country meet that features the best talent all across the nation, from California, Michigan, Florida, and everywhere else in between. With 801 high school girls signed up, there are multiple divisions, with each division being VERY deep and competitive. With 8 Mississippi girls competing, let's get the rundown on what we could potentially expect tomorrow!
All 8 Mississippi girls are competing in the Bronze Division, with the #1 seed time being 19:07. 5 time State Champion and 19:37 5k runner Emily Ireland is leading the charge of the Mississippi runners, as she the 53rd seed in the Bronze Division, yet only 30 seconds back - That is how deep this race is.
First off, one thing we can expect is that with this venue being the fastest course in the nation, and with that, we can expect some fast times. That doesn't necessarily mean that it will be easier - Just a chance to run quicker. Emily Ireland of Saint Andrew's has the fastest PR of Mississippians going into the RunningLane. Ireland is a very consistent racer. She has won 4 out of 8 races this year and placed in the top 4 in 2 others. She does very well about putting herself in the mix, and already has some experience in big races this year as she has raced Memphis Twilight and Watson this season.
Joining Ireland is the East Rankin duo Leah Collipp and Emily Williams who went 2-3 at the 2021 MAIS 5A Cross Country Championships. Collipp, one of the fastest 7th graders in Mississippi history, has gotten better literally every single race this season. Recently, she just broke 20 minutes in the 5k for the first time in her career at the Meet of Champs, placing 3rd place overall, 1 spot in front of Ireland. Ireland and Collipp are the only Mississippians to have broken 20 going into RunningLane this weekend. Collipp has only had 2 races this year when she did not run a PR, and even those were very close and still good races. She has a lot of momentum going into this weekend to potentially snag another one.
Emily Williams has also made some outstanding progress just this season, dropping a total of 6 minutes off of her first 5k to now, just running a 20:30 5k PR at the Meet of Champs. Williams tends to start out a little more conservative and work her way through the field, which will work out great for her this weekend as she could potentially pass 50 runners in the second half.
Another MAIS star going into this weekend from Jackson Prep is Olivia Smith. Smith is also coming off of a good Meet of Champs race whenever she was part of that big chase pack for 3rd place, running 20:12 for 9th place overall, just 2 seconds off of her PR. After running 20:10 and 20:12, both of these times run at Choctaw Trails, she is another to watch out for to potentially take a crack at the 20-minute 5k barrier.
Finally, Mia Dawson of Lafayette High School, the 9 x time State Medalist, and 2021 MHSAA 5A Cross Country Runner-up is yet another runner who could take a stab at the 20-minute 5k barrier. Her Season Best is 20:06 from Watson and also went 20:14 on a hot day at the MHSAA 5A State Championships this season. Dawson has really turned it on the second half of the season, and it will be very exciting to see what she can do on a fast course against some fast competition.
Runners, the last thing I want to say heading into this meet, is to go out there and have fun!! Don't get too caught up in the atmosphere or expectation... All of you were put into the right Division for you in order to be competitive as possible, and everyone else in the race is there to pull each one of you along. Go out there with 0 expectations and simply enjoy the experience, and come away with gained knowledge.
Let's get after it!!
#PutMississippiOnTheMap
Madison Jones at the 2021 RunningLane Track Championships