DISTANCE
800m Run
Miguel Bankston absolutely smashed it at the Holiday Invitational this past weekend. We talked a little bit about his 400m performance of 51.79 on the last page, but you can tell Bankston put in the work over cross country season as he had the strength to come back to run a 1:59.46 in the 800m, his second sub-2 performance of the indoor season out of 2 meets. Even more impressive, both of these 800s have come off Bankston running in the open 400.
The shape that Bankston is currently in right now with it only being December is scary. 2 indoor meet's and 2 indoor PR's for Miguel Bankston, both done very impressively at that. Bankston's overall PR's from the 400-1600m are now 51.79, 1:58.5, and 4:31.6 - Basically every track coach's dream. That is some great range, and it will be very intriguing to see how this all plays out on the outdoor circuit.
We also saw Tupelo High School's Robert Hooper make his indoor 800m debut with a runner-up performance in heat 2, running 2:06.31 and finishing with a Top-10 finish and an overall PR! That is actually exactly what I predicted Hooper to run, and I thought he exceeded expectations in a big way with his performance on Saturday. Not to mention, he was also coming off of a HUGE 1600m PR!! (More on that in the next paragraph) Learning how to run the 800m is already weird enough, and doing it indoors adds another chaotic piece to the equation. However, there is no doubt that Hooper may have found his specialty event to get him to state this season, and he will continue to run quicker as this was a step in the right direction.
Christian Parks's 16:41 5k at the 2021 Ole Brook Invitational
1600m Run
Clinton High School again led the way in the 1600m run, with Christian Parks coming out with the fastest time of the day. Parks had a HUGE performance of 4:36, an Overall PR for the Junior by 6 seconds, and his first time breaking 4:40! Parks probably had a best-case scenario result this past weekend, and as he handled being the fast heat like a veteran and ran his own race in a calm manner, and has now proven that he deserves to be in the conversation for the 2022 MHSAA 6A 1600m State-Qualifying list.
We also saw Tupelo's Hooper make his overall debut in the 1600m before he ran his 2:06 800m, and came away with a 4:49!! Keep in mind, this is Hooper's first time EVER running a 1600m. This means that Hooper came away with 2 PR's on the same day at the Holiday Invitational. Tupelo will have quite the distance squad if this is any kind of testament to what kind of shape Jaheim Bridges and Taylor Brown will be in when they make their indoor season debut...
3200m Run
All eyes were on Brookelyn Morgan, the young star from Tupelo High, heading into the 3200m at the Holiday Invitational, and Morgan delivered. The 2021 MHSAA 6A 3200m State Champion found herself in a stacked heat with 10 girls all under 12 minutes. Morgan was clearly going into the race in good shape as she was just coming off of a fantastic season opener that included a win and PR of 11:51 in the 3200m, then doubled back for an overall PR of 5:32 in the 1600m. On Saturday, Morgan lowered her indoor PR to 11:44 for a 6th place finish at the Holiday Invitational, just 3 seconds off of her Overall PR of 11:41 set during her MHSAA 6A state Title. Like many others in the state right now, Morgan is in some really good shape right now, and who knows what she and others will do in outdoor track if this is just the preview.
Other Top 25 Finishes in Distance
-Curt Carman - Tishomingo County HS -- 800m(2:05.40)
-Christian Parks - Clinton HS -- 800m(2:08.45)
-Lela Singleton - Tupelo HS -- 800m(2:41.59)
-Ella Goolsby - Clinton HS -- 800m(2:43.60)
-Abbey Sanders - Tupelo HS -- 3200m(12:32.89)
Field Recap on next page>>>