DISTANCE

High School Boy's 800m Run

A showdown that I am VERY excited to see play out, this weekend in the High School Boy's 800m, we have 3 of the best 800m runners in the state going head-to-head on the indoor circuit. Those runners are Miguel Bankston of Clinton High School, against Javien Davis and Dominic Turner of Pearl High School! 

All 3 of these athletes were in the stacked 2021 MHSAA 6A 800m State Championship won by Chase Rose back in the outdoor season. Since then, All 3 have made some big improvements on the grass as they all broke 18 minutes in the 5k for the first time in their careers. This will be Bankston's 3rd indoor meet this season, as he has done the 400m/800m double the past 2 meets securing indoor PR's such as 51.79 in the 400m and 1:59.33 in the 800m in the process. This time, however, Bankston will be fresh as he faces off against 2 of his biggest in-class rivals. 

This will be Turner's first-ever time running indoors, and Davis has stepped on an indoor track since 2020. Both 1:59 guys, I am very interested and excited to see how the dynamic between these two plays out. This will also be Turner's track debut for Pearl as he is a transfer from Terry High School, and I can personally attest that he is a lot more aerobically developed than he was 1 year ago - The same probably goes for Davis as well. How this plays out could go a lot of different ways, but I would not at all be surprised if we saw three 1:58's, which would be a stellar start to the new year. 

Robert Hooper of Tupelo is also slated to run in the 800m and is seeded as 2:02. Last indoor meet, he ran 2:06 in his first-ever indoor 800-meter race. 

High School Boy's 1600m Run

Another event that I am very excited about as more stars are emerging out of their cross country offseason... One of the best duos in the 2021 high school boy's cross country season is coming out to play in the 1600m, and those 2 studs are Jaheim Bridges and Taylor Brown! Ailing from Tupelo High School, I am especially excited to see what Bridges throws down, as he has gotten exponentially more fit since the last time we saw him on the track. Bridges could actually be more of an 800m guy, which is what he ran last outdoor season in the post-season - That kind of speed will mix well with his newfound strength-endurance coming off of an outstanding cross country season where he broke 16 on numerous occasions. 

However, don't sleep on Taylor Brown. I think we still forget that, although he may not run like at times, is just a freshman in high school. Even if he broke 4:40 this weekend, which he has a really good chance to, that is a stellar time for a 9th-grader. They are both seeded as 4:30 which will surely get them in the fast heat, and I think we could definitely see a sub-4:35 out of both of them. 

Joining Brown and Bridges in the fast heat of the 1600m is someone whose stock is BOOMING, and that is Clinton High School's Christian Parks. Parks just recently ran 4:36 at the Holiday Invitational, his first time breaking 4:40 indoor and outdoor in the 1600m. Parks was the last one in the fast heat, but he obviously has no problem running PR in that situation, as that is basically how he ran his 4:36. All in all, the fast heat will be very exciting to watch and see what some of our Mississippi stars can do!

Lastly, there are several other distance runners running in the 1600m this weekend - Here are some to look out for: 

16:13 5k runner Matthew Singletary, All-MHSAA 6A Finisher Gary Mata, and MHSAA 4A Cross Country Bronze Medalist Lukas Dykes will be facing off in Heat 3 of the Ice Breaker Invitational - we could potentially see some sub 4:40's... 

Rhett Schimpf, who placed 6th overall at the 2021 MHSAA 6A Cross Country State Championships, will be in the fast heat of the small at Icebreaker #1 Invitational. Teammate Chris Bell also made the fast heat. 

Last but not least... 2-mile Junior High State Record Holder and 17:08 5k runner Andrew Brown will be toeing the line in Heat 4 of the 1600m!! Brown will be alongside Carter Gibbs as they will both try and break 5 for the first time in their careers. 

High School Girls' 3200m Run

Once again headlining the high school girl's 3200m run from Tupelo High School, Brookelyn Morgan! Morgan is the #3 seed heading into this weekend after just recently running 11:44 at the Holiday Invitational, just 3 seconds off of her outdoor and overall PR in the 3200m. She is in contention for the win, and that is when Morgan runs her best - We could possibly see a sub 11:40 out of this freshman phenom for the first time in her young career. 

Morgan will not be alone, however, as she will have a lot of Mississippi stars toeing the line with her in the 3200m at Icebreaker this weekend. Joining will be her up-and-coming talented teammate Abbey Sanders, an All-MHSAA 6A Finisher in cross country as just a 7th-grader! She just recently ran 12:32 at the Holiday Invitational which was almost a 30 second overall PR. She also made the fast heat with Morgan, which will be a great opportunity for Sanders to be pulled along to another PR. 

Finally, multiple-time MHSAA 5A State Medalist Mia Dawson will also be joining the Tupelo duo in the fast heat of the 3200m slated in as a 12:24. This will be Dawson's first time running on an indoor track in her career, but she is a big-time competitor and I'm sure she will have no problem adapting. Who knows, maybe she could even that 12:01 PR a scare... 

High School Boy's 3200m Run

The last distance event to be previewed is the High School Boys 3200m, where we have another talented cross country duo, this time from Oxford High School. Those 2 runners are none other than sub-16 5k runners Luke Johnson and Ethan Knight, as they are trying to break 10 minutes for the first time in their careers, and they have a stacked field to pull them along and do it. These 2 came through in the high 9:50s at the 2021 Watson High School Meet in the middle of a 5k, so they should have no problem doing it for 2 miles!

On the real, I will be very excited to see what these 2 can do on the track after their breakout cross country season. 2021 MHSAA Cross Country State Champion Luke Johnson seemingly does not have bad days, and I will be very interested in how that grind mentality translates to the track. I wouldn't be surprised if these 2 shocked themselves after their races tomorrow...

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