You do know that there are really only 3 seasons, not 4 right? Indoor Track, Outdoor Track, and Cross Country. Well, Cross Country season is upon us, at least the preseason is.
My squad, the Saint Stanislaus Rock-A-Chaws, starts the summer program on June 1st, but I bet some teams are already at it.
I thought I'd take a look at the teams in the bottom six counties - Pearl River, Stone, George, Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson.
By my count, there are 25 schools in the Bottom Six ranging from 1A to 6A in the MHSAA.
The first thing I did was run a virtual meet with these 25 schools to get an overview.
I learned one thing: St. Patrick and Ocean Springs are very good, yet again!
Ocean Springs High School winning the 2021 MHSAA 6A Cross Country Team Title
On the girls' side, the top three, if these schools were all to run in one meet, are Ocean Springs, St. Patrick, and Our Lady Academy.
For the boys, it's St. Patrick, Ocean Springs, and Long Beach.
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The top ten returning girls in the Bottom Six are as follows:
1. Maya Messenger, Ocean Springs
2. Sarah Litton, Ocean Springs
3. Ashton Rainey, Ocean Springs
4. Grace Brewer, East Central
5. Michelle Brown, Ocean Springs
6. Addison Rainey, Ocean Springs
7. Noel Rice, Ocean Springs
8. Jayden Ware, Saint Patrick
9. Leandra Ruiz, Pascagoula
10. Ami Redd, Ocean Springs
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The boys' top ten looks like this:
1. Jack Hewes, Saint Patrick
2. Trent Lansdown, Ocean Springs
3. Matheson Chen, Ocean Springs
4. Olin Doris, Long Beach
5. Clayton Wilhorn, Biloxi
6.Tate Castleman, Ocean Springs
7. Brayden Wade, Ocean Springs
8. Tristan Davis, Saint Patrick
9. Andrew Williams, Saint Patrick
10. Landon Ahrens, Long Beach
The next thing I did was take a look at each division in a virtual meet, and this took some time but I wanted to share a division outlook for each of these teams. After all, the first goal of the season is to be Division Champions.
Division 8-1A, which has Bottom Six member Resurrection, yielded no results in a virtual meet because there weren't enough runners for a team score.
In Division 8-3A on the girls' side, it looks like St. Patrick, then Our Lady, followed by Wesson Attendance Center in third.
St. Patrick almost pulls off a perfect score here too, with seven runners in the top 10.
On the boys' side in the same division, we have St. Patrick well ahead of the rest of the field. Coach McDaniel's crew is followed by Saint Stanislaus and Wesson Attendance Center in a tight battle for second and third.
Next, we have Division 8-4A. The top three schools on the girls' side look like Poplarville, Sumrall, and Pass Christian on the podium.
The boys' side of 8-4A has Pass Christian well out in front of Bay, then Poplarville.
The 5A division on the girls' side is led by East Central, followed by Picayune, then Vancleave. The boys' top three is Long Beach, Pearl River Central, and Gautier.
Division 4-6A girls - Ocean Springs in 1st, then Biloxi followed by Gulfport. For the 6A boys, we have Ocean Springs followed by Pascagoula and Gulfport.
Now let's take a closer look at some of these individuals.
Jack Hewes is the real deal. Last year in his first season of cross country, he ran sub-16 at the 2022 Watson Meet, and finished second at the 2022 MHSAA 3A Cross Country Championships only to Keegan Leverett - The best distance runner in the state last year.
The rising sophomore from Ocean Springs, Trent Lansdown, is one to watch too. He ran 16:54 on the state course to end the season last year. Look for him to flirt with low 16's, maybe even sub 16 as this season progresses.
Coach Sayers should have this youngster poised to make an impact again this year. Lansdown's teammate, senior Matheson Chen, will be solid too. He PR'd last year with a 16:57 on the state course. He looks to lead another talented bunch of Greyhounds this season.
If you didn't get the message last year, let me let you in on a little secret - Ocean Springs' Maya Messenger is the best female runner in the Bottom Six. She ran 19:09 last year on the state course at the 2022 Watson Meet, and will surely break into the 18's early this season.
Messenger leads a strong Ocean Springs crew, with the likes of the Rainey Sisters, Sarah Litton, and many more. Could they become the first-ever girl's time in recent history to have all five under 20 minutes? They almost did so at the 2021 MHSAA 6A Cross Country Championships.
East Central's Grace Brewer is another one to watch. Her PR from the 2021 cross country season was 20:00 and she's ready to break 20 probably at the first meet.
One other girl from the Bottom Six I'd like to mention is rising junior from Ocean Springs Michelle Brown. She ran 20:04 last year at the state championship and will be under 20 in no time.
I hope this gave you some insight into the sport of cross country in South Mississippi.
See y'all on the trails!
- Coach D.P. Daigle