High School Girls Recap
Layla Warren, Simpson Academy
Much like the high school boys but even more so, course records came crashing down in High School Girl's competition at the 2022 Early Bird 2-miler.
The charge was led by the hometown here out of Simpson Academy, Layla Warren, running 11:59.30 to become the first girl to ever go sub-12 at Neely Farms.
Very similar to the boy's race, Warren took the lead early and never looked back, bringing the field through in a blazing sub-5:50 first mile.
She never looked back... Until All-MileSplit Mississippi XC No. 3 Ella Rankin of Hartfield Academy caught her. With half a mile to go, Rankin and Warren, who is ranked No. 6 on the All-MileSplit Mississippi team, were neck and neck.
Ella Rankin, Hartfield Academy
Somehow, Warren dug deep and found another gear, crossing the line in 11:59. Rankin was eight seconds back, finishing runner-up in 12:07.6, which also an outstanding season opener.
The top three finishers were all under the previous course record of 12:36.9, previously held by Simpson's Lilly Overby. As a matter of fact, Overby was the third-place finisher to round out the top three under the course record, as she crossed in a time of 12:28.0.
East Rankin Academy's Emily Williams and Audrey Mayatte rounded out the top five in 12:36 and 12:38, and are also now on the top five performers list at Neely Farms in the 2-mile.
What we called versus what actually happened
We were a little more off with this one... We indeed called who the top two were going to, we just got it a little switched up.
We knew Warren was going to make it a race, and that is exactly what she did.
In retrospect, we should have expected nothing less from the fiery, front-running freshman from Simpson, and will keep that into account for the next prediction.
However, the entire top 10 raced very well, as there were some extremely fast times on a very hot day, and it's still August.
This should get us very excited, as it is looking like it could be another historic year.