On the girl's side, The 2022 Jackson Prep XC Invitational should be a scintillating team race. The hosts, Jackson Preparatory School, are making their season debut.  

Although it is a small field, there will be two high-caliber teams toeing the line on Monday. 

The Lady Patriots, versus the 2021 MAIS 5A Cross Country Champions, East Rankin Academy. 

East Rankin came off of a runner-up finish at the 2022 Early Bird 2 Miler to the talented squad of Simpson Academy, losing only by 12 points.

RESULTS: 2022 Early Bird 2-miler

The trio of Emily Williams, Audrey Mayatte, and Leah Collip is expected to lead the way for East Rankin and put up some valuable points for their side. Beyond that, the Lady Patriots of East Rankin are a very deep squad, with solid fourth, fifth, and sixth runners to back up the top pack. 

READ NEXT: Meet Recap: Early Bird 2-miler

Jackson Prep is a very top-heavy squad and has a strong 1-4... but at the moment, East Rankin's No. 5 will come in much quicker than Prep's. 

Here is our pick: Don't get us wrong... Prep is a really talented squad. But so is East Rankin. Also, East Rankin has a trio that could potentially hang with the quartet from Prep. With that being said, East Rankin seems deeper than Prep, and unless Prep does something crazy like put four in the top five, we're going to go with East Rankin to take the team title.