Howdy Folks, it's your favorite coach on the coast here to give you The Run Around. Today I'm going to look at the George County Trail Run and the Wildcat XC Open.
George County HS hosts the Trail Run, a very challenging course. In fact, there is a hill on the course known as "The Monster." Teams from The Bottom Six that competed were: Biloxi High School, D'Iberville High School, East Central High School, Gautier High School, George County HS, Hancock High School, Long Beach High School, Pascagoula High School, Pass Christian High School, Pearl River Central HS, Picayune HS, St. Martin, and Vancleave HS.
On the boys' side, George County's Ethan Fisher took the overall win in 18:43, but Long Beach came out as the top team with a score of 78. Pascagoula was second, and Pass Christian took 3rd on the boys' side.
Other notable individual performances were: Long Beach's Landon Ahrens - 19:35, Pascagoula's Jarvis Sellers - 20:04, Pass High's Trae Bailey - 20:33, and Picayune's Cade Desselle - 20:44.
FULL RESULTS: High School Boys George County Trail Run
Grace Brewer led the girls' race from East Central. She won the race in 22:56.
Pascagoula won the team title with a score of 27, followed by Pass Christian in second and host George County in third. Other top finishers for the girls were: PRC's Mia Ramsdell - 24:29, Pascagoula's Leandra Ruiz - 24:58, Pascagoula's Kenairis Villaneuva - 25:03, and Long Beach's Alexandria Cruz - 25:38.
FULL RESULTS: High School Girls George County Trail Run
The junior high boys and girls ran a 3200m. East Central High School won the team title on the girls' side, followed by Saint Martin, then Pass Christian. Alajia Green from St. Martin was the top finisher with a time of 15:32, followed by Addy Chavez from East Central, who clocked a 16:40. Rounding out the top five were: Harper Batten from Pass - 16:59, Natalie Moser from Picayune - 17:22, and Kylie Varnado from Picayune - 17:34.
FULL RESULTS: Junior High Boys George County Trail Run
On the boys' side in the junior high division, Pass Christian won, followed by Picayune. PRC's Carson Lord won the day in a time of 13:56. Following Lord were: PRC's Griffin Bowen - 14:09, D'Iberville's Conner Peterson - 14:49, Pascagoula's Carlos Fernandez - 15:34, and Pass Christian's Xzavier Jacobs - 15:51.
FULL RESULTS: Junior High Girls George County Trail Run
The Wildcat XC Open was run on Saturday, Sept. 3, at the Harrison County Fairgrounds. This was my first time entering this meet, so I didn't know what to expect. It is hosted by a home school team known as the Coastal Mississippi Wildcats. There were MHSAA, MAIS, and home school teams in attendance.
One change was that 6th graders on up had to run the 5K, so my junior high guys would be tested at the longer distance. Teams from The Bottom Six competing were: D'Iberville, Hancock, Harrison Central, Long Beach, Pass Christian, SSC, and West Harrison. There was a steady light rain the whole time, and the course had been wet already from rain earlier in the day.
There were five divisions - gold was MHSAA teams mixed with a few MAIS teams. There was a 2-mile open race, and there was the blue division. The blue division consisted of home school teams or clubs paired with some MAIS teams.
The first race was gold division girls. West Harrison High School edged out Christian Collegiate Academy, and Hancock took third. CCA's Lauren Disalvo took the individual title in a time of 25:26. Teammates from Heritage Christian Academy took second and third, Abby Collier and Braelyn Spell. They ran 25:53 and 26:24, respectively. Other notable finishes: Faith Fountain from D'Iberville - 26:26, and Kali Jenkins from CCA - 26:49.
Next was the gold division boys. Heritage Christian Academy's Dallas Stricker led the whole way and looked strong at the finish. He ran 17:34 on a wet and slippery course. Pass Christian's Trae Bailey finished second, with SSC's Cameron Gremillion coming in third with a time of 20:29. Team-wise, SSC won the day with a score of 30, followed by D'Iberville with a score of 70. Christian Collegiate Academy finished third.
The open race was next. This was a two-mile race for the youngsters. HCA's Gavin Spears took the win in 13:41. He was followed by Blayne Anderson of the Pearl River Raging Raptors in a time of 15:35. Fiona Fox from the host team Coastal Mississippi Wildcats took third in 15:53. Jackson Vipers' Elliot Bounds took fourth in 15:53 and Hope Academy's Avery Daley took 5th in 16:44.
The blue division girls ran next. The Hattiesburg Forerunners, who will be hosting two meets this season, won with Coastal Mississippi Wildcats taking second and Jackson Victors third. Individual finishers were as follows: Kaylie Frost, Hattiesburg Forerunner, 21:58; Laine Benton, also from the Forerunners, 21:59; Alyssa Frost, another Forerunner, 22:12, Sydney Moudy of the Forerunners, 22:14, and Baton Rouge Homeschool's Dixie Dupas in 22:43.
Finally, we had the blue division boys. The Hattiesburg Forerunners won the team title, followed by the Pearl River Raging Raptors and the Coastal Mississippi Wildcats in third.
Henry Richardson of the Forerunners was your individual champion in 17:55, with teammate Max Bowling taking second in 18:13. Noah Moudy of the Forerunners finished third in a time of 18:31. Your fourth-place finisher was Anthony Ives from the Raging Raptors; he ran 19:12. Rounding out the top 5 was Sean Beard of the Forerunners in a time of 20:39.
As I said before, this was my first time entering this meet. Seeing homeschool teams, MHSAA teams, and MAIS teams all compete in the same place was neat. There are some strong runners in each of those divisions. Other than the wet weather, it was a great meet.
So these are two recent meets from the coast.
In my next article, I'll cover the Pass Christian Invitational. I'll also try to get interviews with some of the top runners on the coast on the site as well.
That's a wrap. See y'all on the course.