2022 Miss. XC Preseason Rankings: How accurate were we?

Related Links: 

Most Improved Mississippi Cross Country Girls from last season

Most Improved Mississippi Cross Country Boys from last season

Monday Morning Recap: RunningLane XC and Magic City

2022 Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships Results

2022 Magic City Invitational Results

Each summer, MileSplit Mississippi takes a go at predicting each Mississippi classification's individual and team winners. Now that the 2022 Mississippi Cross Country season has officially come to an end, we decided to see just how accurate we were. 

In some classifications, such as MAIS 2A Boys, MAIS 3A Girls, MAIS 5A Boys, MHSAA 1A Girls, MHSAA 3A Boys and Girls, and MHSAA 4A Boys, we were spot on. 

Others... Well, not so much!

Some classifications have studs that ran the show to defend their titles, such as Dallas Stricker, Lindsey Hogue, Charley Rose, Jack Hewes, Hannah Sanders, and Gabe McElwain. In contrast, others, such as Jonas Cox, Stratton Terrell, and Jeb Hamilton, came as a big surprise. 

*Jack Hewes (Saint Patrick) at the MHSAA 5-6-7 Super Regionals

Photo credits: Chris Webber 

Still others, such as Addison Rainey, JaQuavion Bryant, and Anna Caroline Crouch, we knew were very talented and capable of doing so, but still shocked the Mississippi Cross Country scene with their impressive resume and polished if it off with an individual title to their name. 

In team predictions, we were 16 for 24, which is two-thirds correct. For our predictions to be as far out as they were, we'll take it!

Programs like Regents of Oxford, Saint Patrick High School, Hattiesburg Forerunners, Corinth High School, and Saltillo High School currently have a good grip on their classification that we could see coming from a mile away. Other classifications that are very competitive, such as MHSAA 6A Boys and Girls, we got right, while others, like MAIS 5A Girls, were a little too close to call!

Some of the biggest surprises in the team results were Canton Academy winning MAIS 4A Girls, Christian Collegiate Academy winning MAIS 4A Boys, West Union High School winning MHSAA 1 Boys, and last but not least, East Union High School sweeping MHSAA 2A. 

It was yet another year Mississippi experienced growth in the sport; the harder it is to predict each classification, the more competitive we become. 

For each individual and team prediction and winner, as well as a link to each classification's prediction article and the final result, look no further than the table below!