At the midpoint of the 2026 cross country season, Mississippi's boys' rankings have started to take shape.
Some athletes have separated themselves with fast times. Others have made their case through head-to-head victories, consistency, and performances against deeper competition.
These rankings are not simply a copy of the current performance list. Times matter, but so do course difficulty, competition, head-to-head results, and what each athlete has shown across the entire season.
With championship season approaching, here are MileSplit Mississippi's current top seven boys.
1. Andrew Brown - Tupelo High School
Andrew Brown from Tupelo High School entered the season as Mississippi's clear No. 1 returner, and halfway through the year, there is little reason for that position to change.
Brown is coming off the biggest performance of his season at On Twilight at PR'ville, where he broke 15 minutes for the first time with a 14:49 victory. At this point, Brown has separated himself from the rest of the Mississippi field, and his focus is beginning to shift beyond state competition.
There simply is not much debate surrounding the top spot right now. Brown has established himself as the undisputed leader of Mississippi distance running this fall, and the bigger question over the second half of his season will be how he stacks up against national-level competition.
Behind him, however, things become much more interesting.
2. David Lee - Madison Central High School
David Lee from Madison Central has been one of the most convincing runners in Mississippi through the first half of the season.
Lee's breakthrough came at the City Auto Memphis Twilight XC Classic, where he ran a personal-best 15:45 to finish third overall and as the top Mississippi runner. More importantly for these rankings, he finished ahead of Eli Seaton, Kiplin Loprinzi and Landon Morgan in one of the deepest fields any Mississippi athlete has faced this season.
That performance followed a win at the Southern Heatwave XC Classic, where Lee ran 16:05 and defeated Perry Hearst.
His one blemish came at the On Running Tupelo Invitational, where he finished third behind Andrew Brown and Kiplin Loprinzi, with Loprinzi crossing 14 seconds ahead of him. For now, I am treating that as an off day rather than a reason to completely reshuffle Lee's position. His performances before that race have shown a much higher level than what he displayed in Tupelo.
That combination of speed and head-to-head success still gives Lee the edge at No. 2. His 15:45 already represents a major breakthrough, and there is reason to believe his best race is still ahead of him.
3. Eli Seaton - Pascagoula High School
Eli Seaton from Pascagoula High School has only raced twice this season, but he has already done enough to establish himself as one of Mississippi's premier runners.
Seaton opened his season with a victory at the Port City Classic before traveling to the City Auto Memphis Twilight XC Classic. Against a loaded field in Memphis, he ran 15:51 to finish fifth overall and second among Mississippi runners, trailing only David Lee.
Lee's head-to-head victory is ultimately what separates the two in these rankings, but Seaton's résumé extends beyond this season. He ran 15:38 at Watson last fall, proving he already has the ability to compete well below his current season best.
Memphis Twilight also likely was not the ceiling for many of the athletes in that field. Race winner Caleb McFarland, for example, ran 15:34 in Memphis before dropping to 15:09 later in September.
Seaton should be viewed similarly. His 15:51 is already one of Mississippi's best performances this fall, but based on his history and limited number of opportunities so far, there should be significantly more to come.
4. Kiplin Loprinzi - Lafayette High School
If these rankings were based strictly on season-best times, Kiplin Loprinzi from Lafayette High School would not be anywhere near No. 4.
That is exactly why his placement is one of the more interesting calls on this list.
On paper, his 16:10 personal best does not immediately jump out compared with some of the athletes around him. His head-to-head results tell a much different story.
At the On Running Tupelo Invitational, Loprinzi finished second overall and defeated David Lee, Autry Foster and Trace Thornhill. Beating one of those athletes would have been significant. Finishing ahead of all three in the same race made it difficult to ignore him when putting together these rankings.
Perhaps even more encouraging is that the 16:10 did not appear to represent Loprinzi's perfect race. He had to grind through the second half and still came away with a personal best and one of the strongest finishes of his career.
That is why Loprinzi sits considerably higher here than he does on a simple list of season-best times. Cross country rankings cannot be based entirely on the clock, and his ability to compete directly with Mississippi's best runners has already been proven.
His current personal best may say 16:10, but it would be surprising if that number survives the remainder of the season.
5. Trace Thornhill - Hernando High School
Trace Thornhill owns one of Mississippi's fastest times of the season after running 15:43 at the Mustang Stampede Invitational.
That performance deserves attention, but it also makes Thornhill one of the more difficult athletes to place.
Mustang Stampede has historically produced fast times. The course is primarily pavement with long stretches that allow athletes to settle into rhythm, and several Mississippi runners have recorded major personal bests there in recent seasons. Thornhill himself ran 16:03 at the meet last year before later backing that performance up with strong races at Jesse Owens and Watson.
The 15:43 shows the type of runner Thornhill can be. What he has not done yet this season is pair that time with a major head-to-head victory against the athletes immediately around him in these rankings.
When several of them met at the On Running Tupelo Invitational, Thornhill finished behind Loprinzi and others near the top of this list. He also had a difficult outing earlier at TCPS Twilight.
That does not diminish the breakthrough at Mustang Stampede, but it does leave something to prove. If Thornhill can back up 15:43 at a course such as Jesse Owens or Watson like last year, or begin beating runners like Lee, Seaton and Loprinzi, the conversation surrounding him changes quickly.
The speed is clearly there. Now we need to see it replicated against Mississippi's best.
6. Perry Hearst - Germantown High School
Perry Hearst has quietly put together one of the most consistent seasons in Mississippi this year.
He opened the year with a 16:11 runner-up finish at the Southern Heatwave XC Classic, losing only to David Lee. Since then, Hearst has become difficult to beat.
He won at Choctaw Trails in 16:20 despite difficult early-season conditions, followed that with a 16:04 victory at Saltillo and then added another win at the Clinton Arrow Cross Country Invitational.
There is very little to criticize about that résumé. The reason Hearst sits at No. 6 has more to do with the athletes ahead of him than anything he has done wrong.
Several runners above him have either produced faster times or collected meaningful head-to-head wins against other members of this list. Hearst has simply not had as many opportunities to do that yet. His biggest matchup with another athlete ranked this highly came at Southern Heatwave, where Lee got the victory.
That should change soon.
Hearst is expected to race at the Watson Cross Country Classic, where stronger competition could provide exactly the type of race he needs. His 16:04 season best does not seem likely to last much longer.
Put Hearst in a fast race with athletes like Lee and Seaton, and he could be one of the biggest movers over the second half of the season.
7. Landon Morgan - Pearl High School
Landon Morgan rounds out the top seven, and much like Hearst, his position is more a result of the strength of the runners ahead of him than any major weakness in his own season.
Morgan finished third at the Southern Heatwave XC Classic behind David Lee and Perry Hearst, running 16:27. He then traveled to the City Auto Memphis Twilight XC Classic, where he once again found himself surrounded by several of Mississippi's top runners.
His biggest statement came at the Southern Showcase.
Competing in one of the meet's later divisions, Morgan ran a controlled race before moving into the lead around two miles and grinding his way through the finish. He won in 16:07, lowering his personal best by several seconds on a Huntsville course that provides a much better test than the time alone may suggest.
When the Southern Showcase results were merged across divisions, Morgan's performance also held up well against Mississippi athletes competing in the faster sections, including Autry Foster and Dylan Blanchard.
That race is why Morgan remains firmly inside the top seven.
There are still questions about exactly how high his ceiling reaches, but sub-16 now looks like a realistic next step. His 16:07 at Huntsville showed that he can do more than simply hang around the state's better runners. He can win races when given the opportunity.
For now, No. 7 feels like the right place, but Morgan has given himself plenty of room to climb before championship season.
At the midpoint of the 2026 cross country season, Mississippi's boys' rankings have started to take shape.
Some athletes have separated themselves with fast times. Others have made their case through head-to-head victories, consistency, and performances against deeper competition.
These rankings are not simply a copy of the current performance list. Times matter, but so do course difficulty, competition, head-to-head results, and what each athlete has shown across the entire season.