Cooler weather and an easier course resulted in better times for Winona cross country runners at the St. Andrew’s Invitational meet last Saturday.
“The temperatures are finally starting to come down,” said coach Chris McRae.
The four boys running for Winona all improved their times from a week earlier in a meet at Senatobia.
“The course was a little bit easier. The weather was a little bit cooler,” McRae said. “But it also showed that we are progressing.”
Carson Holly was Winona’s top runner, finishing 13th out of 88 competitors with a time of 20:23.06 for five kilometers. That was 45 seconds better than he did at Senatobia. Sam Matriasciano was 47th in 22:32.25, more than two minutes under his previous time; Noah Durham 51st in 22:43.68, an improvement of more than 2½ minutes; and Jabraelle Davis 79th in 26:12.39, a minute and 18 seconds better than his Senatobia time.
Winona also had two girls compete at the St. Andrew’s Invitational. Kaylee Rice was 57th in 29.19.66. Her Senatobia time was 29:51.
Amya Phillips was 75th in 36:35.40. She did not compete at Senatobia due to illness.
Winona did not have a team score for boys or girls because neither team had five runners.
Both teams will compete at the Mississippi College Invitational Saturday at Choctaw Trails in Jackson. That is the course for the state meet, and McRae said competing there prior to the state meet will benefit his runners. “It’s why we go there every year. You can’t buy familiarity. You have to go get it.”
