JACKSON – Winona finished sixth out of 11 small school boys teams at the MHSAA Middle School Cross Country Classic.
“I was extremely happy for all of them. They all ran extremely well,” said Coach Chris McRae of the six boys and two girls who participated in the meet at Choctaw Trails. “It's a very difficult course.”
With fewer than five runners, Winona girls were not able to compete as a team. The meet was open to seventh and eighth graders who had not run in any varsity meets during the season.
Winona boys were led by Nathan Henson who finished 24th in a field of 82 with a time of 13:30.18 for two miles. Conner Privitt was 29th in 14:01.21, Aidan Windham 30th in 14:01.67, Thomas Rosamond 32nd in 14:09.32, Ahmaud Seawood 37th in 14:24.20, and Jemorius Sanders 39th in 14:30.45.
Bounds Simmons of Tupelo Christian won the race with a time of 11:59.76 and led Tupelo Christian to the team title.
For Winona girls, Anna Beth Walton was 26th in 17:12.62 and Bella Durham 44th in 19:21.84.
Myrtle won the team title. Isabella Patino of St. Patrick was the girls winner by more than a minute with a time of 13:10.68.
Other team winners were Pearl for large school boys, Tupelo for large school girls, and Guntown Middle School in Lee County for medium school boys and girls.
This is the first year that MHSAA has held a middle school meet. McRae said it will be beneficial to the sport in Mississippi. “It will help the numbers to grow because now they have an incentive to come out and run. I'm really excited about it.”
Winona hosted the Region 4-3A meet Tuesday. The 3A state meet at Choctaw Trails will be next Monday.
