Mississippi High School Cross Country

That is a solid time for sure, especially for a sophomore. Ellis would have been under 16 if he had been healthy this season. I think that Jake Raines has the course record in around 15:25, and there are maybe 8 all-time performances under 16. Tyler Hill probably had the ability to go well under 16, but I'm not sure whether he did or not.

Anyway, congrats to my old high school on a SEVENTH straight state title, boys and girls.

I have run the course several times years ago. Sub-16:00 is very solid running on that course. I wouldn't classify it as a very hard course, but a very fair course with a very challenging finish up hill probably at least 400m if I remember correctly. Don't know if you still have to jump the logs, but the course use to have 3 or 4 log jumps on it like European style cross. I know that Mississippi is one of the weakest states when it comes to distance running, but for a school to win 7 straight championships on both sides (girls and boys) is very impressive.

Does anyone know what the record for most consecutive state cross country championships for a team is? I'm sure somewhere there is some school that has won some ridiculous number in a row, but that would be interesting information to know. Especially in some weak state in a very small class.

Well said by both. I think Jackson Prep or maybe even Pearl may have the record in MS. What Tupelo has done is mind-boggling, but I really think the boys down south has done it before. If not those two teams, maybe Vicksburg or even the 80's Saltillo HS. Hmmm...gotta do some research on that. I know that I'm biased, but I really think the top runner in MS each year has the potential to run very great times in college with proper coaching and consistent training. Most years, its very hard to find more than 3 guys that will break 10 minutes for 2 miles, but I'm willing to bet that the ones who do...could definitely be 9:20 type guys in other competitive states. What's amazing to me is that each state that borders MS has plenty of sub-10 guys and in AL and TN, sub-9 minute type runners. What's up with that???

I ran at MS states my junior year (4th place) and finished second to Gordon Fisher my senior year and we had the log jumps both years. They've also changed the course from 1996 though, (my senior year) so I don't know if its still as challenging (we also had to jump a ditch!). I was in 5A with some pretty talented runners, but I always thought 4A was much more competitive at the time. They had Pearl (the Lackey brothers and company), Oxford HS (Thomas Blackwell, Nathaniel Flake, and Townsend, et al.) and Pontotoc (I think the kid's name was Scott Whiteside). I'm not sure if I would have had the same result with all those studs in there, but sure would have liked the challenge:)

I led the entire race until the last 800; freaking Fisher made a move and I had nothing in response: 16:35 on that course. To give others some perspective, the first race of the year I had run 15:20 for 3-miles in Oxford on their road, invitational course which was nothing but up and down hills.

Shawnee Mission Northwest has won 14 straight boys titles in xc in Kansas. They compete in 6A which is the largest HS classification with schools ranging from 1400- 2100 students.

There are only 35 schools in 6A though as opposed to other states with 100 or more schools vying for a state title. I think they won this year by about 80 points.

Shawnee Mission Northwest has won 14 straight boys titles in xc in Kansas. They compete in 6A which is the largest HS classification with schools ranging from 1400- 2100 students.

There are only 35 schools in 6A though as opposed to other states with 100 or more schools vying for a state title. I think they won this year by about 80 points.

Shawnee Mission Northwest has won 14 straight boys titles in xc in Kansas. They compete in 6A which is the largest HS classification with schools ranging from 1400- 2100 students.

There are only 35 schools in 6A though as opposed to other states with 100 or more schools vying for a state title. I think they won this year by about 80 points.

sorry for the multiple posts.

Congrats to Tupelo. 7 in a row is outstanding.

Individually, Cory McGee is a stud-ette - 14:02 for 4k is blazing. 15th at Foot Locker last year and sub-4:50 miler ... She's a soph and, as she's already grown quite a bit, probably will get stronger and faster.

or get hips and get fatter and slower and turn into her sister

unfortunately i think shes injured right now

When your school has over 6000 kids, it's pretty easy to come up with 5 good runners. That being said, Tupelo is far from being a distance runners dream, as far as the conditions there. The runners, regardless of how many they have (and they have a ton), still have to run fast. And they are.

Tupelo High School is one of the bigger schools in the state (4th or 5th largest I think). We have around 2200-2400 students. No where near 6000. There are only 35,000 to 40,000 people in the town.

Easy to do..... wrote:

When your school has over 6000 kids, it's pretty easy to come up with 5 good runners. That being said, Tupelo is far from being a distance runners dream, as far as the conditions there. The runners, regardless of how many they have (and they have a ton), still have to run fast. And they are.

Tupelo has just over 2000 students, sir. Thanks to fine coaching, they have risen to the perpetual top in their state and, at times, the region.

My alma mater (South Panola) is not much smaller than Tupelo (about 300-400 less students) and should be turning out the same results as you guys. But for some reason, they're most concerned about football and keeping their longest winning streak in the nation open. Right now, they are approaching 70 consecutive games without a loss. I guess I could brag about that, but I would love to see SP with at least one distance runner breaking 6:30 for the mile and actually finishing a 5k cross country race.

Whenever I'm back in town and go for a run on my normal loops, people stare like I'm running naked with a boner. Not cool man...not cool at all.

I was at this race.

Choctaw Trails definitely doesn't have any log jumps or ditch jumps anymore. I'd say it's a moderate course. I used to think it was hard in high school, when almost all the other courses we ran on were comparatively flat, or included road, etc. It does have some good hills though, especially that last one.

Those are still really good times for the course, especially for Max as a sophomore. Rob has been hurt for a while or he would have been a good bit faster I think.

I wonder if any sophomore has run faster than 15:57 on that course? Raines? I can't find state meet results before 2000.

Let's not forget about George Kersh; I know he held the state course record for a while (over a decade) but had broken 16 before his state record.

R.L. Scribner wrote:

Tupelo has just over 2000 students, sir. Thanks to fine coaching, they have risen to the perpetual top in their state and, at times, the region.

Fine coaching for sure. I was not knocking that, if you actually read my post. And they still have to run the race, and run those great times.

However......

Tupelo has ONE, count it, ONE school (in the whole city )for K - 12 , which #'s over 6000 kids. Correct??????? The high school may only have around 2000 (which is still big), but you get every middle school kid that comes up through the ranks. I've seen Tupelo at meets before, there must be well over 100 runners, boys and girls combined, that you all have. That's a huge advantate. There was a movemet there not long ago to create another school. That movement was shot down by all the athletic boosters of their respective sports. I wonder why..........

Wrong again. They do have one public high school (one small private but doesnt account for many people), but the school is not 6000 k-12. There are numerous elementary schools. You are right about though that the coaches recruit the middle schools and get a lot of young kids involved. Not to mention that over the years cross country has become a big deal in town and has a fairly big following.

Coach Brown is the MAN