CJHS Lady Arrow XC wins MHSAA Middle School Championship
CJHS Lady Arrow XC wins MHSAA Middle School Championship
Special to The Clinton Courier
Pictured (l to r) are Clinton Junior High Lady Arrow cross country team members, front row: Lauren Kennedy, Eleanor Wilson, Lily Sisson, Olivia Gibbs, Payton Greer and Katherine Chittom; and back row: Leah Byas, Eleanor Freeny, Eliana Nohra, Meg Followell, Brylee Wilkins, Suzanne Hoffmann and Coach Allen Marett.
The Clinton Lady Arrows’ Head Cross Country Coach Allen Marett had one more task to complete at Choctaw Trails on a recent Tuesday afternoon.
As promised to his runners, Marett was doused by his team in a celebratory water cooler dousing that concluded a determined season.
The Clinton Junior High School (CJHS) girls’ cross country team earned the title of Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Middle School Cross Country Classic champions. Running in the Large School Division, the Lady Arrows team, who placed all its scoring runners in the top twenty-five, defeated Ocean Springs by nine points in the 3000m race.
“They are there every day and ready to work at practice every day,” Marett said. “This team loves one another, and they are such a fun group to coach. I am really excited to see where they end up in the next four to five years. Overall, I watched them practice and watched them give everything had at the practices and races.”
“This is my twenty-eighth year of coaching, and it is my first [championship on any level] as a coach,” Marett added. “This season isn’t going to be taken for granted, as these girls have worked so hard to get to this championship.”
Olivia Gibbs, as she did throughout the season, led the way for the Lady Arrows, finishing in third place overall. The eighth grader ran the race in 12 minutes, 11 seconds. Payton Greer secured sixth place with a time of 12:25, and Lilly Sisson was the ninth-place finisher with her time of 12:48. The three top-10 finishes made the difference in the event, as CJHS was able to hang on to the top spot from a tough Lady Greyhound squad.
Eleanor Freeny was the fourth runner to score points for CJHS, completing the race in 13 minutes, 32 seconds. Eleanor Wilson was close behind Freeny, as she was the final runner to cross the finish line, claiming the twenty-fifth individual spot. Wilson ran a 13:32, as well.
CJHS boys’ XC grabs second at MHSAA Middle School Championship
Special to The Clinton Courier
Pictured (l to r) are members of the Clinton Junior High School boys’ cross country team with their coaches, front row: Micah Riggs (alt), Daniel Dolson, Logan Moore, Noah Duncan, Jace Williamson and Micah Kieffer; and back row: Maddox Box, Colton Lay, William Howell, Ezra Connelly and Coleman Finch.
The Clinton Junior High School (CJHS) boys’ cross country team ran arguably its best race of the season in the MHSAA Middle School Cross Country Championships.
CJHS left it all on the course at Mississippi College’s Choctaw Trails, averaging a team time of 10:57, to place second behind perineal distance power Pearl Middle School. The Arrows are coached by Eric Solis and assisted by Nicole Solis.
The Arrows secured the second-place position, with all their scoring runners in the 3000m race’s top 20, highlighting a tight competition in the state championships’ Large School Division.
Daniel Dolson led CJHS with his time of 10:31 – good enough for fourth, individually – and his teammate, Logan Moore, was right behind him in sixth place, completing the course in 10 minutes, 33 seconds.
Micah Kieffer, who placed thirteenth, recorded a time of 11 minutes, six seconds. Noah Duncan was the seventeenth-place finisher with his time of 11:17. Ezra Connelly and William Howell ran times of 11:17 and 11:19. Connelly and Howell placed in the eighteenth and nineteenth positions.
