STARKVILLE — Coming off a pair of successful meets, the Starkville High”s cross country team is preparing for its two biggest meets of the season.
Starkville will host its first track meet at the Mississippi State horse park Oct. 23 before running at the Class 6A state meet at Choctaw Trails on Nov. 6.
The Yellow Jackets enter a bye week after they won two varsity trophies at the Northeast Lauderdale meet Oct. 4 and the boys earned a top-10 finish at the Mississippi College Watson Ford Invitational.
At the Choctaw Trails-hosted Watson Ford meet, Starkville”s Joseph MacGown and Kamau Bostic recorded top-15 finishes out of a field of 294 runners.
MacGown set a personal record of 17 minutes, 25 seconds to take 10th, while Bostic ran a 17:13 for 15th.
Damien Grady and Grant Woomer finished in 76th and 77th, respectively. Nathan Ball, Starkville”s lone senior and the team”s highest finisher at the state meet last year, returned from knee surgery and ran a 22:36 at a scaled-back pace.
With uncertainty surrounding Ball”s return to form by Nov. 6, Bostic and MacGown have helped position Starkville for a top-five finish at the state meet. Both runners” times would have been top-four marks last season.
“I”m shooting for a top-10 finish, but it”d be great to get top three,” Bostic said. “I really want to help Joseph get in the top 10 and push him as best I can. We”re both running pretty well right now.”
Bostic, a junior, is in his first year competing for Starkville after moving from Richmond, Va., while MacGown, a freshman, is a transfer from Starkville Academy.
The duo have separated themselves as Starkville”s best runners this season and are one of the state”s best one-two punches.
“There is good competitive rivalry because they like each other,” Starkville coach Caroline Woomer said. “They run together on Sundays and it”s a healthy rivalry they have. Joseph”s goal is to be number one on the team, and Kamau”s is not to let Joseph beat him again.
“They want to see the whole team do well. Kamau has even asked if he needs to pace himself to get other runners in the 19s. That just shows you where he”s coming from.”
Bostic and MacGown hope to crack the 16:30 barrier at the state meet.
The team”s goal of finishing in the top-five at state could hinge on Ball”s ability to run at a top-50 pace. Three-and-a-half weeks after knee surgery, Ball returned to the course and finished a race, which is surprising to everyone but Woomer.
“With Nathan, you never know what to expect,” Woomer said. “He”s had enough people tell him he”s not gonna be competitive, and he told me that”s his motivation. He”s never going to disappoint, so I”m optimistic he can make an impact by the end of the season.”
MacGown admits Ball”s return from knee surgery has set the team back in its efforts to compete with Tupelo and Clinton, but the performance of Grady and Grant Woomer at Northeast Lauderdale (they delivered personal records) gives team hope two more runners could crack the top 50 at Choctaw Trails.
“I think it would probably hurt us a little bit,” MacGown said. “(Ball) was our third runner and could help pull our score up a lot. But I think we have a good chance to finish well if the other runners we have continue to improve.”
Starkville High”s girls finished 14th out of 29 teams at Choctaw Trails and won the Northeast Lauderdale meet. The Lady Jackets have been without Mary Elizabeth Stringer, who had leg surgery.
Walker Mattox set a personal record of 17:32 — good for 36th — at Choctaw Trails. Anna Jackson, who is running with the varsity for the first time, took 50th at 18:05.
SHS to host first XC meet
Patience is a necessity for cross country runners.
Get too excited or run out of pace and you”ll find yourself toward the back of the pack. Making a game plan and sticking to it in a race is crucial, and the same can be said in Starkville High”s bid to host a cross country meet.
In the works for three years, Starkville”s patience has paid off as it is set to play host to its first cross country meet Oct. 23 at the Mississippi State horse park.
Starkville will play host to defending Class 6A state champion Tupelo and defending 5A champion Pearl and West Lauderdale and Clinton.
Woomer said athletic director Dr. Stan Miller has been the driving force behind making the meet a reality.
“Dr. Miller came and said, ”When are we gonna run our first meet?” ” Woomer said Tuesday. “He really led the way making sure we can get the course we want to get. We”ve met numerous times about it and met with MSU to make sure we can use their course. This will go a long way in getting our name out there.”
The field will compete on one of the state”s most challenging courses next to the Clinton”s Choctaw Trails, where all of the state meets are held.
The location of the steepest hills is biggest difference in the courses. At Choctaw Trails, the biggest hill is at the end of the course, while there are two tough hills to navigate at MSU. The benefit, though, is finishing on a flat.
Starkville ran the course Sept. 18 the MSU Invitational. MacGown said the course is the toughest they”ll run all year.
“A lot more hills and a lot bigger hills,” MacGown said. “I also think the teams that”ll be here makes it more exciting. Not as many people care if we host a tiny meet with schools that aren”t as good. This will be good competition.”
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