East Webster was second and Eupora third for girls out of six teams at the Eagle Claw Invitational cross country meet hosted by Eupora High School. In the boys race, Eupora was fourth and East Webster fifth of nine teams. French Camp was the girls winner with a team score of 27, followed by East Webster with 54 and Eupora with 84. Ali Azlin of East Webster was third out of 53 runners in the girls race with a time of 24:47.21 for 5,000 meters. Teammate Regan Plunkett was right behind, fourth in 24:48.01. The other East Webster runners who contributed to the team score were Cayden Gentry, 13th in 26:25.99; Alexa Haney, 22nd in 29:37.67; and Rileigh Kate Johnson, 23rd in 30:05.80. Eupora was led by Lillian Winter, 12th in 26:16.17. Macie Manasco was 16th (27:37.22), Estra Herard 24th (30:25.86), Artierria Hill 25th (30:51.83) and Hallie Johnston 27th (31:17.37). The girls winner was Averie Jane Gundy of French Camp in 23:57.68. Eupora junior John Thomas Frank was second in the boys race with a time of 19:21.01, 15½ second behind Bryce Harrison of Mississippi School for Math & Science. Others for Eupora were Walker Mitchell 22nd in 22;50.30; Woods Mitchell, 25th in 23:03.28; Joseph Rollins, 38th in 24:10.92; and Chris Nicholson, 40th in 24:23.92. East Webster’s top boy was Dylon Tollison, sixth with a clocking of 20:30.60. Riley White was 21st (22:26.59), Hayes Rason 33rd (23:57.50), Gabe Brown, 36th (25:04.54) and Austin Avent, 37th (24:06.62). South Pontotoc was the boys winner with a score of 36. There was also a two-mile junior high school race. For boys, East Webster was second and Eupora fifth. Eupora was runner-up in the girls race. East Webster did not have a girls team. Team winners were Choctaw County for the boys and Starkville Academy for girls. Both coaches were pleased with their teams’ performances. “I was extremely proud of our runners,” said East Webster coach Jordan Smith. “Those kids have been working really hard since August.” “I could talk all day about these kids. They are phenomenal,” Jernigan said of the Eupora runners. The course was muddy, the result of three days of rain, “It was a tough course and it was even tougher considering the condition,” Smith said. One week earlier, both schools competed at the Saltillo Invitational. East Webster boys were eighth and girls seventh. Eupora finished ninth in the boys race and 12th for girls. Frank was the top individual performer, finishing ninth with a time of 18:35.9. Tollison led East Webster boys in 28th place in 19:56.9. In the girls race, Azlin was 25th for East Webster in 23:27.5. Winter finished 52nd for Eupora with a time of 25:38,6. In last year’s 2A state meet, Azlin finished 13th to make all state, a designation to the top 14 runners in each race. Frank just missed, with a 15th place finish. This year’s 2A state meet will be November 2 at Choctaw Trails in Jackson.
