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GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
New pictures on the Girls Cross Country photo page! Click here
September 20, 2007
The Bible gives reference to
children leading in spiritual matters. The Lady Jags' youngest
and smallest were the stars at the Saltillo Invitational on Saturday,
September 15th.
Emma Warren, a 7th grader who is
under 5' and below 80 pounds placed 4th, and led her Madison Middle
School teammates to a runner-up finish behind Tupelo's distance
running powerhouse.There were nine junior high girls teams entered and
the little Lady Jags defeated Pontotoc, Oxford, Saltillo, Mooreville,
and New Albany.
Emily Chastain, an 8th grader was
also an award winner, placing 8th. Tory Brown ran her best cross
country race ever placing 25th. Shannon Locke was 27th, Jeri Dean
Champion - 35th, Sarah Byrd - 37th, Selby Entrekin - 65th, Brittany Van
Dyke - 80th, and Maddy Colllins - 82nd. Therfe were 107 runners
in the race.
"Emma ran a great race," said coach
Billy Lamb. "She didn't know quite what to expect, and the Tupelo
girls went out very fast, but she and Emily kept passing runners in the
latter stages of the race. Emma was probably the fastest in the
race in the last half mile. Tory, Shannon, and Jeri Dean ran well
also. It was Tory's and Jeri Dean's best race ever, and Shannon's
first ever."
Warren and Chastain have been
running on the High School varsity team for the first two weeks of the
season because there were no Jr. High races. "They will be in the
Junior High races until sometime in October'" said Coach Lamb, "then
they will go back up to varsity to help us get ready for the State
Championships."
The High School team was without
Warren and Emily Chastain, so they were not at full strength, but
managed to place 4th in the 4A-5A, which had 13 schools entered.
Tupelo won the Varsity girls race also.
Adding to MC's reduction in power
was star, Katelyn Walker's being unable to complete the course.
"Katelyn has been having hip and abdominal muscular problems since
August, and everything finally caught up with her," said Lamb.
"We have tried everything we could think of to get her well and keep
her running, but we have finally reached the point were we are going to
have to let her stop and get well. Hopefully, she will be able to
get back to her normal self before the State meet."
Leading the way for the Lady Jags
was sophomore Audrey Aldridge who has been one of the schools top
runners since middle school, and owns 5A All State runner honors.
Aldridge placed 13th, Rebecca Chastain placed 17th, Adrienne Davis
placed 19th, Jamie McCulloch placed 22nd, Savanah Thorpe placed 48th,
and Elizabeth Pettis placed 55th.
"Audrey competed well as she nearly
always does, but the race of the day went to Adrienne Davis who ran
herself up to our 4th spot. She has worked very hard since July,
and it's great to see her get competitive like the other girls," said
Lamb. "Our group runs very close together, and that is our
strength. Adrienne makes us stronger running like that."
The next outing for MC is the
Mississippi State Invitational next Saturday. "They are starting
early (Jr. High girls - 8:30), so it'll be a long day. We will
have to leave Madison by 4:30 a.m.," said Lamb. "Tupelo will be
there and so will Pearl, so the heat stays on."
September 10, 2007
The Madison Central Lady Jag Cross Country team won the University of
Southern Mississippi Invitational on Friday, September 7th. The Jags
were fresh off of winning the Warren Central Invitational a week ago,
so they have a two week win streak going. In other sports terms,
their record would be 31 and 0. In winning, the girls defeated
perennial power Pearl High School that has one of their best teams
ever. The girls scored 82 points to Pearl's 85, St. Patrick
Catholic's 107. There were 25 schools and 237 runners in the
race.
"This is the biggest win we have had in cross country in the 8 years I
have been here", said coach Billy Lamb. "It makes all those runs
in the summer heat worthwhile".
Leading the way for the girls was Katelyn Walker who placed 9th, but is
not running at full strength according to Coach Lamb. "Katelyn is
dealing with a sore hip/abdominal oblique muscle," said Lamb. She
would have been right at the front of the race had she not been
hurting."
Two Madison Middle School runners, 7th grader Emma Warren and 8th
grader, Emily Chastain were the second and third finishers in at 16th
and 17th. Rebecca Chastain, a sophomore placed 19th, and Audrey
Aldridge another sophomore was 22nd, just ahead of senior Jamie
McCulloch at 24th. The "pack" from Warren to McCulloch finished within
28 seconds of each other. "That's the way to win in Cross Country,"
said Lamb. "We had 6 runners finish ahead of Pearl's 4th runner,
and their 5th runner placed 31st." (The top 5 runners score
points for their team.)
The girls go north for the Saltillo Tiger Invitational next
Saturday. The meet traditionally attracts over 30 schools from
north Mississippi and Alabama. "We're looking forward to this
high level competition which includes the 5A Champs, Tupelo, 4A Champs
Saltillo, and 3A Champs, Corinth. This meet will be our toughest
yet, and it gets tougher in the weeks ahead. I believe that tough
competition brings out the best in our runners."
Lady Jag places and times at USM (distance - 2 miles):
9. Katelyn
Walker
13:19
16. Emma
Warren
14:04
17. Emily
Chastain
14:05
19. Rebecca Chastain 14:19
22 Audrey
Aldridge
14:28
24. Jamie McCulloch 14:32
52. Adrienne
Davis
15:17
92. Sarah
Byrd
`16:28
107. Jeri Dean Champion 16:53
108. Tory
Brown
16:53
113. Savannah Thorpe 17:03
September 4, 2007
Madison Central's girls cross country team opened the 2007 season with
a resounding win at the Warren Central Invitational Saturday, September
1st. The Lady Jags had the low score of 27 to Clinton's 60, West
Lauderdale's 90, Warren Central's 110, St. Aloysius 120, South Panola's
141, Natchez's 256, and Vicksburg's 268.
With team leader Katelyn Walker running in the boy's race, Audrey
Aldridge took charge and led the girls with a 3rd place finish in the
4,000 meter (approximately 2.5 miles) race. Audrey had a
time of 17:33 over the Bovina course. Emily Chastain, an eighth
grader was only 2 seconds back in 4th, Emma Warren a 7th grader was 5th
in 17:43. Jamie McCulloch, in her final season as a Lady Jag, was
6th in 17:48. Rebecca Chastain a sophomore finished 7th one
second behind Jamie. Adrienne Davis completed the Lady Jag domination
with a 10th place finish in the field of 60 runners. Elizabeth
Pettis, Savannah York, and Tory Brown completed the Lady Jag team.
"Having 5 girls finish withing 12 seconds of each other is the mark of
a very good cross country team," said coach Billy Lamb, who is entering
his 9th year as Madison Central's Cross Country coach. "It is
going to be a very interesting fall as we see how this group measures
up against the better competition."
The next step for the team is the University of Southern Miss
Invitational at Hattiesburg's Tatum Park. The race starts at 3:30
Friday afternoon, September 7th. The race attracts all of the better
distance running schools from the central and southern sections of the
state.
August 20, 2007
The Madison Central Girls
Cross Country team has been running since July 1st in preparation for the 2007
season. With the goal being to put many miles on their legs, two girls have run
over 100 miles in six weeks. Freshman Katelyn Walker, last spring's MHSAA 5A
1600 meter champion in track, has covered 130 miles, and 8th grader Emily
Chastain has run over 100 miles in the same period. Juniors Audrey Aldridge,
and Rebecca Chastain have run over 80 miles during this preseason preparation.
Freshman Adrienne Davis and another 8th grader, Tory Brown have over 70
miles.
The girls open the 2007 season September 1st at the Warren Central
Invitational which is being held at the golf course in Bovina. This will be the
Lady Jags first trip to the Bovina course.
Billy Lamb begins his 9th
season as the team's coach. Madison Central has finished as the 3rd place team
for the past three years at the 5 A Championships. With 6 returning letter
winners, and with Walker a favorite for the individual crown, they are looking
toward a higher place this time around. The Lady jags have won the district
title 6 times during Lambs tenure, and 5 girls have earned All State honors,
including Walker and Aldridge. Mary Francis Taylor, a former Lady Jag and
Mississippi State graduate is joining Lamb as an assistant coach this year.
"Having Mary Francis is such an added bonus", said Lamb. "Her spirit and
enthusiasm, plus the fact that she still runs, and brings Wade (Taylor, her
husband, who also ran for Lamb) to practice, increases our ability to see the
personal needs of more kids."
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