Photo: Center Hill girls cross country team (Credit: @TweetDCS_CHHS on X/Twitter)
DeSoto County cross country runners finished strong in the MHSAA state cross country finals at Choctaw Trails in Clinton on Saturday, Nov. 4, led by a state championship for Hernando runner Kaitlyn Burge in the Class 7A race. Here’s a recap of how county harriers fared at the state meet.
Boys 7A cross country state championship
Hernando had the best finish in the boys’ Class 7A state cross country run, taking seventh place overall with a score of 195, one point behind sixth place Oxford. Pearl won the team title with 41 points. Lewisburg took eighth place in the team standings with 198 points and DeSoto Central was 10th with 248 points.
Graham Weiss of Hernando was the top county runner in the race, taking sixth place with a time of 16:15.74. Gavin Brown of DeSoto Central was next, taking ninth place with a time of 16:22.50. Jackson Dickerson led the Lewisburg runners in a time of 16:55.51 for 19th place.
Girls 7A cross country state championship
Kaitlyn Burge of Hernando won the state Class 7A individual championship and Hernando finished second to Tupelo in the race for the team title.
Burge’s winning time for the 5,000 meter race was 18:13.41, which was about 24 seconds ahead of second place Sophie Santucci of Tupelo. Brookelyn Morgan of Tupelo was third, followed by Hernando’s Riley Jackson, who was fourth with a time of 19:14.87. Alex Lee of Madison Central was fifth overall.
Tupelo defeated Hernando for the team title by a score of 46-96. Lewisburg was the next highest DeSoto County finisher, taking sixth with a score of 162. DeSoto Central was 13th with 322 points.
Lewisburg’s top runner was Rylee Blanchard, who was 15th overall in a time of 20:53.81. DeSoto Central was led by Layla McGuire, who was 18th at 21:01.83.
Olive Branch was the top team finisher in the Class 6A run with a third-place finish and 89 points, behind state champion Saltillo (47 points) and second-place Neshoba Central (76 points).
Caden Louder of Olive Branch was the second-place finisher with a timing of 16:49.06, behind only state champion Parker Shannon of Saltillo at 16:33.82. Louder was followed by Quistor teammate Preston Mundy, who was third with a time of 17:28.55.
Center Hill did not factor in the team scoring, but Jared Smiley paced Mustang runners at state with a 27th place finish at 19:24.29.
Girls 6A cross country state championship
Center Hill finished second in the team standings with 46 points to state champion Saltillo with 32 points. Olive Branch was ninth in the team standings with 254 points. Center Hill’s second-place finish marked its first state trophy in program history with two eighth graders, two ninth graders and a junior among the top five. Maggie Linville led Center Hill with a sixth place individual finish in a time of 22:17.07.
