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Mobile Challenge of Champions XC 2014 Preview - DyeStatPublished by
Good early season test for Mattox, Jennings in Mobile
By Arthur L. Mack, For DyeStat
MOBILE, Ala. — Some solid competition is expected at the 22nd annual Mobile Challenge of Champions Cross Country meet, which will be held Saturday morning at Langan Park.
The meet gets underway with the Open Division girls race, scheduled for 8 a.m. Races will be held every 30-40 minutes, concluding with the Invitational Division Boys race at 9:30.
Teams from Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi are expected to participate, with some 30-plus schools represented in the Open and Invitational Divisions. As in years past, the competition should be intense between local and out of town teams.
"I don’t know if this year’s field is as deep as in years past, but we should have some pretty good competition nevertheless," meet director Steve Schoenewald said.
Notable Invitational Boys teams from out of town include Opelika (Alabama), featuring Class 6A All-State performer Ben Bryant; as well as two perennial Mississippi powerhouses—Ocean Springs, Class 6A championship runner-up, led by Nathan Bolner; and Starkville, which was third in the Class 6A championships last season.
Other out of town teams to watch is another Mississippi team, St. Stanislaus, and Parkway of Bossier City, LA.
The Mobile area will be represented by several solid teams.
It could be a three-team battle between Spanish Fort, UMS-Wright, and Baker. Spanish Fort has a young, but talented team, as does Baker. UMS-Wright is led by Robert Hope, the defending Class 4A state champion who won the Invitational Boys title in 2012.
Expect Hope, Bryant, and Bolner to battle for individual honors.
In the Invitational Girls division, expect much of the same. Out of state schools expected to challenge for the team title are Starkville, which was third in the Mississippi 6A championships; Parkway of Bossier City, LA, which was the Louisiana Class 5A state champion; and Ocean Springs, the Mississippi Class 6A runner-up.
Local schools expected to make a big splash are Alabama Class 4A champion UMS-Wright, led by Ellie Carter; Bayside Academy, the defending Alabama Class 3A champions and led by freshman Mary Catherine Branyon; Baker, Class 6A Section 1 champion, led by Carsandra Pickens; and Spanish Fort, the Baldwin County Champion and led by Class 5A All-State performer Carisa Jones.
Battling for individual honors are defending champion Katie Mattox of Starkville, who also was the Mississippi Class 6A cross country champion and the winner of the 2-mile race at the Mobile Challenge of Champions Track and Field Meet, along with Parkway’s Sara Funderburk; Parkview Baptist’s Amber Deselle, and Gabrielle Jennings of First Baptist of Slidell, LA, the Class C cross country champion and who won last year’s Mobile Challenge of Champions mile run.
"Mattox and Jennings have to be the favorites," Schoenewald said. "Starkville and Ocean Springs are really tough teams, and locally, it could be a battle between Bayside, UMS-Wright, and Spanish Fort."
History for Mobile Challenge of Champions Cross Country
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