*Ocean Springs is the top high school girls and boys program in 'The Bottom Six'
Photo credits: Paul Balcer
Howdy Folks, it's your favorite coach on the coast here to give you The Run Around. We are about midway through the season, and I wanted to see what the Bottom Six looked like if all 25 MHSAA teams competed in the same meet. I ran a virtual meet as part of my MileSplit subscription -- you should sign up; it's an incredible way to gain insight and scout the competition.
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Anyways, on the girls' side, Ocean Springs High School is in first with 21 points, followed by St. Patrick High School with 72. Gulfport High is in third with 137 points. Pascagoula and Pearl River Central round out the top 5 teams scoring 141 and 165 respectively. I'll give an honorable mention to OLA because they
came in only one point behind PRC.
Individually I'd like to recognize the top 14 -- kind of like an all-division team, let's call it the All-
Bottom Six…
*Ashton and Addison Rainey finishing the 2021 MHSAA 6A Cross Country Championships
Photo credits: Christian Leach, MileSplit Mississippi
1. Ashton Rainey, Ocean Springs 19:10.30
2. Addison Rainey, Ocean Springs 19:15.54
3. Sarah Litton, Ocean Springs 19:35.46
4. Hannah Mitchell, PRC 20:59.77
5. Henrietta Doxey, OLA 21:11.29
6. Jayden Ware, St. Patrick 21:28.03
7. Maya Messenger, Ocean Springs 21:28.58
8. Michelle Brown, Ocean Springs 21:41.81
9. Mia Ramsdell, PRC 21:51.81
10. Grace Brewer, East Central 22:13.27
11. Hailey Scott, Ocean Springs 22:21.04
12. Cheryl Lawrence, Ocean Springs 22:25.41
13. Lillieann Bentz, St. Patrick 22:26.20
14. Aisley Coleman, Ocean Springs 22:30.84
There you have it; now, let's check out the boys.
Ocean Springs scores 31 for the win, and St. Patrick is in second with 73 points. Biloxi High is third with 124, Pass Christian is fourth with 187, and D'Iberville comes in fifth with 195.
*Tate Castleman, the top high school boy in 'The Bottom Six', winning the 2022 Ocean Springs Invitational
Photo credits: Paul Balcer
Your All-Bottom Six Team for the boys is as follows:
1. Tate Castleman, Ocean Springs 16:54.07
2. Jack Hewes, St. Patrick 17:12.51
3. Landon Ahrens, Long Beach 17:12.68
4. Trent Lansdown, Ocean Springs 17:19.64
5. Matheson Chen, Ocean Springs 17:20.24
6. Tristan Davis, St. Patrick 17:28.95
7. Ace Cosby, Ocean Springs 17:55.67
8. Jordan Sanderson, Biloxi 18:03.88
9. Nicholas Welch, Biloxi 18:07.21
10. Clayton Wilhorn, Biloxi 18:17.44
11. Ollie Bailey, Pass Christian 18:19.64
12. Donevan Logan, D'Iberville 18:22.24
13. Luke Meyers, St. Patrick 18:24.47
14. Jacob Bond, Ocean Springs 18:26.91
So, that's how a winner takes all meet in the Bottom Six would play out based on current times. It was a fun little experiment, and I hope you enjoyed reading about the great athletes on the coast.
See you on the course.