Fall sports talk usually centers around football in Mississippi, but there are other intense high school state competitions going in October and November. Our diocesan Catholic school athletes recently participated in state swim meets in Tupelo and cross country finals in Clinton.
The Madison St. Joseph girls swim team brought home the state title last week winning the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class I state championship. Senior Sophia Waddingham (50 freestyle) and sophomore Emma Adkins (100 freestyle) each captured an individual gold and were part of the three winning relay teams along with Ellie Smith, Caleigh Hankins, Anna Chris Nicholas and Avery Nicholas.
The Lady Bruin Swimmers out paced their division rivals, St. Andrews, by scoring twice as many points.
The St. Joseph boys team finished second in the state. Eight different team members scored individually, showing the depth of the roster. Finishing in the top three were Graham Hlavac, second in the 100 breast; Nick Burrow, second in the 50 free; Jack Collins, third in the 100 free; and Kenny Thomas, third in the 500 free.
In cross country, the Bruin boys’ and girls’ teams captured the district meet at Choctaw Trails in Clinton. The boys were led by Matthew Hendley, who finished second; Brantley Bariola, fourth; and Nick Oigbokie, fifth. Riley Wolf placed third, Caroline Doherty, fourth and Emma Dotson, eighth for the Lady Bruins.
As of press time the results for the state meet were not available as the meet was postponed due to bad weather last Saturday.
In Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) action, Jalen McCoy of Natchez Cathedral placed second in the state in the Class AAA 5K run.
Greenville St. Joseph’s Cecelia Azar finished fifth for the Fightin’ Irish in the girls two mile run in MAIS AAA.