Sep. 2—Tupelo Christian is going big today.
The school’s cross country team will be hosting the TCPS Twilight Meet, and the field is chock full of state champions. There is TCPS, of course, which has swept the Class 1A boys and girls titles each of the last three years.
Other defending champs in the field include Saltillo’s girls, Kossuth’s girls and Senatobia’s boys.
A total of 32 teams are registered, and more than 800 junior high and high school runners will take to the trail, with the first race at 5 p.m. It’s the biggest meet TCPS has ever hosted.
“I like the idea of doing it, because a lot of schools don’t want to run the Saturday of Labor Day,” TCPS coach Greg Warnick said. “And there wasn’t really another race this weekend around here. … If you can get families and kids a Saturday off, they’ll take it.”
The varsity races will pit all classes against each other instead of splitting them into 1A-3A and 4A-6A. For a fairly young TCPS squad, it’s a welcome challenge.
“I love for our kids to run against better competition any time they can,” Warnick said. “Normally we run against 1A through 3A competition, which is great, but when you’re able to run against the highest classifications, you get a real test of where you stand.”
The TCPS boys are led by sophomore Bounds Simmons, who finished third at last year’s state meet. The girls are paced by sophomore Anna Bishop Powell.
Oxford meeting Ruston
Oxford’s matchup in the Battle on the Border next week will have a change.
The Chargers will take on Ruston (La.) on Saturday, Sept. 11, at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana — home of the Independence Bowl.
Oxford was initially scheduled to face John Curtis Christian, a perennial powerhouse in the LHSAA. Due to the effects from Hurricane Ida on the New Orleans-based school, the Patriots were forced to withdraw from the event and were replaced by Ruston.
“Our players are definitely excited to go play in Shreveport. I think it’ll be a great experience for them against a really quality opponent in Ruston,” Oxford head coach Chris Cutcliffe said. “I don’t know as much about them yet because we just found out about the schedule change, but in the little bit I’ve seen, I know they’ve consistently had success in Louisiana.”
The Bearcats are 1-0 on the season after a 27-0 win over Opelousas last Friday.
Oxford (1-0) is off this week as its scheduled opponent, South Panola, went to virtual learning due to COVID-19.
Football tonight
There are two football games in the area tonight.
Walnut (0-1) visits Falkner (0-1) in the annual Joe Bowl. This will be the 60th meeting between the Tippah County rivals. Walnut leads the all-time series 30-28-1 and earned a 70-0 win last season.
Also tonight, Smithville (0-1) visits Monroe County rival Hatley (0-1). Both teams are hitting the field for the first time this season after having to forfeit their openers last week due to COVID-19 issues.