Cross-country — which has become one of the most popular sports in the area over the last few years — began last week with the Ole Brook Invitational hosted by Brookhaven High School at the Hansel King Sports Complex.

The Panthers finished as runners-up last season in the MHSAA 5A state meet and not surprisingly both teams won their respective division in the season opening meet. In the boys’ division Germantown came in second and West Lincoln finished third out of seven teams. The BHS girls also edged out Germantown as five varsity girls’ teams competed against each other.

Senior Jacob Britt won the boys’ race with a time of 16 minutes and 35 seconds. He was followed by a trio of sophomore teammates Grayson Childress (16:42), Sam Arnold (16:58), and Jake Thompson (17:36) in second through fourth place respectively. Junior Tiler Castillo of West Lincoln finished fifth with a time of 19:05. Sophomore Trey Knott of BHS was sixth with at time of 19:05 and his teammate, freshman X’Zavion Stewart, finished in seventh with a 19:07 finish. Sophomore Chase Spring was eighth with a 19:18 finish.

The girls’ meet had some of the best runners in the state as two-time reigning 5A state champ — sophomore Brooklyn Biancamano of Long Beach — finished first with a time of 19:43. Aubrey Britt of Loyd Star, the two-time defending 2A state champ — finished second with a time of 21:04. Sophomore Ellie Slay was the top finisher from BHS with a time of 22:01. The senior duo of Carley Craig and Bailey Pounds finished fifth and sixth respectively with times of 22:21 and 23:00. Freshman Lily Gray finished eighth with a 23:07 finish.

Jackson Hedgepeth of BHS won the two-mile middle school boys’ race with a 12:48 finish. Annabelle Summers from Brookhaven High was third in the middle school girls’ race with a time of 15:10. The middle school Panthers finished first in the boys’ race and second in the girls’ competition.

Next on the schedule for most area schools is the Mississippi College meet Saturday.