Senior Jacob Britt of Brookhaven High took first place overall in the Clinton High Invitational last weekend with a time of 16 minutes and 14 seconds over the 5K course.

The BHS boys’ team finished in second place overall as 21 teams and 148 individual runners competed in the event.

Most area cross-country teams will be back running today as Choctaw Trails at Mississippi College hosts one of the biggest meets of the year — the MC Watson Ford Invitational.

At the Clinton High Invitational sophomore Sam Arnold finished in second place behind Britt and BHS sophomore Jake Thompson was the fourth-place finisher. Ole Brook sophomore Trey Knott finished in 19th place and freshman X’Zavion Stewart was the 21st finisher.

In the girls’ race Aubrey Britt of Loyd Star was the fourth-place finisher with a time of 20:35. Senior Bailey Pounds of Brookhaven High was the 15th overall finisher. Carley Craig and Ellie Slay followed Pounds for BHS. Emmaline Wolfe and Lilly Gray rounded out the Brookhaven High top five finishers.

The Lady Panthers finished in fourth place overall out of 17 teams and there were 119 individual runners in the race.

Seventh grader Annabelle Summers of BHS finished fourth in the middle school girls’ two-mile race. Summers was closely followed by Ady Locke of Loyd Star in fifth place. Raney Scott of Ole Brook also got a top ten finish in the race with an eighth-place finish.

The top local finisher in the middle school boys’ race was seventh grader Jackson Hedgepeth of Brookhaven High in 10th place. He was closely followed by teammate Robert Massengill in 11th place.

The Watson Invitational is one of the largest races on the season schedule as the there are multiple high school divisions within the meet that separate the elite runners and larger programs from some of their smaller competition. The meet begins at 8:30 a.m. at Choctaw Trails.