West Lincoln didn’t have any competition in winning the Region 7-2A cross-country title on Thursday at Choctaw Trails, as neither Heidelberg or Wilkinson County had enough runners in the event to field the team.

Nonetheless, the Bears used the race as a warmup for the upcoming state competition and a call-up for eighth grader Rainee Martin, who’s been running strong for the junior varsity program over the last two years.

Martin won the first of what will be many high school races on Thursday, topping the 14-runner field with a time of 23 minutes and 22 seconds over the 5K course.
The top seven runners for West Lincoln in the event with their overall place and time were Martin, senior Kylie Suchy (2nd, 24:41), junior Ryleigh Purdy (3rd, 24:58), junior Chloe Sterling (4th, 25:05), sophomore Jesse Acy (6th, 27:17), senior Yedith Uribe (7th, 27:58), and sophomore Ava Leake (8th, 31:08).

The starting gun of the MHSAA 2A state title meet on Thursday, Oct. 31, will go off at 12:25 p.m. on Choctaw Trails in south Jackson.