As per usual, Brookhaven High was head and shoulders above the competition on Thursday in the Region 3-5A cross-country meet at Choctaw Trails.
The Panthers swept both first place in the girls’ and boys’ team competitions for head coach Shannon Knott. Ole Brook cross-country will compete for state championships on Saturday, Nov. 2 at Choctaw Trails. The MHSAA 5A state championship meet for girls is scheduled to begin at 1:50 p.m. The boys’ race will follow at 2:25 p.m.

On Thursday in the region race, sophomore Isabella Iles captured first place for BHS with a time of 21 minutes and 22 seconds over the 5K course. North Pike was the only other school that brought enough runners to constitute a team.

BHS had the first five finishers across the line as following Iles respectively were senior Natalie McKinney (21:25), senior Annabell Summer (22:37), senior Ariyana Graham (23:22), and senior Ella Thompson (24:42). Sophomore Abby Slay finished seventh overall with a time of 25:25.

Sophomore Coleman Knott of BHS was the first overall finisher in the boys’ race. Knott came in at 18:16. Other runners for BHS with their place and time in the 42-man field were junior Dalevyun Dixon (3rd, 19:28), sophomore Isaac Iles (4th, 19:35), freshman Jeremiah Henning (5th, 19:47), sophomore Ian Iles (6th, 20:14), sophomore Jackson Greer (13th, 22:02), sophomore Asa Thomas (17th, 22:17), and junior Asher Stringer (20th, 22:41).