RECAP: Memphis Twilight


The girls varsity race went off at 8 p.m and it didn't take long for Presley Miles and Ciara O'Shea to break away from the pack. Through the mile in a blazing 5:31, O'Shea, the freshman from Madison Central, was in the lead by several strides.

By the second mile, O'Shea had built a lead that she would not relinquish. O'Shea won the race in an impressive time of 18:07. Coming in second on the ladies' side was Alabama state champion Presley Miles in a time of 18:34. Rounding out the top three was Henry County's Dinah Winders in 18:46. Don't miss our interviews with Ciara and Dinah posted in videos.

Although there were no surprises in the top five girls' finishers, the team results were a different story. The girls from Daviess County High School in Owensboro, Kentucky, took home the first-place trophy.

Led by junior Ainsley Taylor, the Daviess County Panthers won by 21 points finishing over second place St. Georges High School. Francis Howell High School, Houston High School, and Arlington High School finished in third, fourth, and fifth place, respectively.

The boys race got off to a hot start early with a large lead pack barreling down the course. The pack consisted of Blake Morris of Notre Dame, Evan Allen of Chester Co., Jackson Williams of Arlington, Connor O'Shea of Madison Central, and Silas Winders of Henry County.

Through the mile in 4:50, O'Shea led the race by two strides with Allen and Williams lurking from behind. Through two miles in a speedy 9:55, Evan Allen had taken the lead and he would not give it up. Over the last mile Allen built up a 12 second gap on second place and closed hard for a state leading time of 15:26!

We caught up with Allen to ask him about his break-through performance after the race. Check it out under the video tab. Finishing in second place with a huge 37 second PR, Jackson Williams of Arlington High School was the closest finisher to Allen. After Williams, Miles Ally, Bake Morris and Conner O'Shea rounded out the top five.

Huntsville High School absolutely dominated the boys' varsity race. The 2018 7A Alabama XC state champions came in to the race as the obvious favorites and they lived up to the hype. Finishing in 8th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th, the boys won with a remarkable score of 40 points.

Ranked second in the NXN southeast region, the boys have big post season goals this year. Don't miss our interview with the whole varsity squad in the videos tab.

In second place, Bartlett High School posted a score of 125 points. Led by sophomore Landen McNair, the Bartlett boys posted one of the best finishes by a Memphis team at this meet in the past decade. After a huge second place finish at XC state last year, the Bartlett boys have a legitimate shot at a title this year.