St. Al’s Edwards caps stellar career with second-place finish at MAIS state competition – The Vicksburg Post

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St. Aloysius’ Samantha Edwards (777) runs at the MAIS Class 5A Girls’ Cross Country Championships on Monday in Clinton. Edwards, a senior, finished second in the season-ending 5K race. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius’ Julia Tuminello runs at the MAIS Class 5A Girls’ Cross Country Championships on Monday in Clinton. Tuminello, a senior, finished 16th in the season-ending 5K race. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius’ Samantha Edwards (777) runs alongside East Rankin Academy’s Jewel Baker during the MAIS Class 5A Girls’ Cross Country Championships on Monday in Clinton. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Simpson Academy’s Lilly Overby races to victory at the MAIS Class 5A Girls’ Cross Country Championships Monday in Clinton. Overby had a time of 18:59 in the 5K race. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius’ Grace Edwards runs at the MAIS Class 5A Girls’ Cross Country Championships on Monday in Clinton. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius’ Caroline Ponder runs at the MAIS Class 5A Girls’ Cross Country Championships on Monday in Clinton. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius’ Maria Torres runs at the MAIS Class 5A Girls’ Cross Country Championships on Monday in Clinton. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius’ Dalton Windham (792) passes Bayou Academy’s Nate O”Neal in the final stretch of the MAIS Class 5A Boys’ Cross Country Championships Monday in Clinton. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius’ Cohen Coomes runs at the MAIS Class 5A Boys’ Cross Country Championships on Monday in Clinton. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius’ William Roberson runs at the MAIS Class 5A Boys’ Cross Country Championships on Monday in Clinton. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Cathedral’s Thomas McKnight heads to the finish line to win the MAIS Class 5A Boys’ Cross Country Championships 5K race Monday in Clinton. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

CLINTON – Samantha Edwards says her philosophy is simple when it comes to competitive racing.

“I just like to do the best I can. If you’re going to do it, why not give it your all? she said.

Edwards stuck to that credo Monday and was handsomely rewarded.

The St. Aloysius senior finished her high school cross country career on a high note, with a second-place finish in the MAIS Class 5A Championship on Choctaw Trails.

Edwards recorded a time of 19 minutes and 54 seconds in the 5K race. Simpson Academy’s Lilly Overby swept the field to win in 18:59, but Edwards was a comfortable second. Third-place finisher, Audrey Mayatte of East Rankin Academy, was 18 seconds behind her.

Overby, a junior, won her second consecutive Class 5A individual championship.

“I was with Jewel Baker (of East Rankin Academy) for most of the first round. At some point in the runoff, Jewel and Audrey (Mayatte) switched and I stayed with Audrey for most of the runoff,” Edwards said. “She started to slow down and I took her to one of the downhills. I tried to put as much distance between us as possible. “She was still pretty close at the end.”

The second place finish capped off an excellent season and high school career for Edwards. Won the 2021 MAIS Class 5A championship.and this was his fourth consecutive year placing in the top six at the state meet.

This season, won four of the seven races he participated in and finish second in the other three.

“I am very proud. It’s been hard. There have been some hiccups along the way. I’m glad I was able to finish strong and be pretty consistent throughout my career,” Edwards said.

Mayatte, Baker and Emma Raines finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, and teammate Jensen Baker was seventh as East Rankin won the Class 5A girls team championship with 31 points.

Columbia Academy scored 56 points and finished in second place, Simpson Academy was third with 102 and St. Al fourth with 103.

Following Edwards, Julia Tuminello of the Lady Flashes finished 16th out of 80 runners with a time of 23:32. Luella Lambiotte took 32nd in 25:49, Edwards’ sister Grace was 47th in 28:59 and Caroline Ponder 48th in 29:04.

In the Class 5A boys meet, eighth-grader Asher Rice led the St. Al field with a time of 21:03 that was good for 26th place out of 74 runners.

Cohen Coomes finished 31st in 21:37, William Roberson was 37th in 22:10, Dalton Windham was 41st in 22:30 and Andrew Nasif 54th in 23:40.

St. Al totaled 148 points to finish sixth in the men’s team standings. Simpson Academy had five of the top seven runners and easily won the team title with 24 points. East Rankin was second with 55.

Thomas McKnight of Cathedral won the individual championship, with a time of 17:49. Teammate Alex Monagan was third, in 18:30.

Porter’s Chapel Academy’s Tyler Hatler finished 49th overall in the Class 3A boys race with a time of 25:06. Teammate John Austin White was 74th in 28:54.

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is the sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-serving reporters in the newspaper’s 140-year history. The New Jersey native graduated from LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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