Athletes from Greenville High School and Washington School are coming together to compete on a new cross country course provided to them by the Mississippi Levee Board.
The new course, located behind the Mississippi River Levee walking trail, provides runners with both a unique test and a scenic view of Lake Ferguson.
“This is a true cross country course,” Washington School coach Jamie Murrell said. “It has hills, which for the Delta is rare. Runners get to run along the lake front, which is beautiful, and spectators, because of the layout, can watch the runners run the entire race.”
The first meet on the course, named the Greenville High School and Washington School Cross Country Invitational, is scheduled for Oct. 11. The girls race will start at 4:35 p.m., and the boys race will start at 5:15 p.m.
The land for the new course was originally owned by the United States Corps of Engineers. It was originally used to store concrete mats that helped protect the Mississippi River from erosion. The land was given to the Mississippi Levee Board in 2002, and the board has been marketing the land as a industrial site ever since.
Steven Poole, who is the superintendent of maintenance at the Levee Board and also the father of two runners on the Washington School cross country team, came up with the idea to use the land as a running course.
“We are more than happy to let them use it. I think it will be a pretty nice course for them to run on,” said Peter Nimrod, the chief engineer for the Levee Board.
Both the Greenville and Washington School coaches said they are thankful to the Levee Board for providing them with a unique and new place for their athletes to run.
Both the Hornets and the Generals are in the middle of their cross country seasons, and both teams have their sites set on doing well at their respective state meets later this fall.
Greenville, whose head coach is Jessie Jones, is led by runners Jacob Turner, Courtney Adams, Sheridan Brady, Benjamin Davenport and Brycen Davenport, among others.
Washington School is led by runners Owen Hardin, Lawton Poole, Caroline Murrell, JD Bennett and Cashion Doolittle, among others.
Along with giving their athletes a chance to run on an exciting new course, it wasn’t lost on either the Washington School or Greenville coaches of the significance of brining the public and private school together.
“This is the beginning of a beautiful thing,” said Monica Turner, a coach with Greenville High School. “They are nice people at Washington School so why not come together.”
Said Coach Murrell, “We have been talking about coming together and racing. It’s great anytime we can bring these kids together so they can know each other better.”
Ten cross country teams have already signed up to compete in the Oct. 11 event, and more teams are welcome to enter. The total cost is $50 per race or $100 for any team. The cost for an individual runner is $10.
For information about signing your team up for the race contact Coach Murrell at jamietmurrell@gmail.com.
