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Cathedral junior Ryan Skates crosses the finish line at Choctaw Trails, taking first place at the 2019 4A Overall across Country Meet , finishing 22 seconds ahead of his closest competitor. (Courtesy Bill Barksdale)

In the Girls' Varsity 5K Overall Cross Country MAIS race, from left Cathedral Green Wave's Gracie Foster finished with a time of 25:47 and Adams County Christian sophomore Rebecca Ratcliff finished with a time of 24:03. (Courtesy Bill Barksdale)

Cathedral eighth grader Jacob Moore won first place in the Junior High Boys 2-Mile State Championship race. (Courtesy Bill Barksdale)

The junior high cross country team from Cathedral took first place at the 2019 MAIS Overall Cross Country Meet. (Courtesy Bill Barksdale)

Cathedral took first place for the fourth consecutive year in the MAIS 4A Cross Country State Championship meet. Flashing the number ‘four’ are Coach Tommy Smith, Barrett Burget, Hartley Pyron, Cade Eidt, Ryan Skates, Zach Mann, Liam Blackburn, Joseph Garrity, and Jackson Jones. (Courtesy Bill Barksdale)

CLINTON — On Monday, Cathedral Green Wave Boys’ Cross Country team won the 2019 Midsouth Association of Independent Schools Overall Cross Country State Meet for the fourth consecutive year at Choctaw Trails in Clinton.

Green Wave Head Coach Tommy Smith said this year was the first year winning in the 4A Division. Last season, the Green Wave were in the 3A Division.

“There’s no doubt the first one is always the sweetest one,” Smith said. “They’re all good.”

In the boys’ varsity 5K race, 99 runners ran in it and represented nine teams. Cathedral finished first with 32 points, second was Oak Forest Academy with 78 points and third was Silliman Institute with 84 points.

Three Green Wave varsity boys’ runners finished in the top 10. Ryan Skates won his second consecutive MAIS individual title for the Green Wave with a time of 17:52.

Joseph Garrity and Cade Eidt finished sixth (18:53) and seventh (19:03), respectively.

The Adams County Christian School Rebels finished in ninth place with 217 points. Alex Patterson finished in 33rd place with a time of 21:20. Smith said Skates wasn’t pushed at all in the race.

“Our plan was to do what we needed to do to get the first place for the team,” Smith said. “Winning an individual title is great. That one point score off of the win is always very positive for your team score. It sets a tone and sets a good position for the team rankings.”

Smith said the Green Wave’s motto for this year was: “do more for four.” Smith said the motto was suggested by Brent Haley, a high school cross-country head coach Smith raced against in Florida. In the girls’ varsity race, the Green Wave finished seventh out of nine teams. Smith said Claire Ulmer ran her best time ever of 23:58.

“I want to say most of the girls set personal-bests today,” Smith said. “It was the first time we could get all of the girls together because of all of the other sports. I’m very proud of them.”

In the boys’ junior high 2-mile race, Cathedral Green Wave won the team portion out of 16 teams.

The top four Green Wave runners finished in first, fourth, fifth and sixth. Jacob Moore won the junior high race with a time of 12:01. Logan Ellis led a three Green Wave pack in fourth place, Drew Thompson finished fifth and Landon French finished sixth.

At the end of the day, the Green Wave claimed two out of five championships.

“It’s an honor to be able to coach a group of kids that are in for the long haul,” Smith said. “They started five months ago and it’s a long commitment. With the school behind us and the parents too, the season almost can’t go wrong with a group like this.”

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