Page 60 - South Mississippi Living - January, 2019

SPORTS & OUTDOORS magical season
LUCK of
the IRISH?
ST. PATRICK HIGH SCHOOL CAPTURES TWO CROSS COUNTRY TITLES
story and photos by A. J. Giardina and courtesy of St. Patrick High School
It was a magical season in cross country at St. Patrick High School. For the first time in school history, the girls and boys won Class 2A Mississippi High School Athletic Association state titles in the same year. It was back-to-back state championships for the boys. Was it the Luck of the Irish?
Head coach Tim McDaniel said, “We started this journey in June with a dream and it happened in November. We believed in ourselves and got it done through hard work.”
McDaniel has a
solid reputation for motivating his athletes. “Coach McDaniel is not the type of person who yells at you to work harder. He inspires you to become better,” senior and team captain Amelie Million said.
said, “I went from not being an athlete to becoming a three-sport athlete. Coach made me strive to be a better runner and a better person.”
Looking ahead to 2019 McDaniel is confident. “I’m a big statistical person and at the end of the season I do an assessment to project how
our team is going to shape up,” he said. “After looking at
the competition and who we have coming back, we should make a solid run next season.”
The Fighting Irish girls team returns sophomore Isabel Leatherman and seventh grader Isabella Patino. Retuning on the boy’s team are junior Mason McCullough, sophomore Cade Meyers, ninth
Amelie Million and Jordan Pete
Head Coach Tim McDaniel & 7th grader Isabella Patino
Dylan Middleton
The other senior is
Jordan Pete. “To win state was really cool because I know it was a team effort and for this to be my senior season, it means a lot,” she said.
Team captain and the boys only senior, Dylan Middleton, started cross country three years ago. He
grader Dominic Patino, and eighth grader Byron
Shepard. They were all named to the All-State teams along with the three seniors.
60 SOUTH MIISSIISSIIPPII Living • JJanuary 2019
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2019 should be another good year
for the St. Patrick Fighting Irish in
cross country. 2018 Championship teams