Tupelo Golden Wave’s cross country teams had a championship season last year. The boys’ and girls’ teams brought home state titles on Nov. 9.

“I’m hoping that we’ll win state,” senior Christina Daniels said. “I’m hoping to get that streak going again.”

However, things have changed this season. Unlike previous years, race distance for the girls is 3.1 miles, or a 5K, instead of 2.5 miles, which is a 4K.

Intrasquad, the first race of the season, takes place within the team every year to see where the runners are before the season officially starts. This year Intrasquad took place at Ballard Park on Aug. 15. There are four teams at the Intrasquad race because the girls and boys split. The Blue and Gold teams were comprised of the girls. The guys’ teams were Da Real MVPs and Dodgeball Redemption.

The scoring for cross country is different than most sports. The race officials take the first five runners through the chute for one team and give the number of points that those spot runners placed. For example, if five Tupelo runners come through the chute in a row for first through fifth place, the first runner would get one point, the second runner would get two points, etc. Those points would then be added up for a total score of 15, which is the lowest amount a cross country team can get in a race. Cross country scoring is similar to golf: the fewer points, the better.

However, Intrasquad is scored differently, with all runners helping score.

Daniels, racing for the Blue team, flew through the 4K course with a time of 15:07.55. Olivia Love, a runner on the Gold team from Tupelo Middle School, came through the chute at 16:39.08, placing second. The girls on the Gold team ran for the win with 360 points, just 22 points ahead of the Blue team, which finished with 382.

“I love these girls,” Daniels said. “We’re really close, and I think it helps us progress as a team.”

Girls’ assistant coach Scott Brown, who stepped in for Coach Anna Sloan while she is on maternity leave, agreed.

“We’re developing a team,” Brown said. “We’re going to get better as the year goes on. The girls work hard, which will help us lead to that development.”

The boys ran a 5K for Intrasquad. Darnell Collier ripped through the grass and gravel for Da Real MVPs with a time of 17:13.73. Logan Long came in second overall with a time of 18:04.88, also placing first for Dodgeball Redemption. Dodgeball Redemption scored 349 points for a 54-point win over Da Real MVPs, which scored 403.

“I feel like it’s very different than last year in that last year you knew from the very beginning who was going to be the state team,” said boys’ head coach Jonathan Begnaud. “Everyone else is battling for a spot. It’s completely wide open, and I couldn’t possibly guess who’s going to be on that line. It’s taking us more time to get where we want to be. I think we’ll run great times, but they won’t come as early as last year.”