Parmer, Skaggs highlight annual Green Street Mile

TUPELO - It had been four years since Cooper Parmer ran the Green Street Mile. He made the most of his second go-around.

Parmer won the annual Fourth-of-July race with a final time of 4 minutes, 22.3 seconds on Saturday morning. Parmer, a native of Pontotoc, recently graduated from Mississippi College, where he ran cross country and track and field.

"It's probably just four years of training in college that helps me there," he said. "I haven't really trained in four weeks, so it was really good to come out here and run a race and feel good about it."

Parmer started off the race feeling out the rest of the field. Then he and Tristan Bryan, an Oxford native and a sophomore at Mississippi College, started to separate themselves from the pack. Bryan finished in second place.

"We kind of just ran the race together for a little while, and then we pushed each other," Parmer said. "Then once we got to about 400 meters to go, I was like ‘All right, this is where I put the hammer down'."

Parmer is also happy to experience the benefits that will go far beyond the Green Street Mile.

"It's really rewarding when you come out here and do something that you didn't really expect you were going to do," he said. "And then also just the training and everything helps you in your everyday life, to live a lot healthier than you think, especially if you end up eating right, that helps with training and staying healthy."

Coming in at 21st overall and as the top female finisher was Kailey Skaggs, who finished in 5:37.6. Skaggs runs cross country and track and field at Tupelo High School.

"I had a teammate from the boys team in front of me," Skaggs said. "So I kind of just tried to stick with him the whole time. Ashton Collum, he was kind of who I was chasing also."

Skaggs posted the fourth best individual time at the MHSAA Class 7A state cross country championships back in November. Being able to run in the heat could very well prepare her to post an even bigger result this year.

"It helped me know how to race and where I can push myself, but for sure out of the summer, it helped me get used to the heat," she said. "I feel like that's a big one is just the heat."

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.