The Charleston High School girls track and field team is one win away from checking off the last item on their Mississippi High School Activities Association 2022 to-do list.
* Win MHSAA Division 3-2A championship.
* Win MHSAA Region 2-2A championship.
* Win MHSAA Class 2A North State championship.
Win MHSAA Class 2A State championship.
They will get a chance Friday to compete for that last check mark when they travel to Pearl High School for the MHSAA Class 2A Girls Track and Field State Championships.
As a program, the CHS girls have been in this position before. In 2012 and 2013, the Lady Tigers ran the table, winning their first and second state titles of the modern era. In their best finish since, the team won third place at state in 2014.
Those crowns were captured in MHSAA Class 3A. Now, CHS competes in the smaller 2A classification — a distinction made on the basis of local school enrollment.
Lady Tigers head coach Jeff Hollingsworth was there for those back-to-back state crowns a decade ago and said he is “very proud” of the hard work and dedication of the present batch of CHS athletes to earn a spot at the proving ground.
“These girls haven’t run track in over two years because of COVID,” he noted. “Most of the girls were nervous at the beginning, but they bought in and are having success.”
Hollingsworth said state “will be very challenging because there are four teams that can win it all.” But, he added, “I know [our] girls will give it all they have, and that’s all I can ask of them.”
South 2A girls champion Heidelberg figures to be a strong contender, and the South’s Puckett and East Marion, as well as the North’s Myrtle, also should be in the mix.
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At the MHSAA 2A North State Track Meet, held Friday at Potts Camp, Charleston’s girls won first place with 98 points. Finishing second was Myrtle, with 90 points.
The CHS boys also made a strong showing at the 2A North meet, claiming the runner-up spot on the male side of the ledger. Leflore County’s boys took first place with 123 points, while Charleston’s guys were second with 76.
“I’m proud of the boys, too, for being north half runners-up,” said Hollingsworth.
The CHS boys have never won a track and field state championship, but they have been Class 3A state runners-up twice, in 2004 and 2016, and finished third in 2003, 2005 and 2006.
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By virtue of a top-four finish in their respective events at the 2A North State meet, the CHS girls qualified for state in 11 of the 13 events in which they participated. Charleston’s boys competed in 15 events at North State, earning the right to advance in nine.
The following Charleston athletes qualified for the MHSAA State Championships:
Girls
» 100-meter dash: Amia Wright, first place, 12.98; Alena Collins, second place, 13.06
» 200-meter dash: Amia Wright, first place, 26.51; Alena Collins, second place, 27.61
» 100-meter hurdles: Tamoria Shannon, fourth place, 18.584
» 300-meter hurdles: Tamoria Shannon, third place, 51.39
» 4x100-meter relay: Diekyra Bradford, Alena Collins, Sauntelee Reed and Amia Wright, first place, 51.33
» 4x200-meter relay: Diekyra Bradford, Alena Collins, A’Kerra Lee and Alysun Mcintyre, fourth place, 1:54.67
» 4x400-meter relay: Kelsey James, A’Kerra Lee, Alysun Mcintyre and Adrianna Flowers, fourth place, 4:51.11
» 4x800-meter relay: Adrianna Flowers, A’Kerra Lee, Janiya Taylor and Adrianna Tellis, fourth place, 12:22.14
» High jump: Sauntelee Reed, second place, 4-10; Tamoria Shannon, fourth place, 4-06
» Long jump: Sauntelee Reed, third place, 15-08
» Triple jump: Amia Wright, second place, 34-00
Reed, now a senior, was the 2019 Class 3A state champion in the girls high jump as a freshman, finishing third in the event as an eighth-grader in 2018.
Boys
» 100-meter dash: Clay Taylor, second place, 11.43
» 200-meter dash: Clay Taylor, second place, 23.31
» 110-meter hurdles: Korvel Murry, second place, 16.60
» 300-meter hurdles: Korvel Murry, second place, 43.05
» 4x100-meter relay: JaMichael Batteast, Korvel Murry, Clay Taylor and Corterrius Johnson, first place, 43.51
» 4x400-meter relay: Jaylon Brooks, Quinterrius Goliday, Timothy Kirk and Kyntorris Williams, third place, 3:44.74
» High jump: Terrence Marco, second place, 6-00
» Triple jump: Terrence Marco, second place, 41-05.50
» Pole vault: Timothy Kirk, second place, 8-00
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Other Charleston athletes competing at North State, and scoring but not advancing, were:
» Boys’ 200-meter dash: Corterrius Johnson, fifth place, 23.94
» Boys’ 3200-meter run: Jaylon Brooks, fifth place, 13:03.49
» Girls’ pole vault: Diekyra Bradford, fifth place, 6-06.00; Kelsey James, sixth place, 6-00.00
» Girls’ 400-meter dash: Kelsey James, sixth place, 1:11.92
» Boys’ 400-meter dash: Kyntorris Williams, seventh place, 56.78
» Boys’ 800-meter run: Timothy Kirk, seventh place, 2:32.64
» Boys’ 4x800-meter relay: Rod O’Bannon, Martiquez Latham, Brandon Henderson and La’Andre Goliday, eighth place, 10:00.33
» Boys’ long jump: Terrence Marco, eighth place, 18-03.75
» Boys’ 1600-meter run: Jaylon Brooks, 10th place, 7:10.37
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While he is the most tenured coach of the group, Hollingsworth also thanked fellow CHS track coaches Jaquell Davis, Mandy Moore and Kam Myers.
“It’s been a team effort, and we all work together for the boys and the girls,” he said.
