The Charleston High School girls finished second, and the boys fifth, at the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 2A Track and Field State Championships held Friday, April 29, in Pearl.
Earning a pair of top-5 finishes at the state track meet is a solid way to close out Charleston High School’s 2021-22 sports endeavors, Athletic Director LaDon Taylor said Monday.
The achievement, and other such sports successes this year, are especially noteworthy after a 2020-21 session that saw no local school athletic activity due to the pandemic, he noted.
“We’re very proud of those young ladies and men,” said Taylor. “It’s been a good year — a great year — athletically. To have the year that we had in all sports, I’m really proud.”
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At last week’s state meet, which unfolded at Pearl High School’s Woody Barnett Track & Field Complex, Charleston’s men scored 49.5 points. First-place finisher Amite totaled 78. Other top-five finishers were Kemper (74), Leflore County (72) and Velma Jackson (56).
On the flip side of the coin, as runners-up, the CHS girls came oh so close. The Lady Tigers earned 77 points in competition to finish just 5 points behind champion Puckett, which had 82. Myrtle (60), Kemper (51) and North Side (45) rounded out the best rankings.
Lady Tigers head coach Jeff Hollingsworth said he is “very proud of the girls,” who “worked so hard and did their best,” adding, “I could not ask any more out of them.”
“To be so close and fall short hurts, but the good thing is we are only losing three seniors, and everybody else is in ninth or 10th grade, so my expectations are to win it next year,” Hollingsworth noted.
The team’s second-place finish in track and field is the program’s best since 2013, when the CHS girls won the second of back-to-back state championships. They were third in 2014.
The boys’ fifth-place landing spot is their best showing since 2016, when the Charleston guys were state runners-up.
A total of 27 schools competed in the Class 2A state meet, all having both girls and boys teams.
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Charleston athletes medaled in 11 events last week, emerging as state champions in four of those competitions.
Sophomore Amia Wright won four medals: first place in 100-meter dash (12.73) and 200-meter dash (57.61) and second place in triple jump (34-3.75). She also ran a leg for the girls in the 4x100-meter relay, winning another first place.
Senior Korvel Murry claimed three medals: second place in the 300-meter hurdles (41.80) and third place in the 110-meter hurdles (16.51). Murry also ran in the boys 4x100-meter relay, in which he and three teammates took second.
Freshman Alena Collins earned three medals: first place in the 4x100-meter relay, second place in the 4x200-meter relay and second place for her individual performance in the 100-meter dash (12.82).
Others winning multiple medals were:
» Junior Terrence Marco, who captured two individual awards for first place in the triple jump (43-7.5) and third in the high jump (6-0)
» Sophomore Tamoria Shannon, who came away with two awards — one for her third-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles (50.09) and another for helping the 4x200-meter relay team garner second place in their race
Three Charleston relay teams medaled, as follows:
» The girls 4x100-meter relay team of Alena Collins, sophomores Diekyra Bradford and Amia Wright, and senior Sauntelee Reed, who captured first place with a time of 51.20
» The girls 4x200-meter relay team of Alena Collins, Diekyra Bradford, Tamoria Shannon and sophomore A’Kerra Lee, who placed second with a time of 1:50.43, behind Kemper’s winning 1:44.81
» The boys 4x100-meter relay unit comprised of Korvel Murry, junior Corterrius Johnson and seniors JaMichael Batteast and Clay Taylor, who took second with a time of 43.76, behind Amite’s top time of 43.62
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CHS had other event participants who did not medal at the state meet, as follows:
Girls
» 200-meter dash: Alena Collins, fourth place, 58.94
» Long jump: Sauntelee Reed, fifth place, 15-9.5
» 100-meter hurdles: Tamoria Shannon, sixth place, 20.33
» High jump: Sauntelee Reed, sixth place, 4-8
» 4x400-meter relay: Tamoria Shannon, A’Kerra Lee and seniors Kelsey James and Adrianna Flowers, eighth place, 4:51.96
» 4x800-meter relay: Sophomores A’Kerra Lee, Janiya Taylor and Adrianna Tellis, and Adrianna Flowers, eighth place, 12:28.00
Boys
» 100-meter dash: Clay Taylor, fourth place, 11.46
» Pole vault: Freshman Timothy Kirk, fourth place, 8-6
» 200-meter dash: Clay Taylor, eighth place, 35.48
» 4x400-meter relay: Timothy Kirk, freshman Kyntorris Williams and juniors Jaylon Brooks and Quinterrius Goliday, eighth place, 4:02.15
