In successive weeks, the Charleston High School boys’ and girls’ track teams finished first and second, respectively, in competition.
On Saturday, April 9, the CHS boys took first place and the CHS girls second on each side of the Winona High School Invitational Track and Field Meet.
On Thursday, April 14, the Charleston squads captured those same spots in the Mississippi High School Activities Association’s Division 2-3A meet, held at Coldwater High School.
“We’re having a pretty good year,” Charleston boys’ head coach LaDon Taylor said of his team. “We’ve got a lot of older guys who are stepping up and showing the younger boys what to do.”
Despite being young overall, girls’ head coach Jeff Hollings-worth’s team “is doing really good,” as evidenced by their runner-up position against seasoned competition the last two weeks, Taylor said.
The top four finishers in each event at the division meet qualified to advance to the regional competition, set for April 23 at Winona High School. The best four in each event there will punch their tickets to the Class 3A North Half Meet April 30.
FOR THE BOYS, Charleston literally ran away with the division championship by racking up a team total of 199 points, far outdistancing second-place finisher Independence, which had 133 points. Water Valley posted 80 points, Holly Springs 79, North Panola 41 and M.S. Palmer 19.
Qualifying to move on to the regional meet were:
• The 4x800 meter relay team of freshman Trinity Brooks, sophomore Jeffery Loston, junior Cody Friday and Dee Gary, who placed third last week with a time of 10:08.89
• Senior Stephan Loggins, who was fourth in the 3200-meter run with a time of 13:47.55
• Teammates and fellow seniors Ahmad Alexander and Ty Williams, who placed first and second, respectively, in the 100-meter dash with times of 10.80 and 10.82, and junior Tylen Herron, who finished fourth in that event with a time of 11.28
• The 4x200 meter relay team of seniors Chris Truly and Eddie Price, junior Rickey Sutton and freshman DeAntre Prince, who were second last week with a time of 1:33.02
• Stephan Loggins, who was fourth in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:46.00
• The 4x100-meter relay team of Tylen Herron, Ahmad Alexander, Rickey Sutton and Ty Williams, who won that event at the division meet with a time of 42.37
• Trinity Brooks, who placed third in the division’s 400-meter dash with a time of 56.58
• Dee Gary and DeAntre Prince, who placed first and third, respectively, in the 300-meter hurdles with times of 45.17 and 47.64
• Stephan Loggins, who finished third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:29.24
• Teammates Ty Williams, Eddie Price and Ahmad Alexander, who swept the top three spots in the 200-meter dash with winning times of 21.90, 22.21 and 22.26, respectively
• The 4x400 meter relay team of Trinity Brooks, Jeffery Loston, Cody Friday and Dee Gary, who won that event with a time of 3:49.77
• DeAntre Prince and Tylen Herron, who finished second and third, respectively, in the long jump with distances of 19-05.00 and 18-10.50
• Eddie Price, who was third in the high jump with a leap of 5-08
• Senior Walter Barnes and junior Johnathan Jones, who took first and third places, respectively, in the shot put with tosses of 41-00 and 38-06
• Johnathan Jones, who won the discus throw with a toss of 110-11
• Tylen Herron and sophomore K.J. Moore, who won first and fourth places, respectively, in the triple jump with distances of 39-11.50 and 38-02.00
• Senior Korderio Jones and freshman Sam Johnson, who captured the third- and fourth-place slots in the pole vault by achieving heights of 8-06 and 6-06, respectively
FOR THE GIRLS, Independence won the division meet with 164 points, but Charleston was a very respectable second with 135. Palmer garnered 84 points, Water Valley 65, Holly Springs 64 and North Panola 34.
Qualifying for the regional meet were the following:
• The 4x800 meter relay team of juniors Zaria Brown and Ayonna Rodgers, and eighth-graders Ezara Brown and Gabby Crocker, who finished fourth last week with a time of 14:25.53
• Ayonna Rodgers, who placed fourth in the 3200-meter run with a time of 19:44.00
• Junior Keasia Pittman, who won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.67
• Junior Ukari Pimpton, who placed second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.74
• The 4x200 meter relay team of Ukari Pimpton and sophomores Janeya Jones, Larrinesha Richard and Tasharya Truly, who claimed second place with a time of 1:53.04
• The 4x100 meter relay team of Janeya Jones, Ukari Pimpton, Tasharya Truly and eighth-grader Asia Johnson, who were third at division with a time of 52.85
• Larrinesha Richard, who won the 400-meter dash last week with a time of 1:03.75
• Keasia Pimpton, who won the 300-meter hurdles with a division-best time of 54.48
• Ukari Pimpton, who won the 200-meter dash in a time of 26.58
• The 4x400 meter relay team of Janeya Jones, Larrinesha Richard, sophomore Deatria Kimble and eighth-grader Tykeria Boclair, who were second with a time of 4:51.25
• Tasharya Truly, who placed second in the long jump with a distance of 14-05.50
• Keasia Pittman and Tykeria Boclair, who were second and fourth, respectively, in the high jump with leaps of 4-10 and 4-04
• Eighth-grader Aaliyah Bowens, who placed third in the shot put with a toss of 27-02
• Eighth-grader Jamaya Batteast and Aaliyah Bowens, who captured third and fourth places, respectively, in the discus throw with distances of 74-09 and 72-00
• Keasia Pittman, who placed fourth in the triple jump by hurling herself a distance of 31-08
• Tasharya Truly and Janeya Jones, who won first and third places, respectively, in the pole vault with heights of 6-06
IN THE PHOTO: The Charleston High School boys’ track and field team is pictured after winning the Division 2-3A meet April 14 at Coldwater. Kneeling (from left) are DeAntre Prince, Stephan Loggins, Jeffery Loston, Tylen Herron, Travion Williams, Johnathan Jones and Sam Johnson. Standing (from left) are Korderio Jones, Jaden Johnson, Julian Cornejo, Trinity Brooks, Rickey Sutton, Cody Friday, Walter Barnes, Ahmad Alexander, Eddie Price, Chris Truly, Dee Gary, Jotavious Smith and Viktor Steinbrecher. (Photo by Lakita Brown)
