On Friday, the Strider Academy junior varsity track team traveled to Lee Academy in Clarksdale to compete in the district track meet.
The boys finished in second place in the district and coach Kelvin Newton said he was proud of the effort the boys put forth during the competition.
In the pole vault, Stuart Denman IV came in first and Austin Miller second.
Luke Smith took first place in the 300-meter low hurdles, 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash.
Hayden Nelson placed second in the long jump and Austin Miller placed second in the 400-meter dash and third in the triple jump.
Gage Burt finished third in both the high jump and the 200-meter dash and fourth in the long jump.
Wade Lashley placed fourth in the 800-meter run and fifth in both the triple jump and 1600-meter run.
The 800-meter relay team of Stuart Denman, Austin Miller, Gage Burt and Luke Smith place second.
In the 3200-meter relay, the team of Nicholas Logan, Hayden Nelson, Austin Miller and Wade Lashley placed first. They also placed second in the 1600-meter relay.
The 400-meter relay team of Stuart Denman, Hayden Nelson, Gage Burt and Luke Smith placed first.
“Our goal coming in was to win the district,” said Newton. “In the end, Tunica just had too many competitors for us to score enough. We won our share of events and in the relay they won two and we won two. These kids worked hard and they deserve all the praise for their accomplishments. I am really proud of the effort they put forth to score second place in our district.”
In the girls’ competition, McKinna Smith placed first in the long jump and second in both the 100-meter hurdles and 100-meter dash.
Anna Ross placed third, and Abigail Allison fifth, in the shot put.
Destyne Stroud was third in the discus and Jaden Brooks fifth in the triple jump.
In the 400-meter, 800-meter and 1600-meter relays, the team of Makyla Benge, Jaden Brooks, McKinna Smith and Destyne Stroud placed fourth.
Coach Damon Stroud stated, “Our girls gave it their all from the first field event to the last race of the meet. We went into the week with a six-member team and by the time Friday’s running events started, we were down to four after the other two girls fell ill. We were competing against teams comprised of 15 members and our girls still managed to finish fourth. They ran hard and they didn’t quit, so I could not possibly be prouder of each one of them.”
