JACKSON — Seven Strider Academy student-athletes traveled to Jackson to compete in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools’ state Overall Track Meet, held May 5-6.
The first day, Friday, was for field events and was held on the campus of Jackson Academy.
Sophomore Stuart Denman IV was the first competitor of the day for the Rams and he captured the gold medal for a first-place finish in the pole vault competition. His best vault of the day was 10 feet. In the finals, he jumped 8 feet, 6 inches.
The next event was the girls’ discus throw, which saw sophomore Destyne Stroud finish seventh with a throw of 73 feet, nine inches.
Later in the day, sophomore Luke Smith competed in two events. The first was the long jump, where his best leap of 19 feet, 5 inches earned him the bronze medal for finishing third. He then moved over to the high jump, where his best leap of 6 feet got him first place and the gold medal.
Finishing off the first day was the girls’ long jump. Freshman McKinna Smith jumped a personal best of 16 feet, 2 inches to finish second and gather the silver medal.
Saturday was for the running events and was held on the campus of Jackson Prep School.
The first competitors of the day for the Rams were members of the boys’ 800-meter relay team, including Luke Smith and freshmen Wade Lashley, Austin Miller and Mason McCord. They ran their best time of the year, 1:43.07, for fifth place.
McKinna Smith then competed in the 110-meter hurdle race, where her time of 18.78 was good enough for third place and a bronze medal. In the 100-meter race, she ran a time of 14.30, which placed her sixth.
Luke Smith ran a time of 11.77 in the boys’ 100-meter race, which placed him third and earned him the bronze medal.
Track coach Kelvin Newton spoke highly of all the competitors.
“We competed in nine events and made the platform [fifth place or higher] in seven of them. We also had two state champions for the second year in a row,” said Newton. “They all competed hard and represented Strider very well. The best part to me is that they were all either freshmen or sophomores, which means the next few years should be just as good if not better.”
IN THE PHOTO: Strider Academy athletes participating in last week’s state track meet held over the course of two days at Jackson Academy and Jackson Prep School in the Jackson metro area were (from left) Mason McCord, Wade Lashley, Austin Miller, Destyne Stroud, McKinna Smith, Luke Smith and Stuart Denman. (Photo by Vickie Miller)
