Strider Academy student athletes made the familiar ride over to Clarksdale last week to participate in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools’ North Half Varsity Track Meet at Lee Academy.
Having finished in the top four places in last week’s district meet, they hoped to have a similar finish in order to qualify for the state meet, which will be held May 6-7 in Jackson.
Eighth-grader Abigail Allison secured her spot in the state meet by finishing third in the girls’ shot put with a distance of 24-07.
Freshman Stuart Denman IV pole-vaulted to a first-place finish by clearing 9 feet.
Fellow freshman Luke Smith improved from second to first in the high jump by clearing 5-08. He also qualified in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.12 seconds, which was good enough for third, and in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.21 — good enough for second place in that event.
Strider’s 4x800 boys’ relay team of freshmen Nicholas Logan and Hayden Nelson, along with eighth-graders Wade Lashley and Austin Miller, finished fourth at the north half with an overall time of 10:32.29 to qualify for the state meet.
Strider eighth-grader McKinna Smith advanced by placing third in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 17.92.
Just missing out on advancing by finishing fifth in their respective events — the top four places qualify for state — were freshman Destyne Stroud in the discus, with a best throw of 68-03; and eighth-grader McKinna Smith in the long jump, with a leap of 14-09.5.
MAIS state field events will be held at Jackson Academy on May 6 and the running competition will be held at Jackson Prep on May 7.
