By By Cassie Chance and Rocky Higginbotham/The Meridian Star
April 20, 2001
Meridian Community College played host to the finals of three high school division track meets Thursday, and three area teams walked away with titles.
The Meridian High girls won the 5-5A title, the Newton girls captured the Division 7-2A crown, and the Quitman boys won the Division 5-4A championship.
Brandon took the Division 5-5A boys, while other winners included West Jones in the 5-4A girls and Taylorsville in the 7-2A boys.
The top four finishers in each individual event advance to the regional competitions April 27-28.
In 5-5A,Tyleshia Arrington won the girls' 100m hurdles for Wayne County with a time of 16.9 seconds, while the Meridian boys' team won several events including Peter Davidson's wins in the 1600m run (4:46); Mario Hill's victory in the 400m run (49.8); the 800m run with Alex Dancy's time of 2:07; and the 4x400m relay team.
But it was Meridian's girls who really dominated, racking up 99 points to outdistance Brandon (57), Wayne County (40) an Northwest Rankin (32).
The Lady Wildcats picked up the division title thanks to first-place finsihes in the 4x100m relay and the 4x200m relay. Kierra Williams won the 400m dash in 1:03 and MHS' Kaihai Fitch was second at 1:05.
Meridian's Erin Brown won the 3200m run with a time of 13:21.05, with teammate Hiroko Fujimoto second at 13:58.01. Regina Williams was first in the high jump at 4-10 and Valencia Hairston third at 4-4.
Ashley Curry was second in the discus with a toss of 92 feet, while Hairston was second in the long jump at 14-8 and teammate Takymmea Clayton third at 13-11.
Curry won the shot put with a toss of 37-1, while Carsheena Blanks was brought up from the junior high squad and finished fourth at 30-5.
Dominique Goodwin was third in the 100m hurdles with a time of 18.84 and Markeshia Powe was fifth in the same race with a time of 20.67. Rasheeda Brown was second in the 100m run with a time of 12.62, followed by Williams in fifth with a time of 13.14.
Goodwin won the 300m hurdles with a time of 50.9 and Fujimoto captured the 800m run with a time of 2:44.
In Division 5-2A, Bay Springs picked up a pair of victories on the girls' side. Karen Clayton won the girls' 100m hurdles with a time of 18.2 seconds. Clayton also won the 300m low hurdles with a time of 50.3 seconds.
Brittany Martin ran a time of 12.2 seconds to win the 100m dash. Martin ran a time of 27 seconds to also win the 200m dash. The 4x200m and 4x400m relay teams also finished first. The Lady Bulldogs were second to Newton's 105 points with 77. Enterprise was third with 66 points.
Newton won the boys' 100m dash thanks to Johnny Martin's 10.8 time. Martin also won the 200m dash in 22.6 seconds. The Tigers' 81 points were second to Taylorsville. Enterprise was fourth with 41 points.
Jenny Seal helped the girls' squad from Newton capture the title by winning the 1600m run. Seal finished the 1-mile run in 6:25.
The Lady Bulldogs from Enterprise won the 4x100m relay in 53.4 seconds. Teela McBride also won the girls' 200m dash with a time of 1:03 and the 800m run in 2:59.
Quitman's Kyla Johnson won the girls' 100m hurdles in 16.2 seconds. Johnson also won the 300m hurdles with a time of 49.9 seconds.
The Lady Panthers finished with 112 points compared to 148 for division champ West Jones. Laurel was third with 95, and Northeast Lauderdale came in third with 71 points.
Andrea Harrison and LaToya Pringle each turned in school-record performances for the Lady Trojans.
On the boys' side, Northeast also set two school records in the 4×400 and 4×200 relay races on their way to a fourth-place finish with 47 points.
Quitman's 153 captured the 5-4A boys' crown. Laurel was second with 126 and West Jones a tight third with 123.