STARKVILLE — Area high school track teams got a good feel Saturday for how their respective state meets will go after competing in the Mississippi State Bulldog High School Invitational
Seven area schools competed in the meet, which featured the top teams from all classifications in Mississippi and powerhouses from surrounding states.
Northridge (Ala.) won the girls meet with 66 points, while Pearl won the boys meet with 104 points, nearly 25 points more than second-place Northridge.
Starkville High was the highest area finisher in both meets, as the boys took eighth with 29 points — a point and a half ahead of Class 6A North State rival Tupelo — and the girls finished 18th with 13 points.
Columbus High”s girls tallied 11 points for 22nd and the boys finished 15th with 15 points.
More than 50 schools competed in both meets.
For Starkville coach Chris Barnett, the Yellow Jackets” finish was a continuation of the form they showed at the Paul W. Bryant Stampede Invitational (Ala.) and Homewood Invitational (Ala.).
Starkville”s boys were buoyed by junior Kamau Bostic, who finished third in the 800 meters with a time of 2 minutes, 1.40 seconds and fourth in the 1,600 (4:42.78).
Charles Hughes continued his steady form in the hurdles, with a 15.02 in the 110 for fifth and a 41.69 for seventh in the 300 hurdles.
Julian Louis earned Starkville”s fifth top-five finish with an 11.07 in the 100.
“Every meet we”ve gone to has been the best of the best competition, and our kids are continuing to step up,” Barnett said. “Come time for district and region, we”re not going to be surprised when we jump in there with some of those better teams. Some of those better teams are going to be surprised we can step up to that level of competition.”
Columbus” boys, despite fielding just one senior in Sammy Doughty, had a positive finish in coach Jim Hamilton”s rebuilding effort. Doughty, who took second in last year”s state meet, took seventh in the high jump at six feet.
Junior Byerson Cockrell had Columbus” best finish, taking second in the 100 (10.94). He was just three-tenths off first place.
Columbus” 4×100 relay team took sixth at 43.58, while the Falcons” 4×200 team ran 1L31.53 for seventh.
Cockrell has played baseball the past two spring semesters and is expected to shave more time off his 100 and 200 marks.
Doughty”s form is expected to improve, as he still is working back from a sprained ankle he suffered during basketball season, Hamilton said.
“Other than Starkville and Tupelo, we just don”t get that kind of competition,” Hamilton said. “I wanted to come here because I knew that competition would be here. Our kids got their eyes opened a little bit. They saw what it”s all about and the level at which they”ve got to compete. When they think I”m being picky on handoffs for things not being exactly right, now they see why.
“All things considered, we performed well today and will build on this experience. We”re trying to get the program back to where it was in early 2000s when coach (Bernard) Jones had it.”
Other top finishers from around the area include New Hope”s Michael Wilson, who finished 10th in the triple jump at 42 feet, 4 inches, Starkville”s Martavious Foster with a 137-2 toss in the discus, Starkville”s LeJames Houston, who competed in his first meet this season, jumped 43-4 for fifth in the triple jump, West Lowndes” Korey Wilson, who finished third in the shot put at 14.44 meters, and West Point”s Lieric Walker with a 11.1 (sixth) in the 100.
GIRLS
Starkville distance runner Walker Mattox ran well above what many would expect of an eighth-grader at a top-flight meet.
The cross-country standout broke her personal record in the 3,200 by 30 seconds with a 12:18.21 clip, which earned her fourth. Mattox also took seventh in the 1,600 (5:52.03).
Starkville sophomore Mary Elizabeth Stringer took 10th in the 800 at 2:35.88
The Lady Yellow Jackets” best finish came in the 4×200 relay, where they took third (1:48.86).
Both times rank in the top five in the state.
“Going through the distance program we”ve put them in, our distance runners are in as good a shape as any team in the state,” Barnett said. “Walker is going to be a force for us.”
Columbus” girls enjoyed a stellar day, led by sophomore Kiandria Patterson”s fifth-place finish in the 200 (26.49) and Asia Sharkey”s eighth-place finish in the 300 hurdles (49.76).
The Lady Falcons” relays scored, too, with the 4×100 taking sixth (51.23) and the 4×400 finishing sixth (4:22.02).
Seventh-grader Sky Samuel ran 12.92 for 11th in the 100.
New Hope”s girls came close to scoring in several events as freshman Mercedes Mattix earned ninth in the 100 (12.83) and 11th in the 200 (27.32).
Lady Trojans sophomore Gabby Murray jumped 15-11 for eighth in the long jump. The 4×100 relay team took ninth (51.85).
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.