Kashaeyla Brooks felt queasy Saturday after placing second in Class 6A in the 300-meter hurdles at the Mississippi High School Activities Association State track meet.
Nerves? Maybe. Perhaps it was something she ate?
“I ate a lot of junk food,” said Brooks, a freshman at Columbus High School.
Call it one of the many lessons learned by area runners and field performers on the state”s grandest high school track stage.
The meet wasn”t the first challenge of the 2011 season, it was the last.
After any other meet, “If you don”t run well, you can always say, ”I”ll get them next week,” ” said Starkville High coach Chris Barnett, whose girls and boys squads had three medal finishes.
“Here, either you”re going to do your best,” Barnett said, “or somebody else will.”
Not that every area performer in Pearl was new to this stage.
East Oktibbeha tied for third Friday in the Class 1A boys competition by dominating the relays, including defending last season”s 1,600-meter relay title (3 minutes, 35 seconds) and improving on last season”s second-place finish in the 800-meter relay (1:33).
Terrance Rice, a junior, competed in four events — the three relays and the boys 400, where he finished second (52 seconds).
“Those guys understand we don”t have a lot of team depth,” East Oktibbeha coach Randy Brooks said of his athletes, many of whom qualified for state in multiple events. “When they come to practice every day, they prepare for it, and ask to run in four events.”
Arthur Gillespie also finished second in 300 hurdles, and John Outlaw eighth in the 3,200 and third in the 800 (225). In field events, Marlon Fair was fourth in the triple jump (personal-best 38-11).
East Oktibbeha scored 51 points to finish third, while West Oktibbeha was 20th with 10 points.
Shun Fair was fifth in the 200 (23.58), and the 4×200 relay team was third (1:35.27).
Not that it takes experience to excel.
Starkville High eighth-grader Walker Maddox placed third in the Class 6A girls 3,200, finishing with a time of 11:56 seconds. She also finished seventh in the 1,600 (5:38.91). Starkville High”s boys were led by Kamau Bostic, whose 1,600 was one of the closest non-sprint race finishes of the two-day meet. Bostic finished second (4:28.89) to Mississippi State track signee Chad Moore, of Oak Groove, (4:28.84) by five hundredths of a second.
Aberdeen High School”s Mattie Scarbrough (5 feet) and Jaylen Payne (6 feet, 2 inches) placed third, respectively, in the Class 3A girls and boys high jump. Also placing in 3A competition was Brandon Smith, who finished fifth in the long jump (21-4). Also, the boys 400-meter relay team of Jordan Gathins, Caslon Cunningham, Smith, and Channing Ward finished fifth. Antonio McFarland was eighth in the discus (117-2).
Aberdeen was 18th in the team scoring with 14 points.
By the time Bostic returned to the track for the 800, he was depleted, causing him to finish seventh (2:16.78). Teammate Charles Hughes finished third in the boys 110 hurdles (14.86), and Julien Lewis took fourth in the 100 (10.84 ).
Brooks” 300 hurdles time of 46.86 seconds was a glimpse into the future of one of the area”s youngest and brightest track programs. While seventh-grader Sky Samuals didn”t medal, finishing fifth in the girls 100 (12.54) She also ran on all three of the relays.
Meanwhile, the Falcons finished second in the girls 1,600 relay (4:06.43), improving on their best time of the season — set last week at North State — by five seconds.
“I just tried to do my best,” said Brooks, who ran track this season to stay in shape for basketball.
“I was ahead of her until the third hurdle when she picked up all her speed. I tried to catch her.”
For Brooks, there”s always next season.
In Class 5A boys, West Point High”s Justin Cox was sixth in the 100 (10.99) and third in the triple jump (46-3 1/2). West Point was 16th in the team scoring with nine points.
In Class 5A girls, New Hope”s Mercedes Mattix was sixth in the 100 (12.57) and 200 (26.48). She also was a member of the 4×100 relay team with Lashya Davis, Shanice Nottage, and Chelsea Pslams that finished seventh (50.62).
Kennedi Sanders was eighth in the high jump (4-10) to help the Lady Trojans finish 19th with nine points.
In Class 3A, Scarbrough”s finish in the high jump helped Aberdeen finish 23rd with six points.
In Class 1A, East Oktibbeha was 14th with 23 points. Chaurieal Jenkins was eighth in the 3,200 (19:51.84), Marjada Tucker was seventh in the 300 hurdles (1:01.11), the 4×100 relay team was second (53.50), the 4×200 relay team was third (1:56.44), the 4×400 relay team was fourth (4:46.09), and Shaniqua James was eighth in the long jump (13-11).
In other competition Saturday, Jessica Comer was second in the 1,600 (5:40.23) and in the 3,200 (12:24) in the Class 4A meet. She also took fourth in the 800 (2:32.99).
“She ran better than she has all year,” Caledonia coach James Reed said.
Simone Dickerson was seventh in the high jump.
For the Caledonia boys, Zach Senneff was third in the 3,200 with his best time of the year (10:28). Tyler Lowe also was fourth in the high jump (6-2). The 4×200 relay team was fifth with its best time of the season, which put it right behind fourth-place Noxubee County.
“Overall we did what we could,” Reed said. “We did a good job. There are some seniors that I am going to hate to lose because some of them are just now understanding what I want from them.”
For Noxubee County, Vernan Scott won the boys 300 hurdles (40.69) two spots ahead of teammate Brandon Sanders (41.12). Scott also finished second in the 110 hurdles (15.24).
Other finishers for the boys squad included: Brelyon Spencer, who was fourth in the 400 (51.40), Jarius King, who placed third in the 800 (2:04.80), and Terrance Barron, who was eighth in the 200 (23.99).
In the relays, the school”s boys 800-meter relay finished fourth (1:32.43) while the 400-meter relay placed fifth (44.77).
Tredeshia Conner represented Noxubee County”s girls with an eighth-place finish in the 200 (28.70).
In Class 2A, West Lowndes” boys finished fifth in the 800 relay (1:33.79) and third in the 400 relay (45.06). Kovi Rice placed fourth in the 110 hurdles (16.76).
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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