The Poplarville Lady Hornets stung the competition early in the field events during the Class 4A South State track and field championships held at Long Beach High School on Saturday and held on to win the school’s first-ever south state title in the sport.  The Lady Hornets scored 96 points to win the title and held off Pass Christian which scored 84 points.  Raymond took third with 49 points out of 16 teams scoring.

Poplarville head track and field coach Eddie Walker commented, “This was a great surprise.  It is the first time that one of our track teams have claimed a south state title.  While the girls won the title, the boys also performed tremendously placing second overall.  Each one of our athletes did a very special job for the team in their respective events.  While we are disappointed that some of our athletes did not make it to the state meet, I am still ecstatic over the efforts of each team member.”

The top four finishers in each event advance to the state track and field championships this Saturday,  Shanesia Huderson qualified in both hurdles races.  She placed second in the 100m low hurdles with a time of 17.33 and was second in the 300m hurdles with a time of 49.97.  Bretta Hart won the high jump with a height of 5’2″ and placed second in the triple jump with a leap of 33′ 9″.  She also placed third in the long jump with a distance of 16′ 9 1/4″.

Janescia Peters won the triple jump with a leap of 34′ 5 1/2″ while Tkeyah Hart won the pole vault with a vault of 8’6″.  Kendra Hall won the shotput with a distance of 33′ 10″ while Naomi White placed fourth with a throw of 30′ 5″.  Meranda Brown placed third in the discus with a throw of 83′ 9 1/2″ followed by teammate Jade Cousin in fourth place with a throw of 82′ 2″.

Walker continued, “We do not lose any of the girls to graduation this year so the entire will be returning.  We lose three boys to graduation in Phillip Travis, Freddie Dickey and Armand Falgoust.  I am very excited about our chances to perform well at the state meet.  We qualified a big number in the field events.  Coach Adam Smith has been a tremendous help to us this year and has helped the athletes determine some strategies in their events.  They have bought into what he is teaching this year and he has been a great help.”

Port Gibson claimed the Class 4A boys title with 103 points followed by Poplarville with 89 points and Mendenhall was third with 69 points.  St. Stanislaus was the next closest area team with 57 points and was fifth overall out of 16 teams scoring.

Jordan Travis was a double-winner in 1600m run and the 3200m run.  His winning times were 4:46.96 and 10:04.86.  Teammate and older brother Phillip Travis was a double-qualifier in the 800m run and 400m dash.  He won the 800m run with a time of 2:08.77 which was just .50 seconds faster than the runner-up Bennett Holland of St. Stanislaus.  Phillip Travis took fourth in the 400m dash with a time of 52.37.

Jarell Aaron was a triple-qualifier in the field events.  Aaron won the high jump with a height of 6′ 2″ and placed third in the triple jump with a leap of 44′ 10 1/2″.  Aaron also placed fourth in the long jump with a leap of 22′ 3 1/2″.

Freddie Dickey was a double-winner in the shotput and discus.  His winning throws were 46′ 3 3/4″ and 132′ 11 1/2″, respectively.

Neeko Lockhart placed second in the pole vault with a vault of 11′.  The 4x400m relay team of Armand Falgoust, Jordan Travis, Phillip Travis and Blake Worley placed fourth with a time of 3:37.56.

The Class 4A state track and field championships will be held at Pearl High School on Saturday with field events slated to begin at 10:30am followed by running events.