[11/10/02]When St. Aloysius’ Phillip Hattaway made the claim that he could follow his Division 2-1A championship with a win at the state meet, it was an indication of his confidence and the work he put in during the season.

When Hattaway lowered his head to accept his gold medal after winning the Class 1A state championship Saturday, it all paid off.

“I was overwhelmed coming up that hill, but I gave it all I got at the very end,” Hattaway said. “I was so proud, I just worked for it all year.”

Hattaway had plenty of help in propelling the Flashes to their second straight state championship as three of his teammates earned All-State honors by placing in the top 14.

Scott Fife took second place, Jeremy White placed third and Daniel Edney placed seventh. John David Hosemann rounded out the Flashes’ winning score of 31 points with a 16th-place finish.

“We did great, we did, we ran great. We ran for position and ran well,” Flashes coach Donald Roesch said. “I couldn’t ask for more.”

The Lady Flashes’ Lauren Fordice earned All-State honors with a 14th-place finish in 20:18.74 in the Class 1A girls’ meet, and Laura Weeks placed 23rd with a time of 21:23.62. The Lady Flashes could not compete for a state title because they did not have the minimum five runners it takes to qualify.

Myrtle won the girls’ Class 1A state championship, with six girls running in the top ten, and Resurrection’s boys’ team placed second behind the Flashes.

Warren Central’s boys’ team placed 12th in the Class 5A meet on the strength of All-State runner Brad Gaines’ 18:18.71, good for a ninth-place finish. Vicksburg High finished 15th.

In the Class 5A girls’ meet, Jessica Morris finished 15th with a time of 18:10.94, but the Missy Gators did not have enough runners to qualify for the team title. Jamie Hullum was 43rd for VHS and Haley Nosser was 66th out of 136 runners.

Warren Central finished 11th in the girls’ meet with the help of Kimberly Danczyk’s 27th-place finish, in 19:14.10.

Tupelo’s girls’ and boys’ teams both won Class 5A state championships.