Fred Payne is pretty clear about his feelings on last year’s state track meet.

“They cheated me out of the 100,” said Payne, a senior sprinter for Warren Central. “I had fourth (at South State) and then got to state and they said I didn’t qualify for it so I couldn’t run it at state.”

Payne was the victim of a controversy at the 2004 South State meet. He finished in a dead heat in the 100 meters with Gulfport’s Shabazz McClellan and was ruled to finish fourth – the last qualifying spot for the state meet.

After a week of tape reviews and discussion, however, it was decided on the morning of the state meet that McClellan, and not Payne, had finished fourth. The decision started a long afternoon for WC. They didn’t finish higher than third in any event and totaled just 22 points.

“That was disappointing to him, and to all of us, really. It kind of took the tempo for the whole team when we found he wasn’t in it,” said WC coach Larry Tyrone.

It’s doubtful whether Payne would have won the 100 meter dash in 2004. Vicksburg High’s Maurice Taylor blew away the field with a Class 5A record time of 10.56 seconds.

But this is 2005, and Payne is now the favorite heading into Saturday’s state meet at Pearl High School. He’s lost only once this season, has been consistently clocked around 10.8 seconds, and has the fastest seed time of the eight finalists.

He’s setting his sights on Taylor’s record, but will be happy just to win a gold medal.

“As long as I win,” said Payne, who will also compete in the triple jump and 4×100 meter relay.

Payne isn’t the only Warren County athlete with a shot at a state title on Saturday.

Vicksburg’s Jerel Hill is the only man to beat Payne in the 100 meters this spring, and will face the WC speedster again. Hill’s best chance may be in the 200 meters, however. The Gator senior has been stronger in that event this season and is part of a field that’s within nine-tenths of a second of each other.

“I plan to win first,” Hill said. “It’s got to be perfect the whole way through. At the state meet, you can’t have any messups.”

That could be said of all the Gators.

Vicksburg enters the state meet on a roll, having won the division and regional meets. The Gators finished second at Monday’s South State meet despite not having a single winner, and are lurking as a darkhorse candidate for a team title if everything breaks right.

VHS has no field athletes, which will hurt its chances, but is strong in all eight events it will compete in.

“When you don’t have any field guys, it hurts a lot,” Vicksburg coach Toriano Wells said. “But our guys understand that and know what we have to do on the track once we start running.”

The key to the Gators’ chances will be senior distance runner James Wood. He’ll compete in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meter runs and has been one of the team’s best performers all season long.

In each event this week he’ll be seeded toward the middle of the pack, but can still contribute with strong efforts in each run.

“That’s what we’re hoping on. If James can do well in his three individual events, we’ll have a chance,” Wells said. “James Wood will be the key, pretty much like he has been all season.”

While the Gators hope to still be in the running for a team title by the end of the meet, Saturday will be all about individual efforts for Warren Central and St. Aloysius.

Neither team has enough athletes entered in the meet to challenge for a team title, so their focus will be on gold medals.

In addition to Payne, WC has the top seed time in the 4×100 meter relay and is one of four teams in the 4×200 relay within three-tenths of a second of each other.

“I think the ones that we have in there are pretty good,” Tyrone said.

St. Al’s championship hopes are pinned on one person – literally.

Senior Shaun Stanton, who will compete in the discus and shot put at the Class 1A meet Saturday at Pearl, is the only St. Al boy who qualified. He is seeded fourth in the shot put and fifth in the discus, but has surpassed the top seed’s marks in practice, St. Al coach Mike Jones said.

“He’s thrown it farther in practice than what qualified last week, so he’s got a shot. There’s nobody who’s throwing the discus 180 feet,” Jones said, adding that Stanton is only in his first season of track. “This is a guy who never picked up a shot or a discus until a couple of months ago. If he had been at it a couple of years, he could’ve done real well.”