FLOWOOD — Connor Bottin closed out his high school track career with a fistful of gold medals, one state record, and a big smile on his face.

The St. Aloysius senior won four gold medals, in three individual events and one relay, and set the Class AAA record in the 110 meter hurdles at the MAIS state track and field meet Saturday at Jackson Prep.

Bottin’s time of 14.91 seconds in the 110 meter hurdles shattered the 46-year-old mark of 15.20 seconds set by Tunica Institute’s Jimmy Pegram in 1972. It was the longest-standing boys track and field record in the MAIS.

“I’m just excited that I got to do it and leave my mark in the record books. It just leaves me speechless,” Bottin said. “Hearing the announcement, hearing everybody cheer, it’s everything I’ve worked for this year and last year. In rehab, every day I was thinking about it. It’s good to finally get it and leave my mark.”

Bottin won gold in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles, the 200 meter dash, and as part of the 4×100 meter relay. He was also part of the 4×400 meter relay team that finished second. His performance helped St. Al to a second-place finish in the team standings, a year after they won the Class AAA championship.

St. Al totaled 73 points. Silliman Institute easily took the team title with 161.5 points, and Lee Academy from Clarksdale was third with 71.

St. Al coach Michael Fields said the second-place finish was the Flashes’ goal after injuries and other mishaps, including a botched relay exchange at the district meet, sapped their depth during the postseason.

“After we had all those mishaps and things happen early, we knew we didn’t have the depth to compete with Silliman. Silliman had the quality and depth. I was real happy with the way our guys kept fighting these past few weeks,” Fields said, adding that the Flashes were put in the odd situation of rooting for Silliman in some events. “We needed Silliman to have a good day and keep those other teams off the medal stand, and they did that.”

Bottin won the Class AAA title in both hurdles events as a sophomore in 2016, but missed last season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. He returned this year with a vengeance and as the man to beat — and no one could.

Bottin won the 300 meter hurdles first, with a time of 40.66 seconds that was nearly a second and a half faster than runner-up Myles Simmons of Silliman. A couple of hours later, Bottin quickly overcame a slow start to win the 110 meter hurdles by a little more than a second — about 10 meters on the track — over Adams Christian’s Chris Thompson. Thompson crossed the finish line in 15.95 seconds.

“The beginning of (the 110) somebody jumped and that kind of threw me off. As soon as they shot the gun I was in last place. I could see everybody in front of me. So I had to make up that time. I had to run as hard as I could to get back to first,” Bottin said.

In between his hurdles victory, Bottin anchored the 4×100 relay to victory in 43.98 seconds. Afterward, he won the 200 meter dash in 22.20 seconds, and closed things out by joining Ketrez Brown, Brennon Williams and Tyrese Burroughs on the 4×400 meter relay team that earned a silver medal with a time of 3:32.

Bottin, Williams, Brown and Preston McGowan comprised the 4×100 team.

Bottin joined DeMichael Harris in 2016 and Donald Woodson in 2017 as St. Al athletes to win four or more gold medals at the Class AAA state meet.

“I’m just following in the footsteps of the people before me. I’ve got to keep it up,” Bottin said.

Although Bottin was a frequent visitor to the medal stand, he and his relay teammates were the only St. Al athletes to get there. No other members of the boys or girls teams finished in the top three of their respective events.

The 4×800 relay team of Brayden Roesch, Evan Fedell and Alex Bufkin came in fourth, and Fedell was sixth in the 1,600 meters. Williams finished fifth in the 400 meters.

For the Lady Flashes, DeDe Apenyo finished fourth in the 100 meters, fourth in the 200, and fourth in the 400.

The relay team of Natalie Burke, Raven McDonald, Frances Thames and Cati Matthews came in fourth place in the 4×200 meter event, and fifth in the 4×400.

Doiron finished fourth in the 1,600 meter run, but did provide a thrilling finish. She hit the home stretch about 15 meters behind Kirk Academy’s Caroline Perry, then broke into a sprint and outran her over the last 100 meters to steal fourth place.

Doiron crossed the line in a personal-best 5 minutes, 44.08 seconds. Kirk’s Morgan Claire Rose won the event — and beat her own Class AAA record by three seconds — with a time of 5:04.64.

“I just started pushing it, because it’s my last race of the year. And then I got it. I don’t think she (saw me), because whenever I passed her she went, ‘Ooh,’” Doiron said, making a gasping sound.