A handful of individual athletes from Warren County started to emerge as state championship contenders in the latest round of the high school track and field postseason.

Warren Central’s Josh Griffin, Porter’s Chapel Academy’s Ra’Darius Turner, and St. Aloysius’ Brennon Williams, Caty Mathews and Natalie Burke all won individual events Thursday at regional and district meets around the state.

Griffin was a double winner at the MHSAA Region 2-6A meet, in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles. He won the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.28 seconds, and the 300 in 43.06 seconds, to advance to the Class 6A North State meet — the third of four postseason events — April 24 at Clinton High School.

Griffin and Ashton Murphy, who finished fourth in the boys’ 100 meter dash, were the only Warren Central athletes — boys or girls — to advance to the North State meet in individual events. The girls’ 4×400 meter relay team and the boys’ 4×200 team moved on, but everyone else finished fifth or below in their respective events and missed the cut.

Turner, a senior sprinter at Porter’s Chapel Academy, won the 400 meters at the MAIS District 4-2A meet at Canton Academy. Turner clocked a time of 56.62 seconds. He also advanced to the Class 2A North State meet by finishing second in the 100 and 200 meters.

Brayson Morson qualified for North State in the 100 and 200 meters by finishing third and fourth, respectively, in those events on Thursday. Bridger Jung placed third in the 3,200 meters, while all four of PCA’s boys’ relay teams — the 4×100, 4×200, 4×400 and 4×800 — moved on.

For PCA’s girls, only Marley Bufkin in the 100 meters and the 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams advanced.

The MAIS Class 2A North State meet is at Lee Academy in Clarksdale on April 24.

In MAIS Class 3A, St. Al’s Williams remained one of the fastest athletes in Mississippi by winning 200 and 400 meter dashes and the 300 meter hurdles at the District 3-4A meet. He clocked times of 23.17 seconds in the 200, 51.35 in the 400, and 39.22 in the hurdles.

Spencer Carroll, who was third in the 3,200 meters, was the only other member of St. Al’s boys’ team to qualify for the Class 3A North State meet at Lee Academy on April 24.
St. Al’s girls’ team, meanwhile, had a bit of a better day.

Mathews won the high jump and 300 meter hurdles, while Burke won the triple jump with a leap of 32 feet.

Burke was also third in the long jump and 200 meter dash, and advanced to the North State meet in both events, and Mathews advanced in the 100 meter hurdles with a fourth-place finish.

Other North State qualifiers for the Lady Flashes were Madelyn Roesch in the pole vault; Lillian Perniciaro in the 300 hurdles; Ally Dorion in the 400 meters; Samantha Edwards in the 800 meters; and the 4×100, 4×200, 4×400 and 4×800 meter relay teams.
Vicksburg High competed in the MHSAA Region 2-5A meet late Friday.