St. Al, Tallulah Academy shine at MAIS South State meets
Published 8:01 pm Sunday, April 25, 2021
The St. Aloysius Lady Flashes only won one event at the MAIS Class 4A South State track meet, but a bunch of them survived to fight another day.
Caty Matthews won the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 47.79 seconds, and St. Al qualified for the Class 4A girls’ state meet in nine individual events and three relays at Saturday’s South State meet.
The top four finishers in each event qualified for the state meet. Field events for Class 4A will be contested Friday, April 30 at Jackson Academy, and running events on Saturday, May 1, at Jackson Prep.
Matthews advanced in the 100 meter hurdles and high jump, with finishes of fourth and second place respectively, as well as the 300 hurdles.
Natalie Burke also qualified in three individual events, by finishing second in the long jump and triple jump and third in the 200 meters.
Ally Doiron finished fourth in the 400 meters to advance to the state meet, while Samantha Edwards (800 meters) and Madelyn Roesch (pole vault) also advanced.
The Lady Flashes’ 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400 meter relay teams all finished in the top four as well, and moved on.
In the boys’ meet, Brennon Williams was disqualified in the 300 meter hurdles but won the 200 and 400 meter dashes to advance to the state meet in both events.
Williams won the 200 meters with a time of 22.68 seconds and the 400 with a time of 51.15 seconds.
In other MAIS South State meets, Porter’s Chapel Academy’s Ra’Darius Turner finished second in the boys’ 400 meters to qualify for the Class 2A state meet.
Turner clocked a time of 53.79 seconds, about one second behind Centreville Academy’s Tucker Lobrano.
Turner was also part of PCA’s 4×400 meter relay team that finished fourth in 4 minutes even to advance to the state meet.
PCA had nine entries in the boys’ meet, but Turner was the only athlete to advance to the state meet in an individual event. He also finished fifth in the 100 meters, missing the cut by .07 seconds, and was eighth in the 200 meters.
In Class 1A, Tallulah Academy sent eight girls and 10 boys to the state meet after their performances at South State.
Faith Kivett won the 100 meters with a time of 13.71 seconds, as well as the long jump, and finished second in the 200 meters to lead the charge.
Other girls’ qualifiers for Tallulah were Abigail Kennedy (200 meters, high jump); Caroline Marsh (100 and 300 meter hurdles); Carrie Beth Miller (long jump); Chandler Wood (400 meters); Evelyn Morgan (800 meters); Emma Collins (triple jump); and Julia Moberley (shot put).
Tallulah’s 4×100, 4×200, 4×400 and 4×800 meter relay teams also qualified for state, with the 4×100 and 4×800 winning at South State.
The Lady Trojans finished second in the team standings with 68 points. Wilkinson County Christian was first, with 123.
In the Class 1A boys’ South State meet, Carter Sullivan won the pole vault and qualified in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters to help Tallulah to a third-place team finish.
Jackson Fontenot (400 meters and 300 hurdles) and Kody Vickery (shot put and discus) also advanced in two events each.
Other qualifiers for the Trojans were Jackson Zheng (800 meters); Wyatt Bedgood (110 meter hurdles); Henry Ellerbee (300 hurdles); Paul Michael Machen (long jump); Walker Sullivan (triple jump); and Gentry Tullos (shot put).
Tallulah’s 4×800 meter relay team was also victorious, and the 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400 teams qualified for the state meet.
Tensas Academy won the South State team title with 71 points, just ahead of Wilkinson County Christian’s 70. Tallulah was third with 64.