Missy Gators take team title; WC and VHS combine for 17 victories at Region 2-6A track meet

Published 10:42 pm Thursday, April 18, 2024

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Vicksburg High's Tyler Henderson reacts after a photo finish in the boys' 100 meters at the MHSAA Region 2-6A track and field meet on Thursday. Henderson finished third, but was only .01 seconds behind his teammate and race winner Koury Vample. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Tr'mhyiah Truly soars through the air while competing in the girls' triple jump at the MHSAA Region 2-6A track and field meet Thursday at Vicksburg High School. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High's Tyler Henderson looks over his shoulder at the competition in the boys' 100 meters at the MHSAA Region 2-6A track and field meet on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High's Koury Vample runs in the 110 meter hurdles at the MHSAA Region 2-6A track and field meet on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Cora Lindsay (8) and Callaway's Tiya Ahmed during the girls' 3,200 meter run at the MHSAA Region 2-6A track and field meet on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High's Amiya Hall takes the baton from Jakayla Brooks during the girls' 4x200 meter relay at the MHSAA Region 2-6A track and field meet on Thursday. The Missy Gators won for one of their seven event victories. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High's Rodrianna Hall competes in the girls' high jump at the MHSAA Region 2-6A track and field meet on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Ka'ryn Henderson competes in the girls' high jump at the MHSAA Region 2-6A track and field meet on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High's McKenzie Edmond competes in the girls' high jump at the MHSAA Region 2-6A track and field meet on Thursday. Edmond won the event with a height of 4 feet, 10 inches. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Adria Burrell, right, holds down the starting block while her teammate Zamiya Malone waits for the start of the girls' 4x100 meter relay at the MHSAA Region 2-6A track and field meet on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Landon Green breaks out of the starting blocks in the boys' 4x100 meter relay at the MHSAA Region 2-6A track and field meet on Thursday. The Vikings finished second in the event. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High's Shaniyah Walker runs to victory in the girls' 400 meters at the MHSAA Region 2-6A track and field meet on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Adria Burrell runs in the girls' 400 meters at the MHSAA Region 2-6A track and field meet on Thursday. Burrell finished second in the event. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High's Koury Vample jumps over the first hurdle in the boys' 300 meter hurdles at the MHSAA Region 2-6A track and field meet on Thursday. Vample won the event with a time of 39.35 seconds. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Stanley Doyle runs in the boys' 400 meters at the MHSAA Region 2-6A track and field meet on Thursday. Burrell finished second in the event. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

More than 30 track and field athletes from Vicksburg High and Warren Central advanced to the second round of the postseason and 17 won championships Thursday at the MHSAA Region 2-6A meet, even as a couple of state title contenders fell by the wayside.

Vicksburg’s girls team accounted for seven individual event championships, with the last clinching the team title for them as well.

Vicksburg’s 4×400 meter relay team of McKenzie Edmond, Midori Allen, To’nia Taylor and Jakeyla Curry clocked a winning time of 4 minutes, 18.53 seconds. The 10 points they earned in the final event of the meet gave the Missy Gators a 149-144 victory over Warren Central in the team standings.

Rodrianna Hall was a double winner for Vicksburg, with a mark of 17 feet, 3 inches in the long jump and 34-10 1/2 in the triple jump. She finished third in the high jump to move on to next week’s Class 6A North State meet in that event as well.

The top four finishers in each event advanced to North State, which is April 27 at Center Hill High School.

Other winners for the Missy Gators were Shaniyah Walker in the 400 meters, with a time of 58.82 seconds; Jamiya Stewart in the discus, with a throw of 88 feet, 10 inches; Edmond in the high jump at 4-10; and the 4×200 meter relay team of Jakayla Brooks, Amiya Hall, Edmond and Taylor.

Brooks had two second-place finishes and was denied a victory in both by Warren Central’s Adria Burrell.
Burrell, a junior, clocked a time of 12.33 seconds in the 100 meters and 25.64 seconds in the 200 meters. She beat Brooks by .01 seconds in the 100 and .06 seconds in the 200.

The Lady Vikes added victories by Arionna Jenkins in the shot put (34-11); Kylie Hearn in the 800 meters (2:42.03); and the 4×800 meter relay team of Hearn, Cora Lindsay, Chozen Butler and Kenya Qualls in 11:06.61.

Jenkins joined Mariah Burnett and Marissa Stewart, who placed second and third, respectively, in giving the Lady Vikes a sweep in the shot put.

In all, Warren Central had 10 athletes and three relay teams advance to North State.

The boys’ meet was as notable for who did not advance to North State as who did.

Warren Central’s Jonathan Henderson, the reigning Class 6A high jump champion, failed to record a height and saw his chances for a repeat — and potentially a state record — come to an early end.

Henderson cleared 6-10 earlier this season. On Thursday he waited until the bar was at 6-2 before attempting a jump and missed on all three tries. Columbus’ Jace O’Neal and Ridgeland’s Phil Nelson both cleared 6 feet even, and O’Neal won the tiebreaker to claim the region title.

Vicksburg’s Koury Vample, meanwhile, fell short — literally — in his quest to win state titles in both hurdles events.

The senior was leading the 110 meter race when he clipped a hurdle and fell halfway through. He got up and finished the race in 10th place, with an official time of 27.20 seconds.

Vample also picked himself up in a metaphorical sense moments later to begin a comeback for the day. He clocked a time of 10.83 seconds in the 100 meters to win against a blazing fast field. The top four runners all had times under 11 seconds, which eliminated fifth-place finisher Dwight Palmer of Warren Central who crossed the line in 11 seconds flat.

Columbus’ Jerquavious Lowery and Vicksburg’s Tyler Henderson both had official times of 10.84 seconds, although Lowery was credited with second place and Henderson third. Ridgeland’s Jamari Page was just a step behind in 10.95 seconds.

Vample and Tyler Henderson also added another championship each to their collections. Vample easily won the 300 meter hurdles in 39.35 seconds, while Henderson won the triple jump in 45-5 1/2.

Vample advanced to the North State meet in the 200 meters as well, with a third-place finish and a time of 22.28 seconds.

Vample finished second in the 110 meter hurdles at the 2023 state meet, and third in the 300. He has not lost in the 300 this season. Henderson won the Class 5A triple jump title in 2023.

In other events, Vicksburg had a 1-2 finish in the discus. Shaun Archer won with a throw of 118 feet, 3 inches, and Jayden Woods was second at 117-5.

Korzabian Hill also advanced in the shot put with a third-place effort.

For Warren Central, Palmer erased some of his disappointment from the 100 meters by winning the 200 with a fast time of 21.79 seconds. He was also on the 4×100 meter relay team that finished second, along with Cameron Eaddy, Zach Evans and Garrett Orgas.

Evans, Orgas and Palmer teamed with Landon Green to finish third in the 4×200 meter relay as well.
Also advancing for the Vikings were Gavin Davenport in the discus, Rickey Neal in the triple jump, Stanley Doyle in the 400 meters and Chester Savage in the 300 meter hurdles.

The 4×800 relay team of Savage, Ashton Wright, Michael Godshaw and Rohan Caples advanced to North State with a fourth-place finish.

Vicksburg totaled 77.33 points to finish fourth in the team standings, while Warren Central was fifth with 62.33 points. Ridgeland won the team title with 139 points, Columbus was second with 112, and Callaway third with 87.33.

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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