The St. Aloysius girls track and field team put the gold in “purple and gold” on Thursday.

The Lady Flashes won eight events, including all three distance races and three relays, to claim their second consecutive team championship at the MAIS District 4-5A meet at Centreville Academy.

St. Al totaled 90 points. Cathedral was second, with 68, Copiah Academy was third with 50 points and Adams County Christian School fourth with 46.

St. Al had 19 entries finish in the top four — 12 of those were first- or second-place finishes — and advance to the Class 5A South State meet next week at Silliman Institute in Clinton, La. The field events and 3,200 meter run will be Wednesday, April 23, and the other running events are on Saturday, April 26.

“I’m real excited. The girls are back-to-back champions, so I’m real excited about those young ladies. And the good thing about it is we only have two seniors so we have most of them coming back again,” St. Al coach Michael Fields said.

Distance runner Samantha Edwards continued her spectacular season by remaining undefeated in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meter runs. She won the 800 in 2 minutes, 31.65 seconds; the 1,600 in 5:51.90; and the 3,200 in 12:12.61.

Edwards is a combined 17-0 in those three events this season. On Thursday the senior won by 14 seconds in the 800 meters, 10 seconds in the 1,600, and a full minute in the 3,200.

“She likes her craft. She likes running, and I give her all the credit in the world for being the best she can be,” Fields said. “She trains like a winner. One thing about track is you get out of it what you put into it and she’s put a lot into it over the years. I’m proud of her.”

Edwards was one of three Lady Flashes who won individual events. Megan Theriot won the 400 meters with a time of 1:05.64, and also was second in the 200 meters and third in the 100.

Madelyn Kavanaugh finished first in the long jump, with a leap of 15 feet, 2.5 inches.

Kavanaugh and Theriot also joined Kelci Bingham and Annslee Averett on the winning 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400 meter relays. They won the 4×100 in 54.85 seconds, the 4×200 in 1:55.33, and the 4×400 in 4:33.88.

Averett added second-place finishes in the 100 and 300 meter hurdles, and Bingham advanced to South State with a fourth-place finish in the 300 meter hurdles.

The Lady Flashes’ other South State qualifiers were Marley Gibellino (1,600 and 3,200 meters), Lauren Flowers (triple jump), and Julia Moberley (discus and shot put).

St. Al finished fourth in the boys’ meet with 46 points — Copiah Academy edged Cathedral 71-68 to win — but notched two victories and had five athletes and four relay teams advance to South State.

Dru Gleese qualified for South State in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles, as well as the triple jump. The freshman won the 110 meter hurdles, was third in the 300, and fourth in the triple jump.

The 4×100 meter relay team of Sam Ashley, Carson Gleese, Beau Brogdon and Ace Oglesby won with a time of 47.75 seconds. All four sprinters also qualified for South State in individual events.

Brogdon finished second and Oglesby third in the 100 meters, and Oglesby was fourth in the 200 as well. Carson Gleese came in third in the 400 meters, while Ashley placed third in the triple jump.