East Marion High School and Columbia High School combined for six gold medals at the state championships Friday at Pearl High School, with East Marion claiming four and Columbia two.
East Marion’s Tytianna Porter took the gold medal in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 16.06 and the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.80. She also took home bronze in the 200 meter dash, running it in 27.43 seconds. First-year track coach Shalamar Walker said Porter did awesome.
“She’s been doing it all year,” he said. “She’s been first since we started in everything she’s ran and competed in all the way up until South State. That’s when she came in second in the 200, and she got third at state in it.”
Lawrence Lambert won gold in the triple jump with a distance of 40 feet, 11 inches and placed seventh in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.57.
“This was (Lambert’s) first year every doing (the triple jump),” Walker said. “I started off with 22 (members) and threw each one in four events. This was his first time doing it, and he won gold.”
For the Wildcats, Jared Stubbs earned a gold medal in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.98.
“He’s been going all year, and it showed,” CHS track coach Brandon Thompson said.
East Marion’s Kaitlyn Echols placed fourth in the dash, with a time of 12.92. Danta Newton placed third in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 18.05.
The East Marion girls (Porter, Echols, RaQquiya Haynes and Natiessira Price) claimed gold in the 4x100 meter relay, running in 51.48 seconds. They also finished fourth in the 4x200 meter relay with a time of 1:53.18, and the boys earned the bronze with a time of 1:35.06. In the 4x400 meter relay, the boys missed out on medaling by less than half a second with a time of 3:48.48.
Overall the girls placed third in Class 1A behind Tupelo Christian and Myrtle. The boys, meanwhile, placed sixth.
“We have a great nucleus of kids, and they’re young. I have a lot of eighth and ninth graders that are on the come up, and I had a lot of kids that didn’t qualify for state,” Walker said. “I also had a lot that couldn’t run due to other issues. I think the program is going to be back up with more kids next year.”
Columbia’s girls (Patrice Oatis, Samiya Dillon, Kadajah Cook and Katie Gates) won the 4x100 meter relay, finishing in 50.20 seconds, and the boys earned silver in the event with a time of 43.46. The girls also placed third in the 4x200 meter relay with a time of 1:48.78, and the boys also took bronze in the event with a time of 1:32.79. In the 4x400 meter relay, the girls placed fourth with a time of 4:28.99, and the boys earned bronze, running it in 3:35.13.
Takyla Johnson tied for second in the girls high jump, and TJ Monroe placed third on the boys side. Monroe and Myjouis Lewis both placed fifth in the triple jump.
Overall, the Lady Wildcats placed ninth in Class 3A, and the Wildcats finished in seventh.
“We showed major improvement,” Thompson said. “We started off not really sure how the season was going to go, but all the kids really stepped up, worked hard and earned their right to get there. Once they got there, they showed up.”
Pictured Above: From left, Sadarion Magee, Ka'Ron Magee, Kevon Cloyd and De'Torres Lewis teamed up to earn the Wildcats the silver medal in the 4x100 meter relay. | Photo Submitted
