The Gulfport Admirals swept the team titles in the Picayune Invitational Track and Field meet held on Friday evening.  While the area was threatened with rain, nobody got wet until the last 20 minutes of the meet.  However, the shower was a quick one and the athletes were able to complete the last two events in a meet that saw several Maroon Tide school records fall.

 The Lady Admirals racked up 129 points to claim the trophy followed by Picayune with 116 and Biloxi with 94 points.  The Lady Hornets tallied 35 points to finish seventh in a field of 12 teams while Hancock scored 21 for ninth place and PRC had four points.

 Hannah Nunez of Picayune led the charge for the area runners as she was a double-winner in the 100m low hurdles (15.39) and the high jump (5’7″).  Nunez’s mark in the high jump was a new PR for her while her time in the hurdles was just four-hundredths of a second off her school record time turned in earlier this year.  Friday’s meet was also the first competitive action for Nunez in six weeks as she recuperated from a lower leg injury.

Jasmine Ducre of Picayune won the triple jump (36′) and the 400m dash (57.49) while placing second in the 100m dash (12.30).  Her time in the 400m dash was also a new school record.

Picayune’s 4x100m relay team of Ducre, Kymetria Jackson, Desherra Jackson and Taneequa Myers set a new school record winning the event in 48.99 seconds.

Desherra Jackson placed second in the high jump (5′ 3″) and third in the long jump (16′ 4 1/2″) while Sarah Richard placed third in the 200m (26.72) and Ronita Wynn finished third in the shot put (32′ 2″).

Lady Maroon Tide coach Jerry Todd commented, “Tonight was the first time all year that the girls have been at full strength.  Our girls 4x100m relay team ran one of the fastest time in the state so far this year with a school record time.  Jasmine Ducre set a new mark in the 400m dash while Hannah Nunez set a new PR in the high jump which is also the best height turned in this year in Mississippi.  It was also her first action in six weeks since she has been rehabbing an injury.  The girls have been working hard and we hope that tonight was a springboard for the upcoming division meet here next week.”

Other area top finishers were Shanisha Huderson of Poplarville who placed third in the 100m low hurdles (16.42).  Janescia Peters of Poplarville was third in the triple jump (35′ 1 1/4″) while Tkeyah Hart was third in the pole vault (8’6″).

Hancock’s top finisher was Anna Poteet in the 400m dash.  She placed fourth with a time of 1:04.53.

Pearl River Central’s top finisher was Reese Johnson who had two eighth place finishes in the 300m hurdles (58.49) and the high jump (4’5′”).

On the boys’ side, the Admirals totaled 113 points to narrowly defeat the Long Beach Bearcats who tallied 111 points followed by Picayune with 80 points.  Poplarville placed fourth with 66 points, Hancock seventh with 41 points while Pearl River Central scored 19 points to claim 10th out of the 14-team field.

Javontae Wilson won both the 100m and 200m dashes in 10.78 and 21.82, respectively.  The Maroon Tide’s 4x100m relay team of Ken Breland, Dalvin Acker, Tony Washington and Marcus Rawls won the event in 42.70 seconds which was also a new school record.  Perhaps the highlight of the day was when Rawls set a new school record in the 800m run when he finished in 2:02.20.  What is so remarkable about it though is that the previous school record was set in 1973 by Harvey Burton at 2:03.00.

Other top finishers for the Tide were Malcolm Faccione who placed third in the discus (117′ 10″), Tony Washington second in the 400m (51.11) and the Tide’s 4x200m relay team of Breland, Acker, Desmond Taylor and Doug Cross who placed third (1:31.23).

Maroon Tide boys coach Jon Feaster stated, “The boys had a solid day on the track.  They pulled together and ran very hard tonight.  We had some school record performances which is always a good thing.  The team is looking forward to the division meet next week here at home and we hope that this was a prelude of good things to come.”

Other top area finishers were Hancock’s Derek Westbrook who won both the 3200m (9:53.40) and the 1600m (4:44.90) while Leland Elchos was tops in the discus with a distance of 131′ 2″.

Jerall Aaron of Poplarville led the Hornets with a victory in the triple jump (47′ 2″) and was second in the high jump (6′ 2″).  Neeko Lockhart was second in the pole vault (11′) while Jordan Travis placed second in the 3200m run (10:11.50).  Phillip Travis placed second in the 800m run (2:07.70) while Armand Falgoust was third in the 300m intermediate hurdles (44.44).

The top finisher for Pearl River Central was Bryson Penton who took second place in the 300m intermediate hurdles (43.00).

This was the last invitational meet of the season for the high school track and field teams as division championship meets begin next week.  Picayune will host the Division 6 and 8 Class 5A meets on Friday beginning at 4pm.  The Division 8-4A track and field meet will be held at Pass Christian High School.  The finals for the field events and the preliminaries for certain running events will be held on Tuesday, while the finals for all running events will take place on Thursday.  Competition is slated to begin at 4pm each day.