Written by: Hudson James
While the MHSAA had postponed their scheduled meet on Friday, it was full steam ahead for the MSAIS, as the state's private schools descended onto the campuses of Jackson Academy and Canton Academy to compete for state championships in the field events as well as the 3200 meters. Many PRs were established and many records were broken today, so here's a deep dive on the highlights going event by event as well as a look at the overall team race thus far.
High School Girls
Pole Vault
While there were not many pole vaulters that participated today, we did get to see two clearances of ten feet from Silliman teammates Ellie Reaves and Ava Easley. Both athletes were the odds on favorites to win and they delivered, with both setting new personal bests, although Reaves took the title on misses.
Other Notable Champions: Hannah Potter, MRA; Ava Billingsley, Lee-AR, Emma Heath, Heritage Christian; Claire Tate, Central Holmes
High Jump
In a show of remarkable consistency, the winner in this event in every class cleared at least five feet.
However, only Annie Toler of MRA and JJ Brown of Central Holmes were able to clear the elusive height of 5'2". Toler won relatively comfortably while Brown had the likes of Blair Walsh from Amite on her tail the entire event.
Other Notable Champions: Isabella Bailey, Heritage Christian; Claudia Pittman, DeSoto; Alanna Hodo, Pillow
Long Jump
This event was absolutely dominated by MRA's Evie Ewing.
From the first jump, the senior showed that she was on a different level from any other in the entire MSAIS, becoming the only one to jump over 18 feet. Not only was she the only one to break 18 feet, she is one of only two to have broken 17 feet, the other being Silliman's Annabelle Windham, who also won in her class by a wide margin.
Other Notable Champions: Reagan Conlee, West Memphis; Rihanna Love, North Sunflower; Natalie Blanton, Oak Hill
Triple Jump
Even though there were only five athletes that broke the 34 foot barrier, there was one that broke not just 35 feet but 36 feet, as Cameron Humphries from MRA became the third MSAIS athlete ever to break this barrier, jumping 36'1".
Not only did Humphries win, her teammate Annie Toler got second jumping farther than any non-MRA athlete at the meet, just edging out top 5A jumper Annabelle Windham by an inch. Windham had an outstanding performance in her own right, becoming one of a select few to win multiple field event titles in the same meet.
Other Notable Champions: Emma Fults, Mt Salus; Kylie Bolden, WCCA; Alexis Moorman, Kirk
Shot Put
One of the more dominant performances of the day came from Sela Mancini of Bayou.
The thrower became one of three to throw the shot 35 feet, winning her class by more than two feet! While Mancini has been the favorite in the event in her class, the most competitive race that determined the top of the MSAIS was the battle between Gates Welch of Canton Academy and Blair Walsh of Amite. Both throwers battled in the high stakes match, but Welch came away with the victory by four inches with a distance of 35'9".
Other Notable Champions: Claire Crosby, Jackson Prep; Elizabeth Head, North Sunflower; Onya Rushing, Delta
Discus
In some coincidental fashion we had three throwers throw 116 feet.
Gates Welch of Canton Academy strikes again, pulling off the throwers double and once again winning a close event against Blair Walsh of Amite, throwing 116'2". You have to feel for Walsh, as she has finished second in all three events she has been in. We also saw Taylor Caton of Jackson Prep dominate her class, winning by almost 17 feet at 116'3".
Lastly, we had Alee Spigener from Claiborne Academy getting a big PR and getting the top mark of the day at 116'6"
Other Notable Champions: Sara Pace, Silliman; Cailen Wiltcher, Briarfield
3200 Meters
On the girls side, we got to see what Simpson's Layla Warren could do in a solo effort.
While she was the clear favorite to win the title, it was obvious she wanted more. While she went out well, she wasn't quite able to establish a new personal best. She still won her third state title and will be looking to pull off her first distance triple on Saturday. Another female athlete who soloed a win was Charley Rose who ran well start to finish to capture another title. This title is Charley's seventh, and has increased the Rose family state title count to 33. That has to be a record in its own right. She will look to pick up two more tomorrow.
Other Notable Champions: Mary Charles Beckett, Regents of Oxford; Lindsey Hogue, Benton
Team Races
2A-West Memphis looks to pretty much have this one locked up with an 18 point lead, but look for Briarfield, Mt Salus or Regents of Oxford to potentially come close.
3A-Desoto has a commanding lead being up 24 on WCCA. After the Rams in second, no one else seems to be in real contention, although North Sunflower and Benton could contend to be higher on the leaderboard.
4A-This classification is a two horse race. Central Holmes and Canton Academy have been gunning it this entire meet so far. With the margin between the two is only a point and a half, this will be a fun title race to watch.
5A-Another interesting title race to watch will definitely be the larger 5A. Silliman is leading off of the strength of their field events, but the likes of Pillow and Bayou lurk behind them. Will Silliman be able to hold them off?
6A-MRA has once again dominated the field events and look to do the same on the track. Will rivals Jackson Academy and Jackson Prep be able to do anything to stop them from winning another state title?
High School Boys
Pole Vault
While many vaulters were able to clear heights around ten and eleven feet, only two teammates were able to get not twelve, but thirteen feet. Defending varsity champion Trace Hendon and former junior varsity champion Jackson Toler both from MRA brought their A game on Friday, with Hendon winning his second state title with a vault of 13'6" and Toler finishing second with 13'.
Other Notable Winners: Dallas Stricker, Heritage Christian; Brooks Billingsley, Lee-AR; Bryan Ray, Lee-MS; Max Morgan, Washington
High Jump
While MRA's Harrison Alexander is able to jump 6'8" in the high jump, all he needed to gain the state title was 6'4", which he did to win his third state title. One of the more competitive high jump events was in 5A where three jumpers Caleb King from Columbia, James Turner from Madison St Joe, and Chanse Funchess from Simpson all cleared 6'2".
However, no one was able to clear 6'4" and Funchess won on misses.
Other Notable Winners: James Edwards, Regents of Oxford; Nathan Coe, Lee-AR; William Walker, Lee-MS
Long Jump
Of the four athletes to break 21 feet, undoubtedly the most high profile is MRA's Josh Hubbard.
While he is known by most for his abilities on the basketball court, he has proven that he can still jump with the best of them out on the track, jumping 21'9.5" for his third state title. The second athlete had a much more difficult path to victory, as Bayou's John Howard Gilbert had to outlast fierce competition in Quinton Wiley from Starkville and Austin Acton from Lamar. However he battled back to win with a jump of 21'1.75". The other two are Lee-AR's Nathan Coe and Canton's Bert Goodloe, who both blew away the field and won with large margins.
Other Notable Winners: Gary Jackson, Sharkey-Issaquena
Triple Jump
Speaking of Nathan Coe and Bert Goodloe, not only did both win the long jump, they both won the triple jump as well, pulling off a solid double.
John Howard Gilbert almost joined the club, however John Heston Powers of Pillow had other plans, jumping 42'6", which was the top mark in the entire meet. Harrison Alexander also had a similar story, but he barely lost to Jackson Prep's William Laird by two inches.
Other Notable Winners: Javier Thomas, Tensas
Shot Put
It is impossible to talk about high school throwers in Mississippi or even the United States without bringing up St Joe Greenville's Roury McCloyen.
While most people in the MAIS are fortunate to be top ten in the state in any event, McCloyen is ranked 9th in the country in this event as of writing. So it would be the upset of the century if McCloyen didn't win. Well ladies and gentlemen, McCloyen won by nearly twenty feet. He threw for over 62 feet. This does break his own meet record, which is not something very many people if anyone have done in this meet. The only thrower at this meet who is even remotely in McCloyen's universe competition-wise is Alex Lopez from Bayou, who dominated his class in this event with a massive PR, throwing 53 feet, 8 inches. Lopez was actually close to breaking a meet record of his own. Unfortunately he is being overshadowed by the generational talent that is Roury McCloyen
Other Notable Winners: Reed Jesiolowski, Hartfield; Cayden Hillman, Sylva Bay; Jordan Matthews, Tensas
Discus
Roury McCloyen won with a throw of 189'5". He pulled off another big double and is still a top tier thrower. Nothing has changed in that regard. What has changed is his competition.
Sean Fairley from Christian Collegiate is actually almost as good as McCloyen, and he is in the same classification. Where most thought that McCloyen would win by 30, 40, or 50 feet, Fairley made it close, throwing for 176 feet. That mark would win comfortably in almost any other division, in almost any other year. Unfortunately for him, he is throwing at the same time, in the same classification as the greatest thrower in the history of Mississippi.
Other Notable Winners: Cole Allen, Jackson Prep; Alex Lopez, Bayou; Patrick Garrett, Claiborne, Jordan Matthews, Tensas
3200 Meters
One could tell by his prerace body language that Sidney Stegall was ready to throw down something big.
He has been arguably the best distance runner this year, and he was ready to give his all and lay down a monumental solo effort. By running a time of 9:27, he won his eighth state title and set his first meet record. What was equally impressive was the performance by the runner up, William Fugate.
While it was unclear how the Madison St Joe runner was going to run this race before, it became very clear that he was going for broke. While he didn't win, he had a huge PR in the event, running 9:47. One of the most fraternal battles was the 2A race between brothers Tristan and Samuel Bryan from Regents of Oxford. While both brothers had had solid seasons, it was expected that the defending champion from Heritage Christian, Dallas Stricker, would rise to the occasion. However, the brothers gapped Stricker early on. It soon became a fight over bragging rights at the dinner table, and it was Tristan who barely edged out Samuel for the win.
Other Notable Winners: Jayce Wimbish, Prairie View; Kameron Wilson, Centreville
Team Race
2A-Going into tomorrow Regents of Oxford leads by six points with Tensas and West Memphis. West Memphis has been the favorite and should be carried by its sprints on Saturday. We will see if Regents can potentially hold on or if West Memphis or Tensas catch up.
3A-We have another 3-way battle between Lee-AR, Sylva Bay, and DeSoto. Once again the overall favorite, Sylva Bay, is not in the lead but all three teams are in striking distance, with 10 points separating the three. This has the makings of another fun finish.
4A-Lee-MS has built a pretty decent margin with a 14 point lead over Canton Academy but this is far from over. Can Lee Academy continue to pull away from Canton's strong sprints team?
5A-Bayou has absolutely gapped the field on the first day, leading the field by an insane 38 points. With some strong relays and the fastest man in the classification in Cruz Oguz, Bayou should be able to hold on in a loaded class.
6A-While MRA has a decently large gap of 26 points, Jackson Prep or Hartfield have a chance if they can pull off some monumental performances on day two.