Meridian track and field clinches District 6-6A
Apr. 14—Meridian High School's track and field squad is gearing up for the postseason, and the first step to postseason success was performing well at the District 6-6A meet held at Meridian High on Tuesday.
With 12 total first-place event finishes between the boys and girls teams, the Wildcats did just that. They ran, jumped and threw their way to becoming the 2023 District 6-6A Champions.
"We met expectations," Meridian coach Regonal Walker said. "We have a very young girls team, and they're immensely talented. However, they're very young, so for them to compete the way they did and perform the way they did, I'm very proud of them."
Daniel Hill stars for Meridian's football team as a 6-foot-1, 220-pound athlete. A big reason he is listed as a four-star football prospect by 247Sports is his athleticism, which he has put on display for the track and field team since he was in seventh grade. Hill came in first in the boys 110 meter hurdles, the boys 300 meter hurdles and the boys shot put on Tuesday.
"Daniel is a throwback to one of those generational athletes that we've had at Meridian High over the years," Walker said. "A guy that can pretty much play anything, can do anything. For his size, you wouldn't think a guy that big could run that fast, but he really can."
Sprinter Jeffery Gathright has also been having a solid season, and he continued to perform well on Tuesday. He finished second in the boys 100 meter and 200 meter dashes.
Gathright also joined Omyri Wade, Davion Smith and Timothy Gowdy for a first-place finish in the 4x200 meter relay, and he was a part of Meridian's second-place finish in the 4x100 meter relay alongside Anthony Brown, Smith and Gowdy.
"Even though (Gathright) got second place, he actually broke the school record that he set last year (10.85 seconds in the 100 meter dash). Jeffery Gathright will definitely be one to watch moving forward," Walker said.
Runners Brianna Brown and Mailia Scott star on the girls team. Brown earned a second-place finish in the girls 800 meter run. She also helped Meridian's girls win the 4x400 meter relay alongside Alzaria McCoy, Ayana Walker and Tatianna Stacks, as well as the 4x800 relay alongside Nykeria Brown, Ayana Walker and Stacks.
Scott finished second in the girls 100 meter dash and third in the girls 200 meter dash. She also ran a leg on the first-place girls 4x100 meter relay team alongside Zaurie Clark, Tyneice Burkes and Serenity Reed, as well as the first-place girls 4x200 meter relay team that also featured Princess Powell, Reed and Clark.
"Brianna Brown and Mailia Scott are having a really great year," Walker said. "Brianna is one of the top 800 meter runners in the state, and Malia is one of the top sprinters in the state."
Meridian swept the top-three finishes in both boys and girls triple jump. Karmelo Sims, Chance Anderson and Andreikus Terry finished first, second and third in the boys event, while Reed, McCoy and Camdyn Warren finished first, second and third in the girls event.
Other first-place finishes by Meridian include Kennesha Lloyd in the girls pole vault, Zybrienna Morris in the girls shot put, Burkes in the girls long jump, Princess Powell in the girls 400 meter dash, Terry in the boys pole vault, and Anderson, Jaterrious Chaney, Cameron Payne and Terrance Moore in the boys 4x400 meter relay.
Next up for Meridian is a regional meet on April 22, and the Wildcats will need to bring their best performances on the road to compete against some of the biggest and best track and field teams in the state.
Contact Christian Knox on Twitter @TheChrisKnox
