Meridian High hosts track meet

By By Carver Rayburn/staff writer
April 5, 2003
Meridian High School hosted their second annual area track meet at Meridian Community College on Friday afternoon.
The event attracted eight schools from the East-central Mississippi area including, Meridian, Quitman, Laurel, Northeast Lauderdale, Wayne County, Heidelberg, Clarkdale and Newton.
The schools were divided into two divisions and a third division was added for junior varsity squads. Six schools competed in the junior varsity division.
Early results from College Station included a first place finish for Roderick Laphand of Quitman High in the long jump with a jump of 21' 5" and Quarius Hodges of Meridian High with a first place finish in the shot put with a throw of 54-feet.
Melissa Brents of Northeast Lauderdale won the 3200 meter run with a time of 13.15.
Meridian High track coach Billy King has been planning the track meet for some time now and was pleased with the outcome.
The Meridian High boys junior varsity track team was honored at the beginning of the track meet as WTOK's team of the week. The junior varsity team is made up of students from both Northwest Junior High and Kate Griffin Junior High.
The team recently scored 190 points and took first place at the Little Falcon Relays in Columbus.
Northeast Lauderdale track coach James Matthews has had a lot to smile about lately when it comes to production at track meets. The Lady Trojans recently had a come from behind win at the Falcon Relays in Columbus. The boys team fared well also coming second place overall.
Matthews also showed concern for the future of track and field in the Meridian Area. The track at MCC is the only usable one in the Meridian area. MCC dropped its track team last year.