Pass Christian High School Track & Field athlete Thomas Carter wins the Pole Vault at the MHSAA 4A South State Championship with a leap of 12′ on Monday, April 26, 2021. (Hunter Dawkins/The Gazebo Gazette via AP)

by Joseph W. Gex II, Contributing Writer

Our Lady Academy, Pass Christian, and Saint Stanislaus were all represented at the state championships for track and field this past weekend.
The Class 2A-4A-6A state championship meet was held on Friday while the Class 1A-3A-5A state meet took place on Saturday at Pearl High School.
On Saturday, Saint Stanislaus scored 85 points to finish third overall in the Class 3A state meet which was the highest team finish for the area.  Tylertown won the boys 3A state championship scoring 149 points.
OLA, Pass Christian, and Saint Stanislaus also brought home at least one state title in their respective meets.
SSC was led by Keegan Leverett who pulled off the rare distance trifecta winning the 3200m, 1600m, and 800m runs.
Leverett won the 3200m run with a new Class 3A state record of 9:40.69 early in the day. About halfway through the meet, Leverett stepped on the track for the 1600m run which he won posting another new Class 3A state record of 4:23.46. Late in the meet, Leverett toed the line for the 800m run and broke the tape with a gold medal time of 1:57.78, only .55 seconds off a Class 3A state record time. His 800m time set a new school record.
Ryan Tyler saved his best performance for his last appearance in the discus ring as he won the event with a throw of 134′ 3″. Tyler also placed fourth in the shotput with a throw of 43′ 5 3/4″.
Ja’Kobe Cameron claimed the silver medal in the Class 3A long jump with a leap of 21′ 9 3/4″. Earlier in the season, Cameron became just the third jumper in school history to break the 22-foot barrier joining Andy Brown ’97 and Brandon Bordelon ’20.
Chandler Chapman claimed two silver medals at the meet in the 110m hurdles and the 300m hurdles. Chapman’s time in the 110m was 15.56 and 40.49 in the 300m hurdles.
The 4x800m relay team of Carson Leverett, Reed Fairley, Gus Breisacher, and Keegan Leverett brought home the bronze medal with a time of 8:57.64 which is the fastest time recorded by the relay this year.
The 4x200m relay team of Chapman, Canye Bankston, Brady Logan, and Cameron placed fourth with a time of 1:32.34.
The 4x100m relay team of Chapman, Bankston, Davien Lagarde, and Cameron also placed fourth with a time of a 44.10.
OLA tallied 32.5 points to place eighth out of 28 teams. Alcorn Central won the girls team title with 90 points.
The Crescents were led by Emily Reinike who won the gold medal in the high jump with a height of 5′ 2″.
The Crescents’ 4x800m relay of Emma Grace Cain, Riley Cruthirds, Colleen Nolan, and Margaret Compretta placed third with a time of 10:40.30.
Cain also took home the bronze medal in the 1600m run with a time of 5:57.72.
The 4x400m relay team of Nicole Bradford, Cruthirds, Compretta, and Abby Zimmermann placed third with a time of 4:21.89.
Compretta also tied for third in the pole vault with a vault of 8′.
On Friday, the Pass Christian Pirates took to the track.  The Lady Pirates scored 49 points to place fourth in the Class 4A girls standings out of 30 teams. Pontotoc won the girls team title with 73 points.
The Lady Pirates were led by Kamaiyah Pruitt who took the silver medal in the discus with a throw of 107′ 6″. Chanel Howard also took silver in the triple jump with a leap of 36′ 2 3/4″ followed by teammate Hailee Simms in third with a jump of 35′ 3 3/4″.
Other state meet competitors for the Lady Pirates include Reese Miller (6th, pole vault, 7′), Aleah West (6th, 3200m, 15:27.52), Brinley Hoda (7th, 3200m, 15:49.23), Simms (5th, 100m hurdles, 17.30), Kailey Taylor (6th, 400m, 1:03.73), Kealey Skinner (8th, 800m, 2:49.92), Howard (5th, long jump, 16′ 7 1/2″), Kylah Bell (6th, high jump, 5′), Haleigh Haynes (7th, high jump, 4′ 8″), and the 4x800m relay team (7th, 11:16.67).
The Pirates recorded 39 points to place 5th overall out of 33 teams on the boys side. Senatobia won the Class 4A boys team title with 111 points.
The Pirates were led by Thomas Carter who won the gold medal in the pole vault with a vault of 13′ 6′. Teammate Dylan Grebel was fifth with a vault of 9′ 6″.
Kameron White placed second in the long jump with a leap of 21′ 7″ and Larry Burks took home bronze in the high jump with a leap of 6′.
Other top finishes include the 4x800m relay team (4th, 8:50.76), Larkin Lewis (8th, 3200m, 12:17.50), and Zach Thomas (7th, 1600m, 5:07.03; 6th, 800m, 2:11.55).