by Joseph W. Gex II, Contributing Writer

The Class 1A-3A-5A state track and field championships were run Wednesday, May 10, at Pearl High School after being postponed last Friday due to inclement weather. The Saint Stanislaus Rock-A-Chaws only had six entries in the state meet but made them count as they finished fourth overall with 43 points out of 27 scoring teams.
Tylertown repeated as Class 3A boys champions with 119 points.
OLA had just three entries but scored 18 points to finish 13th out of 28 scoring teams. Alcorn Central won the Class 3A girls title with 109 points.
The Rocks were led by state champion Ilias Rida who won the shot put with a throw of 43′ 5″. Bret Tyler brought home a silver medal finishing second in the discus with a throw of 124′ 7″. Micah Bishop brought home two medals finishing second in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.99 and third in the 400m dash with a time of 52.28. Chandler Chapman was third in the 110m hurdles with a time of 15.38. Bishop and chandler teamed up with Ethan Galloway and Brady Logan in the 4x200m relay and placed fourth with a time of 1:31.41.
OLA was led by Emily Reinike who placed second in the high jump with a leap of 5′ 2″. The 4x400m relay team of Reinike, Margaret Compretta, Nina Bradford, and Abby Zimmerman placed third with a time of 4:23.00. Zimmerman also placed fifth in the 400m dash with a season best time of 1:02.65.
The West Harrison Hurricanes and the Long Beach Bearcats competed in the Class 5A state track meet. The Lady Hurricanes scored 31.50 points to place ninth out of 24 scoring teams while the Lady Bearcats scored six points to finish 21st.
Brookhaven won the girls 5A state title with 123.50 points. The Bearcats finished 10th out of 28 teams in the 5A boys division with 26 points while the Hurricanes were 14th with 15 points.
Ridgeland won the 5A boys title with 100.50 points.  The Lady Hurricanes were led by Deasia Williams who won the pole vault with a vault of 8′ 7″ and Sydnei Barber who won the discus with a throw of 103′.
Other state qualifiers include Tashala Thomas (4th, shot put, 32′ 7 1/2″), Desiree Lacy (4th, pole vault, 7′), and Jewelz Galloway (7th, pole vault, 6′).
The Lady Bearcats were paced by Mya Shaffer who finished fifth in the long jump with a leap of 16′ 5 1/4″ and Tori Washington who placed eighth in the shot put with a throw of 27′ 2″. The Lady Bearcats 4x100m relay team placed eighth with a time of 50.86.
The Bearcats were led by Landon Ahrens who finished second in the 1600m run with a time of 4:36.79 and fourth in the 800m run with a time of 2:04.18. Lazerrick Brooks took home bronze in the discus with a throw of 134′ 3″ and Andre Windham was third in the triple jump with a leap of 43′ 6 1/4″. Malachi Brown was eighth in the 100m with a time of 12.65.
The Hurricanes were led by Evan Turan who was second in the discus with a throw of 138′ 11″. Tyrone McPherson placed sixth in the shot put with a throw of 41′ 6″ and Jahmad McGowan was eighth in the 300m hurdles with a time of 43.18. Matthew Quintero placed seventh in the 3200m run with a time of 10:59.81 and Andrew Slaughter was eighth in the pole vault with a height of 9′.