JACKSON — Vicksburg’s race walking crew skyrocketed to the top at one of Mississippi’s biggest events.

Vicksburg residents Ronald Roma, Terrie Foster and Steve Pranger finished second, third and fourth, respectively, at the 28th annual Farm Bureau Watermelon Classic 5K Thursday in Jackson. Another Vicksburger, Elizabeth Joyner, finished eighth.

Foster won the women’s championship in her third consecutive 5K event. The 39-year-old clocked a time of 34 minutes, 10 seconds to add the Watermelon Classic championship to the ones she picked up the past two weekends in Vicksburg’s Star Spangled Night Run and the Tomato Festival 5K in Crystal Springs.

Larry Robinson of Forest won the Watermelon Classic 5K with a time of 32:20. He bested a field of 283 walkers.

Roma was more than a minute behind Robinson, with a time of 33:28, and was followed by Foster and then Pranger in 35:36. Joyner finished fourth in the women’s division, in 37:39.

Two other Vicksburg-area walkers, Andrew McCaskill and Lee Fore, also placed in the top 15. The 62-year-old Tallulah resident Fore was ninth, with a time of 37:42, and won the grand masters division title. McCaskill was 13th in 38:08.

Another Vicksburg walker, Charles Atkins, finished 27th in 41:04.

Joshua Moore won the 5K run, with a time of 16:32, and Maddox Saltzman was second in 16:43. A total of 779 people competed in the 5K run, and another 56 were in the children’s one-mile fun run, and 1,118 in the three races combined.

The Watermelon Classic 5K is a fundraiser for the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, and is held each year on July 4 in Jackson.