[5/11/03]JACKSON Battling 20 mph wind gusts as well as 90 degree weather, three local athletes brought back gold in the 2003 State Track and Field Championships Saturday at Hughes Field in Jackson.

Warren Central’s Ebon Williams began the events with a bang as she set a new Class 5A state record with a discus throw of 136-feet, 3-inches on her first attempt.

Williams said she was a little surprised because her arm was still sore from softball tryouts.

“I made it to state last year on luck basically,” she said, “but this year I’ve been working hard and trying to work on my form, so I’m just really happy.”

WC girls’ coach Andrea Fairchild said she woke up in the morning with a feeling that Williams would win.

“To her credit, she’s the one that has put in the long hours, and she stayed after practice,” she said. “She was by herself most of the season and a lot of times it’s hard to motivate yourself, but this has been her goal the entire year.”

Another big winner was Vicksburg’s Maurice Taylor, who took home two gold medals.

Taylor finished first in both the 100-meter dash, with a time of 10.87 seconds, and the 200-meter dash at 21.89 seconds.

In the 100, Taylor fell behind early to Richard Blanton of Natchez, but came on strong with an adrenaline rush at the finish.

“I’ve never really been a good takeoff person since I’ve been running,” Taylor said. “When I saw him take off like that it made me go catch him.”

He corrected that in the 200 by busting out to an early lead and never looking back.

Taylor said he went to sleep during the two-hour layoff between his runs, and he wasn’t sure if his muscles would be ready to run again.

“I did that all on determination,” he said. “I was tired.”

St. Aloysius’ Phillip Hattaway finished first in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:59.12.

Hattaway was neck-and-neck with Weir’s Demetrius Woodard heading into the final 400 meters, but he turned on a burst of energy to leave him in the dust.

“I had been working in practice where I’ve been doing 500s instead of 400s, knowing that I could get that last kick-in,” Hattaway said. “So if I could hang with him for three laps, I knew I could take him on the last lap.”

St. Al’s Austin Golding was not so lucky. Golding was hoping to break the state record in the pole vault coming into the meet, but finished third at 11-feet after missing three tries at 11-6.

“He got a little freaked out when he missed the first try,” St. Al coach Chuck Trahan said.

Golding had missed his last two days of school with strep throat, although he claimed it was not a factor.

“I was trying to get on a new pole, and it just kind of threw me a curve,” a visibly upset Golding said. “Everything just got off. It all fell apart. Everything that could go wrong went wrong.”

In only her fourth competition in the event, WC’s Trekia Jones finished second in the 300-meter hurdles.

Jones was born with a hole in her heart which often leaves her dehydrated after races. The condition was a factor Saturday as she was leading the runners until she began to stumble, and she collapsed at the finish line.

Jones had to be carried off the track and treated by the sports medicine crew, but she was fine after resting and drinking some water.

“She went out and put 1000 percent into it, then she became tired,” Fairchild said. “She couldn’t give anymore. She gave it the whole thing.”

Warren Central’s girls finished eighth with 27 points, and the boys finished 14th with 16 points.

“We did better than expected,” Fairchild said. “We have a state champion and a runner-up. We had two 4×100 teams at fourth and fifth. It could not have been any better. Everybody had their personal bests today.”

Vicksburg’s boys finished fifth with 39 points, and the girls finished 10th with 16 points.

“They gave 100 percent,” Vicksburg boys’ coach Bobby Huell said. “They’re all winners in my eyes.”

St. Aloysius finished seventh with 39 points.