Local athletes sharp at WC field meet

Published 10:35 am Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Vicksburg High’s Henry Johnson throws the shot put during the Warren Central Best in the Field Meet on Tuesday. Johnson finished third in the event with a throw of 40 feet. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High’s Henry Johnson throws the shot put during the Warren Central Best in the Field Meet on Tuesday. Johnson finished third in the event with a throw of 40 feet. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren County hosted its first track meet in two years on Tuesday, but Clinton crashed the homecoming party.

The Arrows won five of six events to win the boys meet, and three events in the girls meet to complete the sweep of Warren Central’s Best in the Field Meet at Viking Stadium.

The meet featured only field events. Neither Warren Central nor Vicksburg High are able to host a full meet because of their decaying tracks. Warren Central coach Larry Tyrone, however, said he was pleased with how things went.

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“For the first time doing it, I think things went pretty smoothly,” Tyrone said. “We really appreciate the teams coming and competing.”

Six teams — Clinton, Warren Central, Vicksburg, Yazoo County, South Delta and St. Aloysius — competed in the meet.

St. Al’s lone entrant, though, was girls pole vaulter Maggie Waites. The Class 1A recordholder cleared 11 feet, 6 inches to easily win that event.

Waites, who has cleared 12 feet several times this season, missed three times at 12-1 after she’d wrapped up the victory.

“I’m happy with 11-6,” said Waites, who is competing in four meets this week. “I want to jump higher. That was the first time I tried 12-1.”

Vicksburg High finished second in the team standings, largely thanks to Keandra Ringold. The junior won the shot put with a heave of 30 feet, 11 inches, and finished third in the discus with a throw of 73-3.

“The first throw (in shot) was my best, and on the discus my last throw was the best,” Ringold said. “I’m happy. I’m excited.”

Vicksburg’s Jermerica Moore and Jamiracle Williams finished second and third, respectively, in the high jump. Destiny Allen was second in the triple jump with a leap of 31 feet.

Warren Central’s Coretta Watts won the discus with a toss of 82 feet, and was third in the shot put with a distance of 29-3.

The Lady Vikes finished third in the team standings, with 22 points. Clinton had 51 and Vicksburg 31.

Kiari Little led Clinton’s effort by winning both the long jump and high jump. Ariana Holman won the triple jump.

In the boys’ meet, Clinton’s D.J. Henderson won the discus and shot put to lead the Arrows to a runaway victory. They totaled 50 points, easily besting the 36 of runner-up Yazoo County. Warren Central was a distant third, with 18 points, and Vicksburg was fourth with 11.

The Warren County schools did get some solid individual performances, though.

Warren Central’s Taylor Johnson finished second in the high jump and teammate David Bardwell was second in the pole vault. Garrett Melton finished third in the pole vault.

Vicksburg’s Tyler McDowell was second in the triple jump, and Henry Johnson third in the shot put.

It was Johnson’s first meet of the season. He finished fourth at the Class 5A North State powerlifting meet and only recently returned to the track team.

“That’s my first time throwing, so it’s pretty good for me,” Johnson said.

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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