The Clarksdale High School girls track and field team finished in third place at the Class 4A north state meet at Pontotoc High School Thursday.
This came after winning their district at Mississippi Valley State University and finishing second in regionals at Olive Branch High School.
The Class 4A state meet will be at Pearl high School on Saturday.
Samirra Sherrod, Tamaria Marbley, Alexis Moore and Aliyah Thomas finished first in the 4x100-meter relay at the north state meet with a time of 52.74 seconds. Thomas ran as an alternate for Briana Hughes.
Moore finished third in the 100-meter run at 13.16 seconds.
Moore won the 200-meter run with a time of 27.02 second, while Marbley came in fourth at 27.49 seconds.
Marbley finished fourth in the 400-meter run with a time of 1:04.56.
Moore won the long jump at 17 feet, 1 inch, while Marbley finished third at 16 feet, 2 inches.
Coaches Destiny Monix and Kenya Arnold said the Lady Wildcats performed well in spite of not having many athletes on the roster.
“We were doing good with what we had,” Monix said. “We missed a lot of girls, but what we did have, we made the best out of it. So far, I feel good about it because they’re real competitive. I don’t think they’ll lay down to anybody.”
Arnold said some girls participated in the maximum amount of events at five. In some cases, they had to compete in back-to-back events.
“We had events this year they weren’t in, in previous years,” Arnold said. “We were down in numbers pretty much.
“We did great, especially considering the number of events some of the girls had to compete in. They still qualified.”
The coaches acknowledged the Lady Wildcats will need better times at the state meet to win.
“They’re going to have to get better times, but it’s not impossible,” Arnold said.
Looking back on everything, the coaches are pleased with the team’s success.
“I think it’s been a good year so far,” Monix said.
