PEARL – Oak Grove junior Clay Derrick made some noise in the two long-distance races at the MHSAA 6A State Track Meet. He placed first in the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs to cap off his junior season.
It’s been two years since he lost the 3,200-meter race by mere seconds, and he held a huge lead coming down the final 100 meters Friday. His run of 10:05.52 wasn’t a personal record, but it was good enough for a four-second win in front of the second-place finisher, Horn Lake’s Antonio Izaquirre. His 4:25.38 run in the 1,600-meter was a personal record, as well as a school record.
“I feel great,” Derrick said after finishing his last race of the day. “Both races, I was concerned about placement. I didn’t really care if I PR’d or not, it just happened in the first race. The second race, not even close but I got the win and that’s all I came here for.”
PHOTO GALLERY: Click for photos from the entire day.
In both races, Derrick thought about the 3,200-meter run in 2016 and how he lost the race down the homestretch. While he had to kick it up a notch in the mile race, it was smooth sailing in the last 100 meters of the two-mile competition.
“I was just glad I was able to come out here and redeem myself,” he said.
Derrick had a plan for his 1,600-meter run earlier in the day. It’s not an uncommon plan for long distance runners, and he executed it to perfection.
Coming into the day with the best qualifying time, Derrick took first place overall in the race with a time of 4:25.38, which was less than two seconds in front of the second-place finisher, Starkville’s Slater Richardson.
“Stick behind the first-place guy,” Derrick said of his strategy for the first three laps. “That last lap, I mean, I’m kind of in autopilot in every race except for that last lap. That’s for every race. That last lap, I really just run.”
Coming down the homestretch, again, Derrick thought about the 3,200-meter race two years ago.
“I was just thinking about that 3,200 race my freshman year when (former Pearl High School athlete) Chris Gates beat me,” Derrick said. “I didn’t have that strong finish and I’ve really worked over the years to get that strong finish. I feel like I accomplished what I came here to.”
Derrick qualified for the state meet with a time of 4:32.31, so he improved his time by nearly seven seconds. Ocean Springs’ Beck Guidry finished in third place with a 4:31.76 to run out the Top 3.
The Oak Grove 4x100-meter relay team, made up of Andre Pittman, Jack Harris, Ben Johnson and Brandon Hayes, also earned a podium finish. The group of four ran a 43.04 to finish third in the event.
Oak Grove had a pair of athletes compete in the 100-meter dash, and another in the triple jump.
Both senior Lonnie Mulligan and sophomore Brandon Hayes ran the 100-meter dash for the Warriors, and Hayes earned a podium spot for his third-place finish. From the fifth lane, Hayes ran a 10.83 while Oxford’s Jaquan Webb took first place with a 10.78 run. Hayes also took fourth place in the 200-meter race later in the afternoon. He had a time of 22.02, which was .4 seconds away from the first-place finisher, Oxford’s Jaquan Webb.
Mulligan ran in the second lane and finished with a time of 12.71 for sixth place. Madison Central’s Kennedi Sanders won the event with a time of 11.94. She was the only competitor with a sub-12-second time in the 6A girls event.
Freshman Zaria Myers jumped a 34-7.5 for fourth place in the 6A girls triple jump, and she finished less than seven inches behind third-place finisher Mikyah Mack of Ocean Springs.
Oak Grove also competed in the girls and boys’ 4x400-meter relay races. The boys, made up of Darrell Luter, Jarell Spight, Jarius Reimonenq and Chad McKnight, placed fourth with a run of 3:28.28, and the girls, Jordan Smith, Taylor Norman, Laudin Lang and Keimirra Lewis, placed sixth overall.
Sumrall’s Musgrove, Cocroft take home Top 3 finishes at State Meet
The Sumrall Bobcats had a pair of Top 3 finishers in the discus competition. Junior Courtney Musgrove placed second overall in the 4A girls discus throw, and junior Ashanti Cocroft took home third place in the 4A boys contest.
Cocroft qualified for the 4A State Track Meet with the sixth-best throw among the eight athletes, but his 123-foot-8-inch throw was good for third place and he was two feet better than the fourth-place finisher.
Musgrove had even more of an uphill climb. She came into Friday’s meet with the seventh-best qualifying throw. Her 4A South State qualifying throw was 86-4, but she completed a 95-7 throw on the biggest stage of Mississippi high school track and field.
“I’m so happy,” she said. “My heart was pounding the whole time and now it’s just a big relieve off of me.”
Her second-place throw was on her last attempt, too.
“I was like, ‘This is my last throw, let’s give it all I’ve got,” Musgrove said. “I threw 95 and I was really happy.”
Musgrove didn’t make it past the district meet a season ago, and she went as far as to say she “choked” in that district meet in 2017. She worked on her craft and it paid off Friday.
“It is for me because I was coming in throwing 75-5,” she said of her jump last year. “I really wanted to come back and do better because I knew I was capable of more. Last year I choked and I thought, ‘I’ve got to come back.’
“I tried to hardest, put some more power in and worked on my stance.”
Sumrall’s Tianne Moore represented the Lady Bobcats in the 400-meter dash. Her time of 1:05.96 was good for a seventh-place finish.
Purvis’ Jaylen Bass places fifth place in the 4A girls shot put. Her throw of 32-5.75 was less than a foot away from a third-place finish, and she improved upon from her south-state qualifying throw, which was a 32-2.25.
