STARKVILLE — Despite taking only one person to state last season, Steven Griffin was encouraged.

The Starkville High School boys track and field coach carried Patton Little to the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A state meet last season, where Little finished first in the 1,600 meters.

This season, Griffin felt the Yellow Jackets were going to have even more success.

After a lot of hard work in the offseason, Griffin believed as the season approached that Little wouldn’t be his only athlete going to the state meet. A fifth-place showing Saturday at the MHSAA Class 6A North State meet at Madison Central, where the Jackets finished fifth, proved Griffin right, as seven Starkville High athletes punched their tickets to Pearl on Friday for the Class 6A state championship meet.

“It’s an awesome feeling,” Griffin said. “I came in and had to re-shape the program from the bottom up, from the ground up. It’s wonderful to see the kids buy in, and as they buy in, you see them to start to excel in their events.”

At North State, Little and Lake Spradling took first and second place, respectively, in the 1,600 and 800. Tavian Clark finished third in the 300 hurdles, and the 4×800 relay team of Spradling, Slater Richardson, Stephon Dotson, Jordan Stone, and John Alex Mulrooney finished second.

The Starkville High girls finished third at North State. Kate Mattox won the 3,200 and 1,600, while her younger sister, Caroline, finished second in the 3,200 and 800. Raleshia Gee and Aubreonna Mitchell finished first and fourth in the long jump. The 4×400 relay team of Kate Mattox, Caroline Mattox, Haley Ward, Emily Woomer, Abigail Musser, and Shanika Musser finished second, while the 4×800 relay team of Kate Mattox, Caroline Mattox, Shanika Musser, Abigail Musser, Emily Woomer, and Sarah Heard took second.

Griffin is happy both teams are having success, and feels both are getting back into the prominent spot they belong.

Starkville High girls coach Caroline Woomer was ecstatic about the results Saturday because everyone who competed advanced, something that hasn’t happened in the past. In doing so, the Lady Jackets improved their finish.

“What was so exciting is we took some places away from some other people and from some other schools,” Woomer said. “We had a better score than I anticipated because we took some scores away from people. They worked and they earned it.”

Griffin said the third- and fifth place finishes are what he and coach Woomer in part due to the atmosphere that has been built. He knows the student-athletes understand what is expected of them and that has made practice competitive.

But after a district, region, and North State meet, it would be easy for the athletes to lose their focus. This week, Griffin and Woomer will have to reinforce what they’ve taught all year.

“One of the major things we do is routine,” Griffin said. “We try to do our best to maintain a steady routine where it doesn’t throw them off as far as their training schedule. We do our best to recover. We do a lot of recovery, especially getting into this postseason. They’re in shape, so it’s more about recovery, focus and minute changes in preparation.”

Little, who signed with Southern Mississippi, has helped Spradling, a junior, since he transferred from Starkville Academy in the fall. Griffin has seen an intense competition crop up between the two, but he said it helps them get better. Griffin said Little, who was named the 2015-16 Gatorade Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year for the state of Mississippi, “just won’t let” Spradling win sometimes.

The fourth-year coach hasn’t been surprised with Spradling’s development.

“We knew he had talent,” Griffin said. “We just had to get him to work to pull that talent out. He’s bought in. He comes and works, he runs with Patton, trains with Patton, and they pull each other along. It’s just exciting to see those two individuals feed off of each other and want to be better.”

Woomer said she has seen the girls team get stronger each year and is happy about the future with some young girls coming up.

Emily Woomer, who signed with the Naval Academy and will enroll at Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS) in the fall, has been a solid rock for her mother to lean on.

Coach Woomer is confident that Kate Mattox, the two-time Gatorade Cross Country Girls Runner of the Year for the state of Mississippi, and Caroline Mattox will finish first and second, respectively, in their events. They have done that all season.

She also has a lot of confidence in all of her athletes, and said she wants to see a lot of blue ribbons (firsts) and will be pushing a few this week in an attempt to get the most out of them.

“Our relays are going to be questionable because they’ve got to want it and they’ve got to cut seconds off their time,” she said. “They can do it, but they’ve got to want it. I can’t want it for them.”

After taking one person to the state meet last year, Griffin is excited about the prospects for his team later this week. He feels like a top-five finish is attainable.

“Anything is possible once you get to this level,” Griffin said. “Stranger things have happened. You just get out there, you compete, and you see what happens.”

Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait

Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.