STARKVILLE — Starkville Academy track and field turned a corner over the weekend that put the Volunteers in the conversation for a state championship.
Coming from one of the toughest districts in the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools, the regular season proved difficult for the Vols, but that tough competition paid off at the MAIS Class 5A state meet on Friday and Saturday in Flowood.
“The team performance itself was really tremendous,” Starkville Academy head coach Sam Wright said. “The kids wanted it bad this year.”
Starkville Academy brought home an individual state championship in the boys 1,600 meter relay as the boys team finished second overall with a school record 71 total points.
The Volunteers finished second at the 5A North State meet the week of April 24 and repeated the feat at Jackson Prep.
“We knew after North State that the kids were wanting a chance to do the same thing at the state meet,” Wright said. “All the way down, it was a great year. For us to be state runner-up, it was a good feeling.”
This season was a record-setting season across the board, beginning with the state champion quartet of Quinton Wiley, Alex Friedhaber, Ben Lyle and Ben Smith, who ran a time of 3:32.16 in Flowood in the 1,600 meter relay.
Earlier this season, they set a new school record and a top time in MAIS Class 5A with a 3:31.25.
“We beat 38 other 4-by-400 teams from 2A through 6A, which is a tremendous honor,” Wright said.
All three boys relay teams medaled at the state meet, beginning with the 400-meter relay team of Graham Hancock, Wyatt Buice, Beckett Lesley and Lyle, who finished second with a time of 44.25, a new school record.
The 800-meter relay team of Wiley, Buice, Friedhaber and Lyle finished third with a time of 1:32.90.
Starkville Academy recorded four other second place finishes overall. Wiley finished second in the 400-meter dash and long jump, Ben Smith finished second in the 800-meter run, and on the girls side Abby Winston finished second in long jump.
“I was extremely proud,” Wright said. “The kids made this season fun and just seeing the kids achieve goals after all their hard work at practice, it made things so easy this year. … I can’t speak enough for what they did.”
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