Tuesday’s District 5-5A track and field meet will be more than just a chance for the McComb track and field team to continue its dominance from recent years past.
According to head coach Mark Lang, it will also be an opportunity for the McComb teams to work on their fundamentals and work out new team members before the regional meet later this month.
The meet, to be held at Southwest Mississippi Community College’s John I. Hurst Stadium, will also be a chance for team veterans Demarcus Jenkins, LaMarvin Ashley, Brittany Harrell, Markeisha Robinson, Kiera Patterson and Thomeisha Swington to solidify their chances of winning their respective events at the regional meet.
Lang said there was plenty of work to be done after the Franklin County meet over the weekend.
Still, Lang said the Tigers — eight-time defending district champs in District 6-4A — and Lady Tigers must be considered this year’s favorites. The Lady Tigers also won last year’s district meet.
“If my boys and girls do what they’re supposed to do, they’ll win,” Lang said.
The top four finishers in each event will qualify for the regional meet May 1.
One area that has Lang concerned is the boys’ 4x100-meter relay, where the Tigers had a bad baton exchange at Franklin County.
Lang said the problem comes after he replaced regular Torun Robinson with Demarrio Andrews after Robinson suffered a right hamstring injury at an earlier meet.
“We hadn’t practiced much. I gave them a week off for the prom,” Lang said. “We had a glitch, but we’ll be practicing more.”
Lang added that Robinson will compete in the boys’ 400- and 800-yard dash events, but would not run in the relays.
“I’m scared to put him in there,” he said. “Right now, he’s more likely to injure himself there.”
As of now, Lang said, the boys’ 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams will include Jenkins, Ashley, Andrews and Deontay Jones.
Lang added that Ashley and Jenkins should be the top two finishers in the boys’ 200.
Jenkins will also try to uphold the state’s top ranking in the boys’ Class 5A long jump. He will be pressed to win the event by teammate Juvarion McCray.
“They should go 1-2,” Lang predicted.
Javanta Gardner will look to qualify for the regional meet in the boys’ discuss and shotput.
Lang said Gardner has thrown the discus about 140 feet and, along with teammate Chris Hughes, has a distance of about 41 feet in the shotput.
Lang added that Kenyon Tobias and McCray stand as McComb’s top threats to win the boys’ high jump.
“They could go 1 and 2,” he said.
Freshman Roy Bibbs could be the surprise of Tuesday’s meet for McComb.
At the Franklin County meet, Bibbs leaped 43 feet, 9 inches in the triple jump. Lang said Bibbs has won four of the five times he’s competed in the long jump and that he could reach 45 feet before next month’s state meet.
Deontay Jones took third in the high jump at Franklin with a distance of 42 feet.
In the girls’ events, look for Harrell to once again shine.
In last year’s district meet, Harrell won the 100-meter hurdles, the 300-meter hurdles and the high jump for the Lady Tigers.
Harrell missed the Franklin County meet after visiting the University of Florida in Gainesville over the weekend. Harrell has signed to attend and run track next season for the Gators.
Patterson and Swington are the favorites to battle for victory in the girls’ long jump. Patterson enters as the state’s top-ranked performer in the event. Swington comes in at number two.
While he had no official times, Lang said that Swington also performed well in the girls’ 100 at the Franklin County meet.
Lang added that Markeisha Robinson should compete in the girls’ triple jump.
The Lady Tigers’ 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams also come into the meet off a high note. According to Lang, both squads won their respective events by 40 to 50 meters at Franklin County.
Relay team members include Swington, Patterson, Takesha Beacham, Romeshia Harris and Latonja Bonds.
Lang said the Lady Tigers possess a depth that gives them an edge at the district meet.
“It’s good to have the depth we have,” Lang said. “The girls have more depth than the boys. I think both teams will be improving as the season finalizes.”
While he said they were not as strong in their individual events, Lang added that he expected several athletes to help earn McComb team points in the district meet.
The group included eighth grader Carl Williams, who will compete in the 1,600, David Austin and Gabriel Emrabtene (3,200), Andy Allen and Afronee Magee (800), Chelsea Ford and Laura Kebert (3,200) and Rachel Jones (800 and 1,600).
This meet will also be a bit of a get-together for Lang, who will reunite with former McComb assistant coach Jimmie Butler, now the girls’ coach at Brookhaven.
Butler helped Lang guide the McComb boys’ and girls’ teams to Class 4A state titles last season.
Lang said while it will be good to see his former assistant, he also expects Brookhaven to be the main threat to dethroning the Lady Tigers as district champs.
“They’ve put together a very good program there at Brookhaven,” Lang said.
