One of the state's top track stars signed with Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College – but not for track and probably for a new position.
Winona senior Krystle Hughes signed to play soccer at Gulf Coast during a Friday ceremony.
“I went down there for a visit and I felt really welcomed,” she said. “It fits my personality.”
Hughes was a forward in soccer, who scored all but two of her team's goals this year, and a track star as the only winner of four events – 100, 200, 400 and long jump – at the state track meet.
“I love both of them, but I feel like soccer will be less stressful,” she said. “In track, it's all on you. Soccer is a team sport and you have to work together.”
She did not close the door to returning to track in the future. “Track is always going to be a part of me," Hughes said. " If that's what God has in store for me, I will follow that path.”
Gulf Coast coaches have told Hughes that she will probably be a defender. “It wasn't a shock when they told me they will want me to play defense," she said.
“I'm excited for her,” said Winona girls soccer coach Michael Cox. “I think she will do really well.
He played Hughes at forward because of her speed. “She can outrun everybody.”
She plans to major in biology while attending classes at Gulf Coast's Perkinston campus. Her goal after junior college is to play Division I soccer.
