Last season was a very good year for Winona track.
The boys and girls teams both finished third in the MHSAA 2A state meet. Both teams won district, region and North State meets leading up to the state meet.
But that was then and this is now. Winona has moved up to 3A.
“We’re in a new division this year so I don’t really know what to expect,” said Chris McRae, who coaches both teams. “The question for both is how good is 3A. You looked around in 2A and set your team up. Now in 3A you have to go back and evaluate.”
He does not know to expect from the dynamic duo of senior Krystle Hughes and junior Tyra Weathersby – outstanding performances. Hughes won the 100 and 200, took bronze in the long jump and sixth in the high jump at last year’s 2A state meet. Her winning times of 12.37 in the 100 and 25.46 in the 200 were better than the winning times for those events at the 3A meet.
Weathersby won the long jump, was second in the triple jump, fourth in the 200 and sixth in the 400.
Other returning girls who competed in the state meet are eighth grader Jayla Campbell, sixth in the 100 hurdles, and sophomore Aasjahla Garron, sixth in the pole vault.
The biggest graduation loss on the girls side was Natori Weathersby, Tyra’s sister, who won the discus for the third year in a row.
“The boys have a lot coming back,” McRae said. “As opposed to the girls, they have a lot of older guys, a lot of maturity.”
Key athletes include senior Jalyn Phillips, who was second in the discus and seventh in the shot put at the state meet, senior Ahmed Robinson in the relays, senior Jabrell Davis in relays, junior Andarious Coffey in the hurdles and relays, junior Adavion Hargrove in the hurdles and relays, sophomore Jaylyn Sanders in the long jump and relays, junior Malcolm Gholston in the 400 and relays and sophomore Isaac Leech in the pole vault.
The boys best events at last year’s state meet were the relays, with first in the 400, second in the 1600 and fourth in the 800. Tracy Chandler, who ran on the 400 and 800 relay teams, graduated but the other three runners in both events – Sanders, Hargrove and Robinson – are back. Gholston, Coffey and Davis ran on the 1600 relay team.
