NATCHEZ &045; By most accounts so far, most folks will say Tanieka Hill is the next standout athlete for the Natchez High girls’ track program.

She’s just a junior, the defending state champion in the 300 hurdles, part of the mile relay team that won the state title last year and a legitimate contender in the 100 hurdles.

But Hill is also devoted to her family, one that is now made up of her grandmother and sister. Her mother lives in Atlanta, but it’s her dad she keeps in her mind since he was murdered in 2000.

Now she gets back at it this weekend as outdoor track and field begins this weekend for high schools in the Miss-Lou.

&uot;When I run, I say a prayer and talk to my daddy,&uot; Hill said. &uot;Every race I run is just for him. When I first started running, my daddy was in Atlanta. He came down and stayed for a year before he died. He only came and saw me run once. All the other meets were out of town, and he didn’t have a chance to come.&uot;

Hill is part of a squad of standout athletes on a Lady Bulldog squad that didn’t lose anyone from its state championship team last May. The team is loaded with speed and jumpers heading into today’s season opener at USM, but Hill enters just her second outdoor season running hurdles.

But it didn’t take any convincing. After all, she’s one of the more down-to-earth athletes you’ll meet.

&uot;Check with the counselors at school &045; all the teachers say the same thing about her,&uot; Natchez High coach Larry Wesley said. &uot;She’s good. I like everything about her. She practices hard and is dedicated to practice. I really call her a people person.&uot;

Hill was open to the idea of running hurdles prior to the start of last year’s outdoor season. She was running the 200 and 400 races behind standout sprinter Janice Davis, and Wesley felt the hurdles would give her more of an opportunity to shine.

So far, so good.

&uot;One day at practice he was telling me, ‘Try to jump these. We’re going to need the points,’&uot; Hill said. &uot;I didn’t like it, but I love it now. The 100 hurdles I didn’t like at all, but the 300 allows you to get your steps together. I like both of them now.&uot;

The 300 hurdles is Hill’s best race, but don’t put the two in the same boat. The 100 is more of a sprinter’s race, while the 300 is more about endurance.

Hill posted her best time last season at the state meet when she won the race in 44.79 seconds. But during the indoor season she was impressive in the 55-meter hurdles races to give hope for better times in the 100 this spring.

&uot;I told her, ‘You’ve got to keep doing what you’re doing because people are going to be looking at you,’&uot; Wesley said. &uot;I look for her to do very well this year. When I first switched her to hurdles, she was unsure about it.

&uot;A lot of times in track and field you have to want to do it.

She loves track and field with a passion. In cross country she tried not to miss a meet. Last year our biggest thing was getting her coordination together. This year she looks 100 percent different.&uot;

Today’s meet in Hattiesburg will be a good test for Hill, who finished in fifth place last year in the 100 hurdles. But she has since come on and finished among the top times in the finals during indoor.

&uot;In the 300 you can just run and jump,&uot; Hill said. &uot;In the 100 everybody is so fast &045; people are going and going and going. I want to run a 43 in the 300. Last year at state I ran a 44, and this year I want to run a 43. That’s my goal. In the 100 I want to win it. I don’t have a goal, but I just want to win it.&uot;

Doing so will increase her stock in the eyes of college coaches. Already she’s received letters from Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Tennessee, but she’d like to go to State to stay close to her grandmother.

But she’s taking all that in stride for right now. With her modest temperament, it should be easy to do.

&uot;That’s the best way to be,&uot; Hill admitted. &uot;I don’t want any enemies. I’m trying to go to heaven.&uot;