NATCHEZ &045; The pain was horrific. Kedrieck Gibbons was just getting over a gash suffered two days earlier when he was in the finals of the NSIC New Balance meet in New York and that hand hit a hurdle.

And it started again.

He spiked his own left hand on a long jump on the first day of competition, but a trip to the emergency room resulted in seven stitches and a trip back to competition. Then, in the finals his hand clipped the fourth hurdle &045; there are only five in the indoor 60-meter &045; as he fell behind in second place to finish in eight seconds flat.

It hurt, all right.

He was about as close as you could get to becoming a national champion as his Saive Eziku won it in 7.95 seconds.

&uot;I was winning the race and wasn’t hitting any hurdles,&uot; said Gibbons, a two-time defending state champion in the 110 hurdles. &uot;I got the fourth hurdle, and my hand came down and hit it. It cut open, and that’s what made it worse. I just had to deal with second. I knew I could have won. The guy who won came to me afterward and said, ‘I know you would have won, but sometimes things happen.’&uot;

The superstar hurdler is still nursing that injury, although he has just one stitch remaining in the wound as he and the Natchez High track squads participate in the Mississippi State University Relays today in Starkville.

It’s still impairing his ability to fully perform on the track &045; &uot;When I put pressure on it, it’s painful,&uot; he said &045; keeping him out of the 110 hurdles, leaving him starting in a football-type three-point stance in the 300 hurdles and shuffling his positions on the relay teams.

&uot;He’s doing a great job &045; he’s just got a big ol’ bandage on it,&uot; Natchez High coach Larry Wesley said. &uot;We have to swap around on the relays. He had been anchor, but he’s third leg now to get it in that (right) hand. Last year he was our third leg, so it’s not a problem. He went to the doctor Tuesday, and they stitched it up. It’ll probably be there until next week.&uot;

Gibbons has one stitch remaining in the hand &045; it initially required some grafting to the wound after first cutting it in New York &045; and will have an abbreviated performance today as the regular season stretch of track meets starts to wind down for Natchez High.

The gash is plenty long along the inside of the hand ranging from the knuckle of his index finger down to nearly the top of the wrist.

&uot;I was long jumping high in the air,&uot; Gibbons said. &uot;As I came down, I was kicking in the air. It was one of my best jumps. I landed, and it caught the end (of my spikes). There was blood everywhere. They wanted to rush me to the hospital because it was so bad. It happens like that sometimes. It’s going to happen like that because you can get spiked anywhere. You can get spiked running.&uot;

But although he’s altered his participation at today’s meet, he didn’t show too many signs of slowing down because of it last week at the Southern Miss Relays. He won the long jump at 22-7 3/4 and the 300 hurdles in 40.20 seconds.

Getting in the pit with all that sand could have been a problem, but Gibbons said he had to keep his hands in the air the whole time. And he still won first.

But in the 300 it’s a challenge with that three-point stance and everybody else coming out of the blocks the normal way and getting just a little jump on him.

But that’s OK, he said.

&uot;I’ve just got to deal with it right now,&uot; Gibbons said. &uot;I might try to run this weekend, but I don’t think I’ll do my best. I’ll just take my time until district.&uot;

On the girls’ side, today’s meet will also be an official visit for hurdler Tanieka Hill, the defending champ in the 100-meter hurdles. The senior said she has her choices of where she wants to run down to three &045; State, Jacksonville State and South Alabama.

Hill said she didn’t want to go too far away from home for college. Ole Miss and Arkansas State have shown interest in the past, Wesley said.

Hill, who was named meet MVP Saturday at Vicksburg by claiming the 100 in 15.04 seconds and the 300 in 46 seconds, said she likes JSU.

&uot;It’s like a big school, but there’s not that many people there,&uot; said Hill, who wants to study pre-med. &uot;They’ve got some nice teachers there. It’s the education I’m going for. Their coaches are real nice. They call your house to see how you’re doing, and I like stuff like that. (State) is a real nice school. I’ve just got to visit and see what Mississippi State talking about.&uot;