The MHSAA state track meets were held Friday and Saturday at Pearl High School’s brand new track facility.

Unlike most high school tracks which are built around a football field, this new facility is a track only unit.

Since the track itself does not have to conform to the shape of the football field, the curves are more gradual. This design leads to faster times in races, such as relays and sprints.

The straightaways on each side are set up with &uot;chutes&uot; which allow for sprints to be run in either direction or on either side of the field.

Discus cages are at either end as well, so that event can take place without those participants having to throw into a gale, or a girls discus event can be held simultaneously with a boys event at the other location.

Jump pits and runways are also set up so that the events can be held simultaneously as well.

For instance, on one side of the field the 5A boys were long-jumping while the 2A girls were triple-jumping across the field.

All participants were kept outside of the perimeter fence until their events were called, which eliminated danger of someone being hit by a stray discus or vaulting pole.

Larry Thomas, Associate Director of the Mississippi High School Activities Association, was the meet referee. The meet director was Woody Barnett, athletic director at Pearl and the driving force behind the building of that fine track.

Thomas, who several times participated in the old Southwest Coaches and Officials Conference in Natchez, told me that the Saturday portion of the state meet, involving 2A, 3A, and 5A, had between 500 and 600 kids participating.

&uot;Kids&uot; is not a misplaced word. Several of the runners, particularly in the distance events, were seventh and eighth graders.

The young lady from Tupelo who won the 5A 1,600- and 3,200-meter races was an eighth grader. The favorite in the boys 2A 1,600-meter run was an eighth grader from St. Andrews.

Boys 2A pole vault winner Nathan McLarty from St. Andrews is a junior. He won the event last year, as a sophomore, at 10-0, and jumped a career-best 11-06 this year. McLarty has only been vaulting three years and is the current 2A State Champion in cross country.

The Madison Central vaulter, Hunter Atkins, placed third in 5A with a jump of 13-0 and is only a sophomore.

Thomas said the meet required 50 to 60 officials. Most of these are former track coaches, and some are current coaches in other sports.

All major track meets now employ electronic timing, and places in each race can be determined exactly by video recording.

The long jump and triple jump still must use the human eye to determine if a jumper has fouled, but usually there are two judges watching the board on each jump so there seem to be very few appeals of those rulings.

While in Natchez for the Fortunato Golf outing and at the Opera, it was gratifying to hear a number of complimentary comments about our column, from strangers, as well as friends.

Some comments were from totally unexpected sources. Thank you all.

Al Graning is a former SEC official and former Natchez resident. He can be reached at AlanWard39157@aol.com.