PEARL &045; It’s all a coach could ask for: a chance to win on the final event of the day at the MHSAA State Track Meet.

After trailing all day long, the Natchez girls tied Vicksburg with only the mile relay left to go Saturday at the state meet in Pearl, setting up a showdown between the rivals for the state championship.

Game, set, match, Natchez.

The Lady Bulldogs finished third in the mile relay and Vicksburg was fifth, ensuring Natchez would win its fifth consecutive title and the Missy Gators would finish second for the second consecutive year.

Charmaine King, Wennifer Noble, Alea Franks and Ke’Airra Jones ran the mile relay for Natchez.

Before the relay, Jones said she had a simple plan for running the anchor leg.

&uot;It doesn’t matter what they do. Whoever’s running for Vicksburg, I just have to go and catch them,&uot; Jones said.

It turned out that wasn’t even necessary. The first three legs provided Jones an advantage over the Missy Gators and all she had to do was not lose it.

For his part, Natchez coach Larry Wesley said he wasn’t worried before the final event.

&uot;I knew we were going to win,&uot; Wesley said. &uot;As soon as I saw we were tied, I knew it. The key is, when the children want it, they’ll get it done. It can’t just be the coach saying, ‘I want you to go out there and Š’ It has to be the kids and I knew those girls wanted it.&uot;

That confidence might seem strange given that Vicksburg had beaten Natchez in the mile relay at South State and taken team titles over the Lady Bulldogs at three previous meets this season.

&uot;When Vicksburg beat us at district, at regional, at South State, a lot of people stopped believing in us, got down on us,&uot; Wesley said. &uot;I knew when we got here things would be different. This team performs better at state than anywhere else.&uot;

Senior Taji Dorsey has been a part of all five championships for the Lady Bulldogs, and she was an integral part of this one.

Ke’Airra Jones and Dorsey set up the final race by finishing second and third in the 200, the meet’s penultimate event. That showing gave the Lady Bulldogs 14 points in the event and moved them into the tie with the Missy Gators.

Dorsey said she can’t properly express what being part of five championship teams means to her.

&uot;It just means so much. We’ve come a long way to become a team, not just individuals running out here,&uot; Dorsey said. &uot;Now we work together as a team.&uot;

For Frye, it was a banner day, but not what she was looking for. Sure, she got wins in both her hurdles events, but she missed out on her goal &045; setting a state record.

&uot;That was my intention, to break the state record today,&uot; Frye said. &uot;But I feel great winning two state championships.&uot;

Frye also finished fourth in the 100 with a time of 12.86 seconds.

Jones also had a big day in her individual events, winning the high jump with a mark of five feet, seven inches and the 400 with a time of 57.40 seconds.

Together the two sophomores accounted for 54 of Natchez’s 93 points in the victory.

But there were plenty of other strong performances from the Lady Bulldogs.

In addition to her third-place finish in the 200, Dorsey placed fifth in the triple jump with a mark of 35-0.25, getting valuable points for her team. Two Lady Bulldogs scored in the 800. La’Colony Oliver was fourth in 2:33.96 and Whitney Thomas was fifth in 2:34.46.

The 4×200 relay team of Frye, Taji Dorsey, and Alea Franks finished third with a time of 1:44.53, behind Vicksburg (1:41.13) and Starkville High (1:44.40).

All in all, it added up to yet another state title for the Lady Bulldogs.