VICKSBURG &045; The final standings weren’t what Natchez fans might have hoped for, but Bulldog head track coach Larry Wesley isn’t worried.

The Natchez girls’ track team finished third and the boys’ fourth at the Division 3-5A Regional Track Meet Saturday at Vicksburg High, but that won’t matter next week at South State.

Here’s the important statistic: The Bulldogs qualified for 14 events on the girls’ side and 12 events in the boys’ competition at South State Saturday in Gulfport. The top four finishers at the regional meet in each of the 17 events advanced to South State.

Vicksburg took the girls’ and boys’ events. In the girls’, the Missy Gators scored 150 points, beating Hattiesburg (132) and Natchez (144). Warren Central, Picayune, Hancock, Oak Grove and Forest Hill rounded out the teams.

In the boys’ competition, Vicksburg (147) beat Hattiesburg (118) and Warren Central (92). Natchez (86), Picayune, Hancock, Oak Grove and Forest Hill were fourth through eighth respectively.

&uot;This is always true, no matter at what level or what sport; when you play at home, there’s an edge,&uot; Wesley said.

Still, Wesley said he was pleased with his team’s performance and looking forward to South State.

&uot;It’s always tough for us at the district and regional meets because we don’t have the same numbers as some of these teams,&uot; Wesley said. &uot;But the ones we had qualify had good numbers &045; that means they’ll do well at South State and State when some of these teams struggle to score. This region has some of the best times in the state, so I think we’ll do well going forward. Here the top teams had 140, 150 points. At State, the winning team will probably only have 70, 80 points. The competition is that much better.&uot;

Rodney Gray, who won the 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles and the high jump, echoed Wesley’s thoughts.

&uot;It may not look like we’re in good shape, but at South State and State we’ll be up against teams with fewer athletes there. We just have to be patient,&uot; Gray said.

Gray dominated the hurdling events, edging Vicksburg’s Stanley Williams in the 110 with a time of 15.50 seconds, .04 better than Williams. In the 300, Gray ran a 39.71, well ahead of Williams, who finished second in 41.32.

&uot;I feel good about how I ran the 300 hurdles. I ran a 40 (second) last week, I ran a 39 today, so I’m hoping to run a 38 or even 37 next week,&uot; Gray said. &uot;In the 110, I just ran what I had to. I won it, but I still have to do work.&uot;

Candace Frye, one of the Lady Bulldogs’ top performers, also had a big day, capturing the 100 hurdles and finishing second in the 100 meters.

Even when Frye fell after hitting the second hurdle in her 300 hurdles event, that wasn’t the end of things. Frye got back up and finished fourth, steadily running down the three competitors ahead of her over the final 200 meters.

&uot;I just missed it,&uot; Frye said. &uot;I just had to hurry up and get through.&uot;

Frye had already pulled ahead of her competitors when she missed the hurdle and had time to get back up and still qualify. It was her first loss of the year in the event.

&uot;She had to get up and keep going and she did that and qualified,&uot; Wesley said. &uot;She got high up on the hurdle because she was a little excited and hit it. All my kids were complaining about the wind around that curve too, so that probably pushed her up more.&uot;

Several Bulldogs said it was difficult running sprints since the finishing straightaway was directly into the face of the wind, which gusted as high as 20 mph.

Sophomore sprinter Ke’Airra Jones didn’t seem to have any such troubles. She won the high jump and the 400 meters and finished second in the 200 meters.

&uot;Mostly I’m just running to qualify, even though I won two of the events,&uot; Jones said. &uot;There isn’t that much competition for me here, not in the 400 or high jump. I ran a 58 (seconds) today (in the 400) and my goal next week is 57. I’m trying to push myself.&uot;

Jones won the 400 by more than four seconds and the high jump by a comfortable margin of two inches.

Senior sprinter Travis Washington had an off day in the 100, finishing just third, but also qualified in the 200 and 400. He won the 400 with a time of 50.67, blowing away Hattiesburg’s Terrence Carter’s 52.41 second-place mark.

Natchez sprinter Derrick McGee had a big day as well for the Bulldogs, qualifying with a second-place finish in the 200 and running on all three of the Natchez relays, each of which qualified for South State.

Wesley said he was especially proud of several of his athletes who stepped up above where they had been performing to qualify.

&uot;Jordan Smith qualified in the 300 hurdles and McGee did a great job in the 200,&uot; Wesley said. &uot;We had a lot of good effort and heart out here today.&uot;