NATCHEZ — The Natchez High School track and field team had a banner week in the South State finals, winning both the boys and girls portions of the meet.

Bulldogs coach Larry Wesley hopes similar results are on the horizon Saturday when the team travels to Pearl High School to compete in the state finals as 21 athletes will be vying for state titles.

The Bulldogs will have approximately 21 athletes competing for state titles, and Wesley is fully confident in each of them.

“They put a whole lot of work into this,” he said.

One of the Bulldogs making the trip to Pearl this weekend is Shaylin Williams, who competes in the 4×400- and 4×800-meter relays in addition to running in the 300-meter hurdles.

“I’m excited, and we’re going to do our best to win,” Williams said. “I think our 4×8 should win first place. We had a very good time in South State (10 minutes, 45.26 seconds). I’m pretty confident.”

While Williams said she is hopeful she can perform at a high level in her competitions, the senior standout said her team’s overall performance is what’s most important to her.

“Even if I win my (events), that doesn’t mean a state title,” Williams said. “Since I’ve been here, we haven’t won the state title, so I’m hoping we do this time.”

The South State titles earned earlier in the week were the third-consecutive titles on both the boys and girls sides. The boys won their portion with a score of 128, while the girls won their side after tallying 129 points.

“To win once, you’re doing great. To win twice, you’re doing better, but to win three times, that’s fantastic,” Wesley said. “It’s hard to win South State, and it’s really hard to win any championship.”

Wesley has won five state championships in girls track, but the grizzled coach yet to capture a state ring on the boys side.

“To win state on boys and girls, I can’t even describe it what that would mean,” Wesley said. “That would be a memory I would never forget, and I have plenty of them.”

Wesley said he feels his squad is at the top of its game at the right time and remain ready to take on any challenge thrown their way.

“Anything can happen in track and field,” Wesley said. “The points are going to be real low — probably in the 70s. It’s going to be tough, but I’ve got to believe we are going to be there.”