Several current and former members of the Meridian High School track-and-field team were recognized during a Friday morning ceremony, receiving their state championship rings from last school year.
“Any time that you receive a ring, really in any sport, there’s a lot of hard work and dedication that has gone into it,” said MPSD Athletic Director Cheyenne Trussell.
During the Mississippi High School Activities Association’s Track and Field Championships earlier this spring, then-junior Kelvin Jones won the 7A championship in boys 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.54. The MHS 4×200 boys relay team — made up of Chad Boyd, Davion Smith, Tim Gowdy and Omyri Wade — also captured a state championship with a time of 1:26.72. Meridian High’s 4×100-meter boys relay team missed first place by two-tenths of a second.
“It was a very competitive season, and they rose to the occasion,” MHS track coach Regonal Walker said of last year’s team. “I am proud of how things played out.”
He noted the relay team’s winning time of 1:26.72 is “actually two-tenths off of a state record, which speaks to the talent and the level of competitiveness they rose to this year. I am very proud of them, definitely a school record.”
Friday’s ring presentation took place in the Multipurpose Building on the Meridian High School campus.
On hand to receive their state championship rings were Jones, now a senior, and relay team members Wade, a junior, and Boyd, a sophomore. Gowdy, a senior, and Smith, a MHS graduate who is now running track for Coahoma Community College, were not present for the ceremony. Smith’s mother and brother accepted his ring in his absence.
Also recognized at the presentation was former Meridian High athlete Daniel Hill, who won two state track and field championships in 2023 in 7A boys 110-meter hurdles and boys 300-meter hurdles. Hill graduated high school in December 2023 in order to enroll early at the University of Alabama, where he is a member of the Crimson Tide football team. His parents, Demetrius and Kim Hill, represented him at the ring presentation.
Walker complimented Jones for stepping up to take on the 110-meter hurdles after Hill graduated early and was unable to defend his 2023 state title.
“He really took the reins after Danny went off to college. I am very proud of him, how he competed the entire year,” Walker said. “He really came out of nowhere. He was always good, but this year, all of the pieces just fell into place and he really took a step forward.”
He also lauded Wade as one of the better sprinters in the state and Boyd, who was only a ninth grader on last year’s relay team, “so for him to be competing at that level is really, really impressive.
Boyd, Gowdy, Wade and Jones all will return for Meridian High’s 2025 track season.
“We look forward to coming into this year and continuing the same tradition and culture that we have built here at Meridian High School,” Walker said.