Kosciusko won three medals at the 4A state track meet, a gold by junior Presley Fulgham in the girls’ pole vault, silver by senior Jerrell Erving in the boys’ discus and bronze by sophomore Raven Pernell in the girls’ long jump.
Fulgham repeated in the pole vault, clearing eight feet, six inches. Ava Robbins of Pontotoc also did 8-6, but Fulgham won on fewer misses.
She was a little disappointed at not equaling her personal best of nine feet, holding up two fingers less than an inch apart to indicate how close she came. She went over the bar at 9-0 to win at the North State meet a week earlier and feels she can do 10 feet.
Erving was second in the discus with a throw of 123-10 behind Charvarius Garrett of Senatobia, the winner at 132-10. At North State, Erving was first and Garrett third, but Garrett improved his distance by more than 17 feet.
Pernell was third in the long jump at 17-3.25, half a foot better than she did in winning North State. Heidi Hudson of Sumrall was the winner at 18-7.25 and Tyeese Smith of Stone took silver with a leap of 17-7.25. Hudson also equaled the 4A meet record of 5-6 to win the high jump.
Kosciusko girls finished 16th with 16 points, 10 from Fulgham and six from Pernell. Erving's eight points enabled Kosciusko to tie for 21st.
Team winners were Senatobia boys with 111 points and Pontotoc girls with 73.
The highlight of the 2A/4A/6A meet at Pearl High School was state meet records in the boys and girls pole vault. John Scott Kendricks of Oxford was the boys’ winner at 16-6.5, a quarter inch better than the record set by Conner Foxworth in 2012. His brother Sam Kendricks was a two-time NCAA pole vault champion while competing for Ole Miss and won bronze at the 2016 Olympics.
Northwest Rankin sophomore Kateyn Hulsey set the girls record of 13-1.75, more than a foot better than the previous mark of 12 feet by Kelsey and Julie Seagroves of D'Iberville a year ago. Seagroves also bettered the previous record, winning silver at 12-6.
