The Oxford Middle School boys track team hosted its annual OMS Invitational on Thursday at Bobby Holcomb Field and outlasted the competition

Eight teams competed in the event with Oxford winning with a team score of 78 points, 24 points ahead of runner-up Tunica.

“This meet was originally scheduled for last Thursday, but we moved it back a week due to weather, and in the end, I’m glad we did,” Oxford coach Michael Hardwick said. “It was a fantastic afternoon to run.”

One of the highlights of the day was the performance in the long jump by Ladarius Giles, who set a school record with a jump of 19 feet, 1 inch.

“This is a school record, and I don’t ever remember an OMS athlete jumping over 19 feet in a meet or in practice,” Hardwick said.

T.J. Lawson won the shot put for the Chargers while Gregory Stringer recorded a distance of 35 feet, 10 inches to win the triple jump. Tykel Owens and Byron Pearson also tied for first in the high jump.

Walt Johnson took first place for Oxford in the 3,200 meters. Owens won the 100-meter hurdles. Sam Shelton took first in the 1,600 meters, finishing in 5 minutes, 42 seconds.

The Chargers’ 4×800 relay team set a new school record of 10:24 to come in first. The 4×200 team of Giles, Pearson, Owens and Wesley Peques placed second. The 4×100 team of Giles, Pearson, Sam Bianco and Kelvin Wadley also finished runner-up to Tunica.

The 4×400 team of Giles, Robert Culpepper, Bianco and Peques ended the day by posting a record time of 4:02 to edge out Tunica for first place.

“It took setting the school record to beat them,” Hardwick said of his 4×400 team’s performance against Tunica. “A great race to end a good day of track.”