The Lafayette girls track team finished up a strong 2021 season on Thursday, competing in the MHSAA Class 5A state track and field meet at Pearl High School.

The Lady Commodores finished runner-up with 66.5 points, 44.5 points behind Class 5A state champion Hattiesburg. Brookhaven finished third with 60 points while Pascagoula (51) and Saltillo (48) rounded out the top-five.

On the boys side, Lafayette finished fifth with 36 points, 68 points behind champion Hattiesburg, which swept the 5A state meet. Brookhaven finished second with 98 points while Saltillo (43) and  East Central (40) rounded out the boys top-five.

Lafayette’s girls were led by five top-three individual finishes. Distance runner Mia Dawson placed second in the 3200 meter run while also placing third in the 800 meter and 1600 meter run. Maine Lund placed third behind Dawson in the 3200 meter run.

In the field events, Lafayette had one podium finish. Anna Lafferty placed second in the pole vault event with an attempt of eight feet-six inches.

Brendan Toles led the boys team with three podium finishes, including a state championship. Toles won the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.67 seconds and placed third in the 200 meter dash as well as third in the triple jump.

Other podium finishes for Lafayette’s boys included a third-place result from Bralen Williams in the 400 meter dash and a third-place finish by Watson Williamson in the pole vault event with an attempt of 10-feet even.

Blue Devils’ Freeman makes the podium

In the Class 3A meet, also held on Thursday, Water Valley’s Saveon Freeman competed in two events, finishing in the top-three in one of them.

The sophomore placed third in the long jump with an attempt of 20-feet, 3-inches. Freeman also finished seventh in the 200 meter dash with a time of 23.74 seconds.