Three Warren County athletes win regional AAU competition, advance to nationals – The Vicksburg Post

The top six finishers in this weekend’s AAU Region 11 qualifying track and field meet qualified for the National Junior Olympics.

Three Warren Central athletes did a little more than just qualify.

Sprinters Adria Burrell and Dwight Palmer, along with high jumper Jonathan Henderson, all won events at regional qualifiers in Hammond, La., to punch their ticket to the national championships.

Burrell and Palmer won the age division championships in the 200 meters and Henderson in the high jump. All three competed for the Olympus Bound track and field club, coached by St. Aloysius track and field coach Michael Fields.

Burrell also finished second in the 17-18 women’s 100-meter dash, clocking 12.01 seconds. She won the 200 meters in a personal best time of 24.99 seconds. She qualified fourth in the preliminary round, clocking 25.27 seconds, then ran a personal best in the final to win.

Burrell is a rising senior at Warren Central who won the MHSAA Class 6A championship in the 200 meters and finished second in the 100 meters at this year’s state meet.

Palmer crushed the field in the 15-16 year old boys’ 200 meters, clocking 21.72 seconds. That was three tenths of a second better than runner-up Nasir Ceazar of Team SACS. Palmer also clocked a fast time of 21.96 seconds, the best among 35 competitors in the preliminary round.

Palmer is a rising junior at Warren Central.

Henderson, a recent Warren Central graduate who signed with South Alabama, won the 17-18 boys high jump with a height of 6 feet 10 inches. He tied with Cory Watts of the Marrero Trojans and won on a tiebreaker.

Several other athletes from Warren County and surrounding areas also competed under the Olympus Bound banner.

Vicksburg High graduate Shaniyah Walker finished sixth in the 400-meter dash in the 17-18 girls division, clocking 1:00.82. Walker signed with Hinds Community College.

Warren Central graduate Cameron Eaddy, who also signed to run for Hinds, ran times of 23.19 seconds in the 200 meters and 54.19 seconds in the 400 meters during the preliminary rounds of the 17-18 boys division years. He did not qualify for the final in either case.

Vicksburg High’s Joshua Brown ran a time of 58.56 seconds in the 17-18 boys’ 400-meter dash and failed to advance out of the preliminary round.

Raymond High School’s Cooper Rodgers won the 17-18 year old boys’ 400 meters with a blistering time of 47.24 seconds, 1.6 seconds faster than runner-up Craig Carson of RADL Track Club.

Rodgers, a Mississippi State signee, won the MHSAA Class 4A championship in the 200 and 400 meters last season.

Danasia Ross finished second for Olympus Bound in the girls 15-16 100 meter hurdles, clocking 15.56 seconds.

Shayne Reason placed sixth in the men’s 17-18 year old 110 meter hurdles, with a time of 16.54 seconds; and finished fifth in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:00.84.

The top six finishers in each event qualified for the AAU National Junior Olympics in Des Moines, Iowa, beginning July 28.