Hattiesburg has another great coach besides the legendary well-respected Ernest Watson who brought the Basketball State Title back to Hattiesburg in 2023.
This year, it's all about Coach Charles Green, perhaps one of the most respected coaches in the state who just coached his team to winning the Track and Field State Championship, for both boys and girls! He's a Hall of Fame coach for sure.
Coach Green has produced some of the most talented athletes in the state, perhaps some of the best in the country. Hattiesburg News covered the event from the beginning and it became quite clear half way through this year's state championship that Hattiesburg High Tigers would win 1st place overall as the tigers maintained a 20 point lead throughout most of the competition.
That's in-part to talented track stars such as senior Terrance Barnes and Jalen Hardiman. Jalen won the most medals for Hattiesburg, brining home two 1st place medals and a 3rd place medal. It took winning 11 first place medals for Hattiesburg to beat rival Ridgeland and just 3 extra points to beat Vicksburg. Hattiesburg boys won the state title with the score of 118 to Ridgeland's 85.5 and the girls won the state title 73-71 over Vicksburg High School.
Track Boys
Track Star Terrance Barnes won an astonishing 2nd place competing in the 110 hurdles, finishing with a time of 14:38, 1.3 m/s, winning 8 points for his team. Terrance also helped his team win 1st place in the Boys 4x200 finishing with the time of 1:27:93, adding another 10 points for Team Hattiesburg, along with teammates Kirus Darty, DeMarcus. Baker, and Tony Vance Jr.
Terrance has been a star this season, finishing with seven (7) 1st place wins competing in the 110m hurdles, winning 7 out of 11 that he's participated in, six (6) 1st place wins in the 300m hurdles, winning 6 out of 7, three (3) 1st place wins competing in the 4x200 Relay, wining 3 out of 3, and one (1) 1st place win in the 4x400 Relay all this year.
Terrance has a combine 18 first place wins plus 5 second place wins just this season alone. He has multiple track offers including from Clayton State University, The University of Indiana Tech, and The University of Montevallo.
Another track star is junior Maddox Brown. Maddox competed in the Long Jump, becoming the 2nd Best Long Jumper in the state, almost beating 5 star recruit Deuce Knight from George County. Maddox scored 8 points for his team, jumping 23-01.00 in the state championship bringing home the silver medal.
Maddox also was a major reason Team Hattiesburg won 1st Place in 4x100M, creating major distance between the other teams as he sonic zoomed past the other competitors. The team also included teammates Kirus Darty, DeMarcus. Baker, and Tony Vance Jr.
Like Terrance, Maddox has been an absolute track star this year. Maddox has a total of fourteen (14) 1st Place wins this season. That includes winning 10 out of the 14 Long Jump events he's competed in this year.
He has a 1st place win in the 300m hurdles at the Hattiesburg Seasoner Opener, a 1st place win in the 4x400 Relay in the Hattiesburg Super Regionals, & a 1st place win in High Jump at the Clinton Opener. Don't forget to add his 1st place medal from this year's state championship for those keeping count.
Track Girls
Surprisingly a freshman at Hattiesburg High helped lead her team to winning this year's state championship, contributing 16 points to Team Hattiesburg. Track Star Kenya Morris lead Hattiesburg Girls to winning this year's state championship as a freshman, winning 2nd place in the Girls 800m with a time of 2:33.47, adding 8 points to the board to her team.
She also helped the girls win 2nd place in the 4x800 Relay along with teammates Ka'Nia Lewis, JJa'Miah Pollard, and Khrislyn Dedrick with a time of 10:28:71, giving Team Hattiesburg another 8 points.
Kenya has performed well this season. She has won 1st place in both the Hattiesburg Regionals and Hattiesburg Super Regionals for the 800 Meters and the 4x800 Relay races.
Even more astonishing is 7th grade Track Star Judawn Porter that helped Hattiesburg Girls win the state title this year. She won 2nd place in the girls 300m hurdles with a time of 46.16 giving the girls team 8 points. She also contributed to another 4 points when she won 5th place in the Girls 100m Hurdles.
Even as a 7th grader, Judawn had an incredible season this year. She won 1st place at both Hattiesburg Regionals and Hattiesburg Super Regionals for the 300m Hurdles 30". She earned 2nd place at both regionals for Long Jump & Triple Jump.
Here's a look at how Hattiesburg Track and Field Teams Competed in the State Championship:
2024 State Championship Girl Medal Winners:
Ambrie Johnson- 1st Place 4x400, 3rd Place Long Jump
Ka'Nia Lewis- 1st Place- 4x400, 2nd Place 4x800
Tamea Miller- 1st Place- 4x400
Temeia Ford- 1st Place- 4x400
Judawn Porter- 2nd Place 300m Hurdles, Kenya Morris- 2nd Place 800m, 2nd Place 4x800
Khrislyn Dedrick- 2nd Place 4x800
Ja'Miah Pollard- 2nd Place 4x800
Nyla Flowers- 3rd Place 100m Hurdles,
2024 State Championship Boys Medal Winners
Jalen Hardiman- 1st Place 800m, 1st Place 4x800, 3rd Place 1600m
Tony Vance- 1st Place 4x200, 1st Place 4x100
Kirus Darty- 1st Place 4x200, 1st Place 4x100
Demarcus Baker- 1st Place 4x200, 1st Place 4x100
Terrance Barnes- 1st Place 4x200, 2nd Place 100m Hurdles
Maddox Brown- 1st Place 4x100, 2nd Place Long Jump
Anthony Ratcliff- 1st Place 4x800
Antony Ponce- 1st Place 4x800
Logan Rich- 1st Place 4x800
A Garcia Martinez- 1st Place 3200m
Kevin Oatis- 1st Place Shot Put
Tristen Keys- 3rd Place High Jump