Pearl runners hold top times in the state in multiple events

PEARL, Miss. (WLBT) - When the Pearl track and field team takes the stage to compete in the South State Championship meet in Biloxi this weekend, they’ll be doing so with some of the top runners in the entire state.

Pirate runners currently hold the top times in the state for the spring season in the 800 meter (junior Tanner Moore and junior Hannah Moore), 1 mile (sophomore Jaquavion Bryant), 4x100 meter relay (boys), the 4x400 meter relay (girls), and 4x800 meter relay (boys). They also have several runners in the top ten in their events.

“Over the years, Pearl’s been one of the top track schools in Mississippi, that’s what we expect,” said senior Justice Moore, who has the third-fastest time in the 200 meter, and is on the relay team. “It’s really all we can do is come out here and work, that’s all we do out here everyday.”

Bryant not only has the top time in the state, he’s one of the fastest in the country at his age. Bryant currently has the ninth fastest time in the nation in the sophomore class.

“It feels really good, I have a big target on my back, but I’m trying to get ready,” he said. “I just have really good mindset. I don’t go out too out fast, I pace behind somebody, or if it’s too slow, I’ll take out the pace.”

With so much talent on the team, each runner pushes their teammates to work even harder.

“Iron sharpens iron,” Justice Moore said “One day I might not be the best, but one of my teammates, he might be running faster than me, so it’s like, ‘dang, I’ve gotta step my game up.’”

“As a team, with a bunch of people with top times, that’s really good,” Bryant said. “If we can continue to have that, have a variety of people in different areas, we’ll be a good team as a whole.”

The runners credit their coaching as the key to their success.

" It’s all in the coaching, man. We’ve got a great coaching group,” Tanner Moore said. “Our saying is, ‘find a way,’ you just find a way get things done. You come out here and compete, and you got some of the guys in front of you. You just push yourself; you find a way.”

However, head coach Chris Barnett said the success comes because the athletes work so hard in practice.

“They come every single day ready to compete, and ready to get after it with their workouts, and everything they do,” he said. “It’s the small things like getting sleep at night, staying hydrated, stretching and icing, doing those small things that sometimes a lot of people take for granted. But, as far as overall, they’re very special group because, like I said, they come and they work hard every day.”

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