PEARL &045; Rodney Gray wasn’t even in contention in the high jump. Lucky for him he still had the hurdles to come. In the 110-meter hurdles, the junior standout was outstanding, winning easily despite running a time less than his best this season.

Gray then finished third in the 300 hurdles, a disappointment for him considering he had the best qualifying time in the state this year.

&uot;I’m not going to make excuses,&uot; Gray said. &uot;I didn’t run my best race, but there’s no excuse for it.&uot;

The stifling heat might have had something to do with Gray slowing in his final event of the day. Dozens of competitors at the meet had to be treated for cramping and overheating in the high temperatures and sunny weather.

The Natchez boys had lower goals this time around at the state meet. The Bulldogs had placed second the past four years at the state meet, but with no relays and only three athletes competing Saturday, a high finish in the team event was almost certainly out of reach.

Gray had a solid day even without winning the 300 hurdles and senior sprinter Travis Washington had a good showing in his events, as did middle-distance runner Trevis Graves.

&uot;Gray had a great day for us and Washington had a decent day. All three boys did what they had to do today,&uot; Wesley said. &uot;Our boys finished seventh here and I’m proud of them for that given the circumstances. We’ve be back next year ready to compete.&uot;

Gray won the 110 hurdles early in the day with a time of 14.83 seconds, slower than the 14.59 he ran to qualify but significantly better than runner-up Jeffrey Cameron of Tupelo, who ran a 15.16.

Gray didn’t even take his final attempt in the high jump after seeing the marks ahead of him. Gray finished eighth with a jump of 5-10, well behind the winner, Brandon’s Steven Green, who cleared 6-6.

&uot;That was the best I could do even back when I was training full-time just for that,&uot; Gray said. &uot;I’ll settle for a gold medal in hurdles.&uot;

Washington was fourth in the 400 at 51.38, fourth in the 200 at 22.78 and seventh in the 100 at 11.53 seconds.

Graves finished seventh in the 800 with a time of 2:10.06.