HATTIESBURG &045; The Mississippi High School Activities Association will not hold its track and field state championships for another three months.

However, on a similar marquee platform at the Southern Miss High School Invitational, Natchez High seniors Kedrieck Gibbons and Tanieka Hill served notice they will once again be hard to top in their respective events.

Both were named the invitational’s most valuable players, as the Lady Bulldogs finished in second overall behind Northridge High School and the Bulldogs finished third at the Marshall Bell Track Complex on the USM campus.

Gibbons, a University of South Carolina commitment, smoked the competition in his bread-and-butter events, the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles.

Gibbons’ 110 time of 14.13 seconds better second-place finisher Reco Johnson of Columbus by more than 5/10 of a second.

He was the only competitor in the 300 to post a sub-40 time, sprinting to the finish line in 38.92 seconds, a full second faster than Johnson again.

Gibbons also leaped to first place in the long jump with a jump of 22-02.50.

Travis Washington also capture first-place honors for the Bulldogs with wins in both the 100-meter dash (10.94) and the 400-meter dash (51.12).

The boys 4×100-meter relay team finished in a time of 43.11, just 2/10 of a second from first place winner St. Augustine High School in New Orleans

Matching her teammate Gibbons, Hill coasted to wins in the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles in times of 15.21 and 46.93, respectively. Lady Bulldog teammate Candace Frye finished in 16.81, good for third in the 100-meter hurdles.

Taji Dorsey’s leap of 17-00.00 helped her team out with a win in the long jump, while finishing second in the triple jump (34-09.50).

Freshman Ke’Airra Jones tied with two other jumpers for first in the high jump, as the three each cleared 5-02.00.

Jones also picked up a third-place finish in the 400-meter dash (57.91), as she was only one of four runners to post sub-minute times.

The Lady Bulldogs, who finished just three points behind Northridge, continued to dominate the relays, running a full eight seconds faster than the competition in the 4×400 (4:08.42) and picking up a second in the 4-100 (49.25).