The Meridian High School track and field team is not back to practicing yet, and will not be until July, but many of the Wildcats’ runners, jumpers and hurlers are still working hard during the offseason.

Multiple Wildcats are part of the Amateur Athletic Union’s Blue Flames squad, which is currently gearing up for the State Games of Mississippi’s track and field meet. MHS will host the meet in Ray Stadium on Saturday.

MHS track coach Regonal Walker said the State Games event is an opportunity for athletes to explore new events in a competitive yet fun environment.

“The focus of it is more so fun, but also competitive,” Walker said. “They can try different events that you haven’t tried, weren’t able to do during the season. … Also, we have a variety of age groups that range from five-year-olds all the way up to 67-year-olds, so there can be a family aspect of it in which everybody gets involved, but there’s no pressure and you just get to have fun and just really enjoy it.”

After a boys top-five finish at last season’s 6A Mississippi High School Activities Association’s Track and Field Championships, and the exodus of the team’s graduating seniors shortly after, Walker is looking for new and existing team members to step up and lead MHS on a new quest for a 6A team title.

He said summer is a time for his athletes, especially the younger ones, to build on the skills they previously developed. Walker wants to see improvement in specific events this offseason.

“The key will be our development in multiple events,” Walker said. “Sprinting and hurdling have been our strong suits. The jumps and throws are our concern and focus right now, and we’re really working now to get kids in and really build and develop them in that area so that when the season comes back around, they can compliment our strong suits.”

When the Wildcats do get back to competing in road meets, they will have new travel benches to rest on between events. MHS alumni Richard Kelly donated three six-chair benches to Walker and his team earlier this month.

Kelly said he wanted to donate the benches to the team because he knows Walker, and he wanted to honor his wife, Ceatrice Brookshire-Kelly, who spent three years on the MHS squad before graduating in 1975.

“I’m a 1972 graduate of MHS, and I’ve always supported everything that MHS does, from the arts to athletics,” Richard Kelly said. “Each year I try to donate something to one of the athletics teams. I’ve donated to the football team before, and the basketball team, so this year I chose to make a contribution to the track and field team.”

Walker said it is empowering and inspiring that alumni are willing to spend their own funds to donate to the team, and it shows the MHS community invests in the team’s goals.

“When you actually compete, you know that people have that expectation of you competing and competing well, so you don’t want to let anybody down,” Walker said. “It’s just very inspiring to know that you have people in the community that actually believe in what you’re doing, and they see the promise and the potential of the program, and I’m grateful for his support.”