Hampton County girls track and field young but talented

Neill Kirkpatrick • April 17, 2025

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By Neill Kirkpatrick

Special to the HSSR

Varnville – The 2024 track and field season came to an exciting end for the Hampton County girls track and field as they rode to third place finishes and a fourth place in the relay races to finish in the top ten at sixth in the state AA meet.

“We had a great finish last year at the State Meet but lost 12 Seniors who were all strong competitors. With a solid core returning, we want to keep improving and building back what we graduated,” said head coach Myrriah Hanna. “We have depth and numbers on our team. I am confident we will do well because of that.”

Coach continued, “I feel like we are pretty steady across all events, but the area that has improved the most is the throws.

The Hurricanes have depth as coach pointed out but they also return key runners in the sprints, middle distance and distance which will help develop the younger girls

Junior Areyana Allen is back after finishing sixth in the 100 meters at the AA state meet last season when she set a new personal best of 12.56. She has already lowered her PR this year to 12.23 at the Iron Horse Stampede where she placed first. She is also the anchor of the 4x100 and runs the 200 with a personal best of 26.44.

Taryn Hanna has been going to the state meet since she was an eighth grader in the 3200. The junior has become more of a middle-distance runner, running 800 and 1600 meters. She has also lowered her previous PR’s in both events; 5:44 in the 1600 and 2:34 in the 800.

Freshman Chandler Gordon has been working hard since the 7^th grade to improve her 100-meter and 400-meter hurdle times and like her teammates has sent new PR’s in both events.

In field events, sophomore Kya McQuire has been dominating shotput and has qualified for the Coaches Classic at Spring Valley with a put of 35.59 feet. She is also strong in disc with a toss of 101.60.

A'Brionna Johnson is a sophomore, who is new this year and is one of the Hurricanes fastest girls on the team. She is running the 100-meter hurdles and has posted a time of 18.50 and runs the third leg on the 4x100.

Two other newcomers are 7^th grader Mikah Taylor and 8th grader A'riyona Sanders. They have added depth in the sprinting events. Taylor runs the 100-meter hurdles and Sanders runs the 100 meters.

“I have a very young team, with only five seniors graduating. These girls want to get better and always willing to step up and run an event for the team. They have been a very easy and hardworking group to coach,” said coach Hanna.

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