The award, named after W.C. “Pop” Allen, a long time athletics director in the Jackson Public Schools, is given annually to the top athlete from the state in all sports. Sisk was one of the three finalists for the entire state and then selected as the top athlete overall.

Sisk is the first female athlete from Oxford High to win the Pop Star award. (May 17, 2012, Page 7A)

With Oxford ahead of Pearl by only three points (72-69) with two events left to be scored, Ott’s finish — as well as how teammate Sally Rychlak fared — in the pole vault was critical to deciding a third straight state championship for the Lady Chargers.

Ott knew that Kristen Dickerson had fallen in the 300 meter hurdles and did not record a point. She was vaulting when members of the 4×100 relay team collided and finished eighth, which meant only one point for a team that should have finished fourth. Ott also knew that 3,200 runner Audrey Dayan was held out of Friday’s meet due to an injury, meaning no additional points in an event she was seeded third in. (May 14, 2012, Page 1B)

Oxford scored 30 of its 51 points thanks to Fondren’s leap of 7 feet, Michael McGhee’s throw of 45 feet, 10 inches in the shot put and Austin Super’s mark of 14-3 in the pole vault. The Chargers finished fourth overall in the meet that was won by Pearl with 73 points.

Fondren finished first in the high jump and then attempted 7.25 to tie the overall state meet record of Marcus Jackson from J.Z. George but was unable to clear the bar during his three attempts. Fondren has cleared the height before but an athlete has to do it at the state meet in order for it to be a state record. (May 14, 2012, Page 2B)

“It feels good, we’re just blessed,” Sisk said after helping lead the Lady Chargers mile relay that secured the victory for the team. “Words can’t explain how good this feels.”

Sisk, who finished first in the triple jump with an amazing leap of 40 feet, 2 inches, was 2.25 inches off the overall record in the event set by former Ole Miss standout Brittany Reese. Ott then set a new class record in the pole vault with a mark of 10-0, a record that was previously held by her sister and former teammate Ann Crabtree.

Ott’s victory in the pole vault gave the Lady Chargers some breathing room over the Lady Pirates, who were only three points (72-69) behind heading into the final two events of the meet.

Ott said she knew how big her win was because she saw teammate Kristen Dickerson fall in the 100 meter hurdles and not able to record a point. She also knew that the 4×100 relay team fell during an exchange and finished last which resulted in only one point. She then got a huge hint how big her points were going to be when half the team showed up to watch her finish pole vault.

“I knew that was a big hurt when Kristen fell. I was vaulting during the 4×100 and saw Mary Helen (Rychlak) fall. After that, half the team came up to the fence to watch me vault. They wouldn’t tell me what was going on. They weren’t going to tell me that if me and Sally didn’t place first or get up with the Pearl girls that they were going to take the lead on us again,” Ott said. “They were sitting there and pushing me on. I had a feeling that me placing first was very important. I just tried and tried and finally I did it.”

“We got Coach (Jamie) Perkins, we’ve got Coach (Scott) Kendricks, they’ve been such a big help to us. We have a great group of girls. We all push ourselves so hard. Our school has never had a three-peat in track, boys or girls, so this was our first one,” Ott added. “We were going into it know that. Our whole senior class wanted to go out with a bang. We wanted everybody to step it up in their final game. We weren’t going to slack off in our sports. We wanted our senior year to be memorable and show the junior class coming up what they can do.”

For more on Lady Chargers’ win, as well as other information involving Oxford’s boys at Friday’s meet, see Monday’s Sports section. (May 12, 2012)

The shot — an eagle on a par-4, 380-yard hole — that made the biggest impact and turned the momentum firmly in the Chargers’ favor was provided by junior Turner Arnold. A day after shooting a round of 87, Arnold’s nine-stroke improvement Wednesday turned out to be a huge turning point for the Chargers, who were tied with a couple of teams after 12 holes. (May 11, 2012, Page 7A)

Led by the nation’s best high jumper, Justin Fondren, the Chargers should still finish in the top five even if they don’t end up winning a state title this year. (May 11, 2012, Page 8A)

A day after finishing the first round in third place with a 339, the Chargers blistered the field on the final day with a round of 326 to finish with a 665, 11 strokes better than second-place finisher Pearl River Central. West Jones finished third overall with a 678. East Central shot a 689 to finish fourth, while Pascagoula was fifth with a 703. A total of 12 schools competed in the match. (May 10, 2012, Page 6)

Just hours after the OHS tennis team won its fifth straight MHSAA state title at Brighton Park in Clinton, Oxford’s boys golf team wrapped up its third state title, and first since 1998, at the Columbus Country Club.

It’s tough for any school to win one or two state titles in a given year, but two in the same day? Amazing.

There is no other way to put it. It was truly a historic day for the OHS athletic department, AD Johnny Hill, tennis coach Louis Nash, golf coach Steve Herring and all the athletes who helped make the two titles possible. It was the kind of day that helps justify building a bigger and better basketball arena simply to put all the championship banners in.

As impressive as Wednesday was for Oxford and its pursuit to win the coveted All-Sports Award title given out after each academic year, there could be a third state title won Friday. The Oxford Lady Chargers track team, coached by the inspirational Jedi Jamie Perkins, has a chance to win a third straight Class 5A title at Pearl. Oxford, which just repeated as North Half champions, is the odds-on favorite to win the championship again this year because of its balance in both field and running events.

Oxford has had a tremendously successful 2012 on the field and courts. The school has won four state championships overall, while all sports have advanced to the playoffs, another big measuring stick of success and accomplishment.

It may still be a little too early to say that the 2011-12 athletic season is the best in the history of the school, but four titles, and a possible fifth, would rank it right at the top of the best years at a school that has grown accustomed to achieving excellence on a yearly basis.

There may be better individual programs/sports in the state compared to Oxford but there really isn’t another program that is as balanced all around as OHS. That fact had already been demonstrated in the past and this year prior to Wednesday’s tremendous achievements. (May 10, 2012, Page 6)