Coach Melanie Black returns to MRA for her 6^th year as the Varsity and Junior High Girls’ track coach. She is a graduate of Belhaven College and Mississippi College and is a veteran coach with over 40 years of coaching experience, including stints at Northwest Rankin High, Brandon High, George County High and McLaurin High. She began her coaching career in the MAIS where she coached basketball and track for 10 years before moving to the public school league. During her coaching tenure, Coach Black has led her track teams to 8 state championships (2 at MRA, 5 at George County, and 1 at McLaurin). Her teams have been Conference, Division, Regional, North/South State and Overall State Champions, and she has been named Mississippi Girls’ Track Coach of the Year. Since arriving at MRA, her Junior High teams have won their state championship every year -5 straight years- and her varsity teams have finished in the top 3 in the state each year, capped off with back to back State Championships in 2018 and 2019.