LHSAA Cross Country State Championship

The LHSAA Cross Country State Championships was on Monday, November 14 at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches.

Division III

Franklin Roemer finished as the Division III state runner-up at a time of 16:14.4.  Roemer had a lead after the first mile with a 5:16.7 first mile and eventual state champion Blayton Bernard from University Lab was less than a second behind.  Roemer ran a 5:35 for the second mile, but Bernard had overtaken Roemer by the end of the second mile.   Roemer completed the race with a 5:23 mile in the final mile to finish as the Division III state runner-up.  

The Flyers as a team finished 8th place of 21 teams in the Division III boys state championship.    Roemer was the top Flyer runner.   Mark Henry finished 34th out of 149 runners in 17:51.  Jackson Drouillard came in 39th in 17:57.3.   Carter Ward and Reese Jacobs rounded out the scoring for the Flyers boy cross country team.

The Lady Flyers finished 19th place in the Division III girls state championship.    Mary Elberson was the top Lady Flyer runner in 24:22.0.  Other scorers for the Lady Flyers were Isabella Cascio, Teresa Fields, Sarah Roppolo, and Maeve Chmielewski. 

Division IV

Jackson Burney grabbed a top-10 finish in sixth place for Calvary in the Division IV boys meet.  The Cavaliers had three runners so could not compete in the team competition.  Ty Knight also had a top-20 finish in 14th place in 17:29.14.  

Cedar Creek was the highest-placing team in Division IV grabbing 7th place in the team competition.   Myles Carpenter Head was the top Cougar finishing in 13th place in 17:24.4.  Ethan McCarthy had a top 30 finish in 30th place.   Anderson Maxwell finished 48th.  John Abram Earle rounded out the scoring for the Cougars.  

Converse finished in 13th.  Logan Carter was the top Wildcat finishing 42nd.  Other scorers for Converse were Johnnie Rhodes, Clayton Rivers, Jayden Johnston, and Jacob Fager.  

Choudrant finished 15th in the Division IV boys.  Jack Groce (53) was the top Aggie runner in 53rd.  Other scorers for Choudrant were Garrett Spearman, Owen Watson, Ren Stephens, and Hagen Davis.  

Lakeside boys team finished 21st. Warrior runners were Luke Mandino, 

Gavin Woodall, Mason Liles, Brandon Bell, and Peyton Gray.

Weston finished 23rd in the Division IV boys race.  Weston runners are Daniel Albert, Dillon Pardue, Darin Allen, Emery Caskey, and Ethan McCarthy.

Regional champ Cedar Creek finished eighth in the Division IV state girls championship.  Taylor Ramsey finished in 18th place in 20:40.9.  Eighth-grader Madison Morris has a top 25 finish at 25th place.  Caroline James finished 48th for the Lady Cougars.  Anna Grace Lee and Catherine McAdams rounded out the scoring for Cedar Creek.  

Abigail Bozeman put in the fastest time of Converse runners with a 16th place finish in 20:37.7.   The following Lady Wildcats helped with the 11th place finish in Division IV:  Zoey Raburn,

Anna Averitt, Preslye Rivers, and Kayli Morgan

Choudrant girls completed the team competition in 15th place.  Lady Aggie runners were Kamryn Rhodes, Heather Murphy, Tanya Mina, Kadence Nugent, and Abbie Fraser. 

Division V

Castor boys were the highest-ranking team among Division V local teams.  Gage Jordan was the fastest Tiger finishing 33rd in 19:53.9.   Seth Pickett completed the state meet in 38th.  Brenden Cox grabbed a top-50 spot in 49th place.  

Glenbrook finished in 18th place and was led by seventh grader Carson Powell who finished 35th in 19:54.8.  Other scoring runners were Nick Killgore, Turner McLelland, Brody Walker, and Mason Goodman.

The Black Cats finished 19th in the team competition.   Sophomore Rankin Alfred completed the race in 32nd place.    Jaylon Stewart, Josef Rodriguez, Jared Martinez, and Drake Hershberger added points to the Florien score. 

Ace Bowling was the sole representative for Negreet boys cross country.

Regional champs Glenbrook Lady Apaches had the highest team placing among all Division III, IV, and V competitors in placing 4th.   The young Glenbrook squad finished strong in the Division V race.   Freshman Mattison Fowler was the top Lady Apache finishing 15th in 22:33.0.   Middle school racers seventh grader Emerson McLelland and eighth grader Laurie Killgor  had top 25 finishes in 21st place in 23:39.9 and 25th place in 23:46.0, respectively.  The veteran member of the squad sophomore Hadley Haynes finished in 29th in 24:16.0.   Seventh-grader Peyton Malone rounded out the scoring in 41st.

Negreet Lady Indians had a sixth-place finish in the team competition.  The high finish was aided by junior Ava Brown’s 14th place finish in 22:31.6.  Skylar Boatman finished in the top 20 by 0.3 seconds finishing in 20th place in 23:39.6.   Alyssa Rhodes completed the race in the top 50 in 49th place.   Emma Wilkerson and Allie Payne added points to the Negreet score. 

Castor had the fastest runner among the Division V Northwest Louisiana runners.   Sophomore Kailey Ann Shirley medaled in the Division V race with a 4th place finish in 21:22.4.   Jenna Braggs had a top 30 finish in 26th place in 23:51.4.  Anna Jones, Elizabeth Harvey, and Autumn Watson all gave the Lady Tigers points.  

St. Mary’s didn’t have enough runners for the team competition but the three runners all had top-40 finishes.   Sophia Hogg was the top Lady Tigers and finished 30th in 24:22.8.  Anna Peluso and Sara Rodrigue finished 36th and 39th respectively. 

Gracie Rutherford pushed the Lady Black Cats to a 16th place finish.  Other Florien runners were Caylee Downs, Adyson Hall, Layla Fletcher, and Grace Brooks.

Calvin Lady Cougars runners were Garazi Fernandez, Hallie Roton, Kyleigh Blundell, Kylie Dupree, and Rebekah Dupree

UTRNWLA Top 20 Runners – Girls

UTRNWLA Top 20 – Boys