The first day of the LHSAA Outdoor Track & Field State Meet featured Class A, B, and C. Local teams were not only in the mix for individual awards but were highly competitive for team state championships and state runner-up. Two local athletes won Most Outstanding Athlete of their class. Northwest Louisiana represented well.
Although Reeves had wrapped up the Class C girls track title with 85 points, the runner-up was highly contested between the two District 1-C teams, Gibsland-Coleman and Summerfield, and Hornbeck. Gibsland-Coleman was sitting in second place at 61 points, Hornbeck at 58, and Summerfield was at 52 heading into the final event. All three were in contention for the state runner-up. Summerfield won the event to push their total to 62 points. Gibsland finished in sixth giving them one point to tie at 62. But Hornbeck finished third in the 4 x 400 race to give them 6 points to bypass the Bulldogs and Rebels at 64 points winning the state runner-up by 2 points.
Gibsland-Coleman Lady Bulldogs’ success came from Most Outstanding Athlete of Class C, Ke’Honesty Williams. Williams gold in 100 m dash and 200 m dash. She placed second in the long jump and as part of the 4 x 100 team along with Samora Sampson, Ja’Maya Jackson, and Shamaria Durham.
Eighth-grader Sampson piled on three other medals also finishing as state runner-up in the 100 and 300m hurdles. Sampson gained a bronze in the triple jump.
Fellow district team Summerfield Lady Rebels finished in a tie with the Lady Bulldogs at 62 points. Shaniya Martin knew nothing but gold after the state track meet as she accumulated four state championships. Individually, Martin won the 100 m hurdles and 400 m run. She won two as part of the 4 x 200 and 4 x 400 relay teams. Along with Martin on both teams was Malaysia Tate and Yilacia McDaniel. Tate also won third on the 100 m dash. McDaniel placed third in the 400 m run. Ella Adkins was also a member of the 4 x 400 state champion squad. Alhanza Pickens also brought gold back to Claiborne Parish as part of the 4 x 200 team.
Castor Lady Tigers led the Class B girl’s race through 14 events. After the 300 m hurdles win by Ella Laborde of Christ Episcopal, the two teams were tied at 54.50 points for first place. Lacassine and Episcopal of Acadiana were also closing in on the lead. A win by Ayden Brown of Episcopal Acadiana saw them jump from fourth to first place with 58. Castor gained a point by Jalexia Caldwell to hold second at 55.50. Christ Episcopal had dropped to third and Lacassine had dropped to fourth because neither had a competitor in the 300 hurdles. In the 3200m run, Svenya Stoyanoff won for Christ Episcopal followed by Ava Grace Hebert of Episcopal Acadia. Christ Episcopal got a bonus of a third-place runner giving them 16 points for the race. Kenzie Crawford gave the Lady Tigers 4 points. Christ Episcopal jumped to first place locking down at least a state runner-up heading into the final event with 70.50 points. Episcopal of Acadia dropped to second at 66. Castor stayed at third with 59.50 but only able to grab state-runner up at this point. Lacassine had dropped out of the race for either award. The 4 x 400 race finished with Lacassine winning the race. Castor needed at least a second-place finish to win the state runner-up because Episcopal of Acadiana was not in the 4 x 400. Christ Episcopal finished as state runner-up and the eight points clinched the state championship. Castor finished in sixth and finished third overall in Class B. The team chase for the state championship did not outshine the accomplishments individually of the Lady Tigers. Jalexia Caldwell grabbed a state championship in the triple jump and a state runner-up in the long jump. Senior Emma Guice ended her high school track career with a gold in the discus and a silver in the shot put. Katelyn Urquidez pole vault of 8-0 was enough to give her the state runner-up.
Individual winners in the girls’ competition from other schools today included Haynesville phenom Marissa Tell, the 2019 Most Outstanding Athlete in Class A, who took two state runner-ups in her final round as a Lady Tor track star. Tell finished second in the 100 m hurdles and triple jump. Saline’s Georgia Robinson finish third in the 100 m hurdles in Class B. Robinson was the former Class C champion in the 100 m hurdles in 2019. Robinson actually beat her time in 2019 of 18.83 with this year at 18.60.
The boys’ Class C chase for runner-up may not have been as dramatic as the girls’ counterpart. Hackberry had locked down the state championship with a 29 point lead after 14 events. The battle for the state runner-up was between five teams: Hornbeck (43), Jehovah-Jireh (41), Hicks (38), Summerfield (36), Gibsland-Coleman (33). Gibsland-Coleman’s Jakobe Stevens captured the 300m hurdles knotted the situation. Also, Summerfield placing second with Kameron Jackson and fourth with Dalton Wilson gave the Rebels 12 points. Hackberry didn’t compete and stayed in the lead. Summerfield double points jumped the Rebels to second place with 48 points. Hornbeck was in third with 44. The Bulldogs had moved into a tie with Jehovah-Jireh at fourth with 43 points. Hicks had fallen to sixth with 38. Jehovah-Jireh made the big jump by finishing first and second in the 200 m dash and gained 18 points. Gibsland-Coleman finished fifth with Carlos Rudolph. The state runner-up was getting out of grasp as the 18-point jump put Jehovah-Jireh firmly in second place with 61 points with two events remaining. Jehovah-Jireh had cut Hackberry’s lead in first place down to 11 points. Summerfield had dropped to third with 49. Gibsland-Coleman was in fourth at 45. Hornbeck had fallen to fifth with 44. The 3200m run saw neither Hackberry nor Jehovah-Jireh competing. Hornbeck kept their shot at a state runner-up alive with a third and fourth-place finish and getting a crucial 10 points. Hackberry had clinched the state championship at this point. Jehovah-Jireh stays at second with 61 points. Hornbeck had moved into third with 54 points but would be unable to catch Jehovah-Jireh for second. Summerfield was eliminated out of the runner-up because they would not be a participant in the final 4 x 400 event. Gibsland-Coleman was mathematically out of the runner-up slot
Summerfield boys track finished fourth place with 52 points. Martravious Kennedy finished as state runner-up in the 110 m hurdles with a time of 19.76. Eddy Kennedy took home third place in the shot put with a launch of 38-11.75 feet. Trace Morrow let the discus fly to a state runner-up position.
Gibsland-Coleman Bulldogs took home some medals back to Bienville Parish. Terrance James finished 2nd in the high jump. Matthew Jackson took the silver medal home with a 39-8.75 toss of the shot put. The 4 x 100 relay team claimed third place. The members of the Bulldogs relay team are Demarcus Durham, Joshua Adams, Carlos Rudolph, and Jakobe Stevens. Stevens also won the 300 m hurdles.
In Class B, Doyline and Castor both tied for fifth place with 33 points. JS Clark Leadership Academy ran away with the Class B title with 117 points. Simsboro won runner-up by 23 points.
Doyline Panther Jamari Markray took the Most Outstanding Athlete award in Class B. Markray took two state championships and a state runner-up. The junior won the 300 m by 0.38 seconds over back-to-back Lacassine runner. Markray also blew away the high jump competition with his 6-03.00 high jump. Zwolle’s Drave Meshell was his closest competition with 5-10.00. Markray came up short on the long jump by 1.25 inches to get the state runner-up.
Castor Tigers saw three on the podium at LSU. Gage Jordan was edge out of a state championship by 1 inch on his 136-05.00 throw of the javelin. Landyn Crow also had a state runner-up on the pole vault. Austin Cooper finished third with a triple jump of 39-7.25 feet.
Finally, in Class A Ouachita Christian dominated both the boys and girls competitions taking both state championships back to Monroe. The state runner-up for the boys was Ascension Catholic who was 62 points behind OCHS. East Iberville took state runner-up honors back for the ladies.
Calvary was the only boys’ team locally to get on the podium in Class A. Will Bagley finished third in the pole vault competition with his 11-05.25. Garrett Sepulvado took a bronze back to Shreveport in the 3200 m run.
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