Parish athletes win track titles at state meet

The LHSAA State Outdoor Track Meet took place at Bernie Moore Stadium at LSU this week, and two parish track squads finished in the top 10, and four parish athletes took home state championships

The action began on Thursday. That’s when the Ascension Catholic boy’s track squad put forth a sensational performance at LSU, as the Bulldogs finished as the Class 1A state runners-up.

Ascension Catholic finished with 62 points, only behind runaway winner Ouachita Christian, who piled up 124 points.

Country Day, High Baptist and Logansport rounded out the rest of the top five.

The big winner for the Bulldogs was Chase Walker. Walker had a spectacular day, bringing home two individual state titles, and also claiming a runner-up finish.

Walker won the 800 with a time of two minutes and 4.12 seconds. He also claimed the state championship in the 1,600 with a time of four minutes and 40.50 seconds.

Walker placed second in the 3,200 with a time of 10 minutes and 24.90 seconds.

Another state championship performance for Ascension Catholic came from J’Mond Tapp. Tapp won the state title in the shot put with a measurement of 46 feet and 9.5 inches.

Khai Prean had a strong day as well.

Prean was the runner-up in the 200 with a time of 22.50, and he placed third in the 100 with a time of 11.14.

Also at the Class 1A competition, Ascension Christian had one athlete place in the top three. That was Joel Burnett, who finished in third in the 400 with a time of 52.72.

Ascension Christian finished in a tie with Plain Dealing for 21st at the meet.

At the Class 3A meet, the Donaldsonville  boys finished in a tie with Ville Platte for 27th. Though, no Tigers placed in the top three.

Besides the Ascension Catholic boys, the Dutchtown girls had the best finish in the parish. The Lady Griffins finished seventh in Class 5A.

St. Joseph’s Academy won the 5A crown, and Zachary was state runner-up. John Curtis, Baton Rouge and Lafayette rounded out the rest of the top five.

Dutchtown was led by Ariane Linton. Linton took home the state championship in the 100 with a time of 11.39. Linton was also runner-up in the 200 with a time of 24.12.

Also performing well for the Lady Griffins was Rachel Fereday. Fereday placed third in the 800 with a time of two minutes and 19.91 seconds.

For the boys, East Ascension had the best parish finish in Class 5A. The Spartans finished tied with Natchitoches Central for 12th. St. Amant finished right behind in 14th. Dutchtown placed 22nd.

Jerrell Boykins, Jr. had a big day for East Ascension. Boykins won the state title in the discus event with a measurement of 173 feet and one inch. He was also the state runner-up in the shot put with a measurement of 54 feet and 5.50 inches.

For St. Amant, W’Juanteraus Rodrique placed second in the long jump with a jump of an even 23 feet.

Ruston won the Class 5A crown, and Zachary was the runner-up.