ACHS girls win cross-country title, boys finish second

The Ascension Catholic cross-country teams have a new head coach this season, but they saw much of the same results in last week’s Allstate Sugar Bowl/LHSAA State Cross Country meet at BREC’s Highroad Road Park.

For the second straight year, the Ascension Catholic girls were able to claim the Class 1A state title. The boys faired tremendously as well as they finished as runners-up.

Under new head coach A.J. Thibodeaux, the Lady Bulldogs won the state title by edging out St. Martin’s by 9 points at 48 to 57.

It was their second straight championship and their third in the past four years.

Their title run was spearheaded by the trio of Sophie Daigle, Breanna Bernard and Stephanie Breaux.

Breaux was last year’s champion. She couldn’t duplicate the feat this time around, but she still performed well—finishing in fourth with a time of 20 minutes and 8.9 seconds

Daigle finished as runner-up (19:24.5), and Bernard was right behind in third (19:48.2). Both runners signed with Southeastern last week.

Also finishing in the top 10 for the Lady Bulldogs was Haley Dupre. She finished ninth with a time of 20 minutes and 40.5 seconds.

As for the Ascension Catholic boys, they were able to finish as runner-up behind St. Martin’s. They won easily by a 48 to 78 margin.

The Bulldogs narrowly edged out third-place Cedar Creek, 78 to 79.

Their best finish came from Thomas Daigle as he took third with a time of 17 minutes and 3.8 seconds. Luke Spano was close behind with a ninth-place finish.

Like Sophie Daigle and Bernard, Bulldog runner Logan Thibodeaux signed with Southeastern last week.

Last Monday, he finished 13th with a time of 18 minutes and 1.6 seconds.

Another Ascension cross-country runner that signed with the Lion program last week was Dutchtown’s Tara Stuntz.