Advocate seeks nominations for athletes of year

The Advocate is still accepting nominations for its Athlete of the Year awards for 2012.

Schools can nominate one boy and one girl for these overall honors that will be presented at a May 21 banquet. The Advocate will also honor Star of Stars winners in high schools sports at the same banquet.

Athletes nominated must be in grades 10-12 and be on track to meet the NCAA’s academic qualifying guidelines. The nomination deadline has been extended to Wednesday.

School should submit their athlete’s name, grade and athletic accomplishments during the 2011-12 school year. Information submitted should include statistics and any postseason honors.

Athletes who compete for schools in the Baton Rouge metro area are eligible for nominations. The metro area includes East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Ascension, Livingston, Iberville, East and West Feliciana and Pointe Coupee Parishes.

Nominations can be submitted by fax to Robin Fambrough at [phone] or by email to [e-mail]. Contact Fambrough at [phone] with any questions.

Lutcher getting turf

Plans are in place for Lutcher High and St. James to get artificial turf for their football fields. An item about adding turf to the field appeared on a recent St. James School Board agenda. A bond issue that will help pay for the fields was passed last spring and also paid for repairs to Lutcher’s stadium last season following a fire.

Lutcher athletic director-football coach Tim Detillier championed the turf-fields cause .

“I just thought the timing was right,” Detillier said. “We have some drainage issues at our stadium that can be fixed by this. And it will benefit all groups other than the football team, like the band and ROTC.”

Detillier said Lutcher’s turf should be installed by the fall. He said St. James is in the process of acquiring land for a new stadium and that turf would be installed on that field, hopefully in time for the 2013 season.

Officials’ spring training

Spring training isn’t only for high school football players. The Baton Rouge Area Football Officials Association is conducting spring training for its officials in four sessions next month. Anyone interested in becoming an official can attend.

Training dates are at Denham Springs High at 10 a.m. May 12 and 5 p.m. May 17, at Zachary High at 6 p.m. May 18 and at Parkview Baptist at 6 p.m. May 25.

Contact Brad Edwards at [phone] or [e-mail] or Paul Berry at [phone] or [e-mail].

Signees, etc.

Denham Springs softball player Natalie Landry signed with Northwestern State before the LHSAA State Softball Tournament. She entered the tournament with a .438 average.

Three other DSHS players, shortstop Lauren Russell (William Carey), outfielder Sydney McCullough (Baton Rouge Community College) and pitcher Madison Vige (Louisiana College) are expected to sign in the days ahead.

• Three Central High athletes signed with different schools last week led by girls basketball player Kristen Williams, who signed with Southeastern Louisiana University.
• Volleyball players Rachel Barber (University of Mobile) and Brisha Coffee (Alcorn State) were the other signees.
• Former St. Amant High basketball player Rashaun Claiborne has signed with North Alabama. A 2009 SAHS graduate, Claiborne has played for New Orleans-based Delgado Community College. The 6-foot-5 Claiborne led the Dolphins in scoring and was an all-district and All-Metro player for the Gators.

McKinley physicals

All current McKinley High athletes and incoming freshmen for 2012-13 can get their physical exams done Saturday at the school’s gym.

Students can report for the physical exams starting at 7 a.m. Students should obtain copies of the physical exam from the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s website, lhsaa.org.