St. Joseph’s wins Bayou Boogie Invitational
Despite missing four top runners, St. Joseph’s Academy placed four runners in the Top 10 to win the girls team title at St. Michael the Archangel’s 16th Bayou Boogie Invitational on Saturday at BREC’s Highland Road Park.
Most schools had runners miss the first cross country meet of the season with injuries or college testing. SJA finished with 43 points. St. Michael was second with 69 points, Newman third with 70 and Episcopal was sixth with 117.
“Our younger girls had to step up and race,” SJA coach Sam Young said. “They were put in a position where they had to be competitive and score. For an inexperienced group, they did a pretty good job.”
St. Paul’s-Covington won the boys team title with 34 points. Catholic was second with 59 points, Episcopal third with 72, East Ascension sixth with 199 and St. Michael seventh with 207.
St. Paul’s placed five runners in the Top 12. St. Paul’s junior Zachary Albright took first, covering the three-mile course in 15 minutes, 47 seconds. Teammate Kraemer Jackson was second in 16:09.
“I’m definitely happy with my time,” Albright said. “Our team did great, and we really think we can make a run at state this year. This wasn’t a PR (personal record) for me, but we haven’t even started our speed training yet.”
Catholic senior Joseph St. Cyr was third in 16:25, Ascension Catholic’s Zach Capello (16:32) was fourth, the EHS junior duo of Bryan Stamey (16:40) and Ben Murrey (16:52) followed, Catholic sophomore Keith Aldrich (16:54) was seventh and Jesse Hood (16:56) eighth for ACHS.
“St. Paul’s ran very well today, and we look forward to running against them,” CHS coach Pete Boudreaux said. “We came in today just wanting to run, get a time and see where we are. We don’t have a real top seven yet. There are 12 guys in the mix, and that’s a good thing.”
Newman’s Haley Johnson won the girls three-mile race in 20:01. Menard’s Mallory Robichaux was second in 20:45.
St. Michael senior Allie Stone was third in 20:48 and junior teammate Haley Gregoire was fourth in 21:01.
Stone was competing in her first cross country meet, while Gregoire missed last season with an injury. Stone ran two marathons last winter and came out for track for the first time last spring. She suffered a stress fracture in her leg in her first outdoor meet and recently returned to training.
“That was a great opening race for Allie Stone,” SMA coach Neil Borel said. “She got lost three times on the course or would have run faster. It was about learning how to pace today.”
“Most of my training has been as a road runner,” Stone said. “I’m getting used to running on grass and hills. I did run to the wrong cone today but Haley got me going the right way.”
Leading the way for St. Joseph’s were Alysse Wiggins (6th, 21:26), Laurie Lyon (7th, 21:27), Sarah Leblanc
(9th, 21:40) and Annabelle Laville (11th, 21:54). Baker’s Dynasty Williams was eighth in 21:32.
WEST FELICIANA CROSS COUNTRY RELAY: In the St. Francisville area, St. Thomas More (girls) and Walker High (boys) claimed the team titles at the West Feliciana Cross Country Relay on Saturday.
Each runner ran 11/2 miles on four-competitor teams. The Walker boys posted a winning time of 33:59. St. Thomas More (34:39), Dutchtown (35:09) and the Walker B team (37:05) were next.
STM had a winning time of 42:53 in the girls race, placing ahead of Catholic-Pointe Coupee (43:38), Catholic-New Iberia (46:15) and Belle Chasse (46:43).
S&S INVITATONAL: In Hammond, host St. Thomas Aquinas swept the team titles at its S&S Invitational on Saturday.
First Baptist Christian’s Gabrielle Jennings won the girls three-mile race in 18:24.20. Mandeville’s Olivia Murphy (19:26.51) and Holden’s Clarissa Smith (19:35.01) were next.
STA finished with 16 points to win the girls division, ahead of Ponchatoula (47). The Falcons (23) also placed ahead of Ponchatoula (44) in the boys division.
St. Thomas Aquinas had the top three boys finishers in Tommy Brocato (16:45.31), Craig Rock (17:05.10) and Ben Schnadelbach (17:15.08).