As suspected from the beginning of the season, St. Joseph's Academy is the heavy favorite to win the state title. The girls have won six out of the last seven cross country championships and could very well claim their sixth consecutive title in what is one of the most competitive seasons of cross country in Louisiana history.
St. Jo's could possibly place six runners in the top ten, which speaks bounds in terms of how competitive this team is. The entire team has run below 19-minutes this season and has even had some individuals below 18-minutes or very close to it.
Among these girls competing this Tuesday are Madeline Gardiner, Grace Rennhoff, Emma Claire Hendry, Hannah Vaughan, Michelle Daigle, Elise Jones, and Alexis Napoli. It would not be surprising to find several of these runners on the podium. Every one of these girls is extremely talented and has had an extremely successful last two weeks of competition. This team is clearly in shape to win another title and it will be difficult to find someone that could truly threaten their chances.
The St. Joseph's girls leading the East Baton Rouge Metro Championships
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I wish I were able to touch on each of these girls' performances, but there are just too many amazing times to do it justice.
A team that came in underrated during the preseason was the Ruston girls. This team has stepped up its performance after finishing 5th at last year's cross country championships. This year, they have a chance to crown an individual champion with Lily Garrett and take home some team hardware as well. Garrett finished 16th last year and has made significant strides in her performance since then. She not only broke 19-minutes for the first time but also ran below 18-minutes by a wide margin with a top-of-the-state time of 17:27.
The rest of the team have had the same amount of upward trends in finishes as well. Anna Naff finds herself bridging the pack between Garrett and the rest of the team. She has only continued to improve throughout the season and is followed not too far behind by two freshmen, Parker Nations and Sydney Owens. These two runners have been excellent additions to the team and really give the team a chance to finish on the podium this season.
Lily Garrett (right) and Jenna Key (left) at the Region 1 5A Championships
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Closing out Ruston's squad are Zoie Holstead and Sarah Naff. These two have run together all season and are interchangeable for the 5th position on the team. This is the team's insurance in case one of Ruston's runners falls off, this will be a nice safety net for the team.
Threatening Ruston for a team runner-up title is Dominican. They have a strong 1-2 finish with Kelsey Major and Morgan Trauth, but face a challenge with the gap between its runners. The space between them allows for teams like Ruston to take advantage of this disparity. Trauth and Major will most likely finish in the top ten. They have been on fire all season and have even finished among the top runners from St. Joseph's.
Following up on Trauth and Major is Elise Raque. She has been consistent with her last three performances and could give her team a chance of beating out Ruston by putting some ground on Ruston's third runner.
Hannah Linebaugh (yellow) and Natalie Venkataraman (right) at the Region 2 5A Championships
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Some runners to look out for are Jenna Key of C.E. Byrd and Jaci Gary of Southside High. These two Region 1 runners have both broken 18-minutes for 3 miles and could have a run for a podium finish.
Also do not forget about the duo of Hannah Linebaugh of Denham Springs and Natalie Venkataraman of Baton Rouge High. These two have faced off against each other for three meets this season and have always finished between 10 seconds of each other. They could both also make a top ten appearance and claim an all-state honor.