The EHS Round Table Run, while not the first race of the season, will certainly be remembered as the first important race of the season. Numerous teams from around the state gathered to compete on a brisk fall morning at Highland Park in Baton Rouge to compete against the best the state has to offer. The hype certainly was worth what happened.
In the girls race last years 5A champs and last years 2A champs, Dominican and Menard, battled against other top teams in their divisions. Dominican faced off against St. Josephs Academy and Menard against the team they edged out last year at the state meet, the host Episcopal. Also making her way to the meet was the states top individual runner Gabrielle Jennings of First Baptist, who according to the meet director also celebrated her 14th birthday on Saturday as well.
In usual fashion Jennings left no doubt from the get go, taking the lead within the first half mile and not relinquishing the rest of the race. In what ended up being a Highland Road time trial, Jennings finished the race in a quick time of 18:57. The race for the team title was on though, and Dominican pushed hard through the middle of the race to separate from the group of St. Josephs girls on their heels. Dominicans top 4 was eventually too much for St. Joes to handle, but the margin of victory was only 13 points (38-51). Expect this rivalry to continue all season long. Menard also edged out the host team for third place by 32 points, another race that could end up being a lot closer come November.
The boys race ended up being a list of who's who? with 7 of the top 8 teams in the state competing for honors. Also in the race was several of the top ranked individual athletes which made for a very fast meet. To get the race started, Devyn Keith of John Curtis took the lead, blazing the first half mile in right around 2:30 to ensure a quick pace. On his heels were the duo of Wolves, Jackson and Albright, and the states top returning runner Fitzpatrick. The trailing group, along with Brady Warren of Walker, made their way to catch Keith by the mile and a half and slowly pulled away before the two mile, crossing in low 10s. The battle was on from there. In what became a great sprint to the finish between two runners who are arguable more strength than speed oriented, Fitzpatrick edged Jackson at the line with Albright only a few seconds behind. Warren of Walker passed up Keith for fourth place, and Keith had to put on a late surge to keep Johnson of EHS at bay, who ended up sixth. Super sophomore Zachary Capello was seventh, also making it in before 16 minutes hit the clock.
The team race was close as expected with the top 2 teams retaining their places. St Pauls edged EHS by only 26 points which could easily be closer as the season goes along. The other 5A juggernauts finished out the top 5 in the order of Catholic, Brother Martin, and Jesuit, while other ranked teams finished in the next few spots.
Many of the top boys teams who competed at this meet will be competing at the St. Pauls meet this coming saturday.