Louisiana Running Milesplit

This type of thread may have been done before but it must have been a very long time ago. Anyway, I figure we could start compiling or locating running news from Louisiana, a topic that has been difficult for me to find much info on. Maybe we could have people who ran during certain era's post those people or teams who were prominent at the time and potentially even do a where are they now.

To start off, does anyone know where one can find past state championship results? I believe the LHSAA website only goes back around a decade.

Also, does anyone know of the times/persons LA produced during the mid 90s? I've heard that the Brother Martin and Catholic teams of this time were very competitive. I believe this is around the time Robbie Leblanc was running for Catholic and he was a monster.

I hope people are as interested in the history of our sport in our state as I am because this could end up being a really fun topic.

There is a book by Jerry Byrd called Runners Whom Renown Outran that you can buy on Amazon. It's a history of LA distance runners going back 95 years.

However, it will have to be updated after this year. With stafford, Brewster, Albright and Landry all going head to head in the 1600, not to mention rice and soto as well as the aquinas and episcopal boys. Can't wait to see it.

@CoachGray

I've been in the LA running community for a decade now and I have never heard of that book. That's great. How might I get a copy of the book since it looks like Amazon is out of stock?

Not sure, I guess I could call Mr. Byrd and ask him. I'll let you know.

robbie leblanc was a monster, which is why he still holds the HP course record at 14:53 and composite record 9:08 (per LHSAA state meet). he was a senior when i was in 7th grade, so c/o 1996. the course record might have been broken just a year after it was set if ryan travis had not taken a wrong turn at the CHS invite.

my one overarching memory of him was running at a 3-way "practice meet" featuring episcopal, baton rouge high, and catholic. robbie had been killing everyone all year, so at this meet he started 60 or 90s after everyone else so he'd have competition to chase. at this meet each school ran everyone 3 miles, jr high and up, and scored 15 runners. just after we started i remember wondering how long i'd be able to hold him off before he caught up to me. just after 1/2 mile i got my answer, he came zooming by my right. i went on to run 20:30ish for 3 miles that day, my first ever race that long. can't remember what he ran, but i know at a couple more late, inconsequential meets he also started ~60s behind and went on to win.

the 1995 catholic and ruston teams are two of the best LA has ever produced.

The next time I go to my parents' house (probably Easter), I'll see if I can find any results from local and/or state meets when I was in high school (this could be one time when it's beneficial to have pseudo-hoarder parents). I could readily list top schools and names who were good in 5A when I ran varsity ('94-95) and some others just before and after, but I wasn't aware enough at the time to pay attention to all classes.

In no order, these are some of the top finishers from the 5A state meet in the Fall of 1994: Robby LeBlanc, Chip Uffman (Catholic), Randy Hanning, Stephen Erath, Bryan Oubre (Brother Martin), Frank Enzley (Ruston), Wayne Wagner (Jesuit), Domonick Boutte (Rummel), Ellis Brown (St. Aug), and Kevin Dolese (Shaw). I know there are obvious names I'm unintentionally omitting and I know there's a Catholic League bias here but these are the names I remember off the top of my head. Robby won this race in 14:48, Hanning was second, and Erath was third. For what it's worth I ran 16:34 at this meet and finished 34th.

I know for a fact that the LSU and Tulane libraries have every issue of the Advocate on microfilm dating back to the early 1900s. I have personally looked at the CC results dating back to the 1970s. In the early 80s, Baton Rouge High had a team that ran 14:37, 15:00, 15:11 and 15:13 at Highland in the same meet. Typically, the Advocate published the top 10 of each class at the state meet. Similarly, they publish the top 6 (I think) in each event at outdoor state. Any member of the public can go in these libraries and access the microfilm. There is plenty of material for hours of study.

@s_swanner
lasseviren posted that Robbie Leblanc holds the Highland Rd Course record with 14:53. Are you sure that 14:37 was run at Highland?

@trackdawgs

I am positive. LeBlanc hold the record for the current course at Highland which did not come about until ~1985.

@s_swanner
Do you recall who ran 14:37? That's the fastest time I've ever heard anyone mention for a 3 mile race in La. Has anyone run faster?

@trackdawgs

I seem to remember people mentioning that there was an old highland course. I wonder if anyone has the knowledge of the course and it could be compared and contrasted against the current course. It could potentially even be mapped out on mapmyrun. Does anyone know the record for the Lakefront course? I believe it is right around 15 flat.

Also, if that old Highland course is legitimate I don't know if there would be a better team that ever existed in LA with two guys in the 14s and two more in the low 15s unless the fifth guy was an 18 minute person.

Also, there was a runner for Curtis that has the school record for the 1600 with a 4:23 back in the 80s. Anyone know anything from that era?

I believe Shaws school records are 4:24, 9:44, and 15:23 by Kevin Dolese but I could be off by a few seconds. Micah may be able to get those times for sure. I also believe that Hartman ran the school record in 1:57 at the 2001 state meet or possibly the regional which should be the school record as well unless there were some guys from the 80s that fell through the cracks.

Are there any posters on here that can attest to NE LA? I know Ruston and WM have and had a great tradition. Names like Sayko and Wilcher and Craine come to mind.

@chaz
I enjoy learning about the history of distance running in Louisiana. Hopefully other posters will chime in with their schools' records. Our school had a binder which kept track of our track and field records but it disappeared in the 1990's. I look forward to hearing the records from Catholic, Episcopal, Bro. Martin, Jesuit, St. Paul's, and the other powerhouses out there.

@chaz
The fastest time I recall at the lakefront course, which was fairly difficult with several 180 degree turns and such, was 14:33 by Bobby Beck in 1977 or 1978...can't remember the meet. Myself and John Ratcliffe from Bonnabel went 14:54 and 14:56 in the same race in the 1979 City Championships.

@rungabby

That sounds amazing. When was the last time two LA boys went sub 15 in the same race? It must have been over two decades ago. Was the Lakefront course of the 70s the same as the one of the early 2000s pre-katrina?

@chaz
Couldn't say for sure...it was the course by the Harbour Police building across from Pontchartrain Beach. I don't know of any other race where two went sub-15:00. I think someone posted that two runners from the same team did it, but don't know if it was together?

The 14:37 at Highland was run by Pablo Presedo, still the 3A state meet record holder at 1600/3200 (4:18/9:22). The Baton Rouge High teams of the early 80s had a slew of good runners. Brad Davis was 4:20/9:20 guy, Saul Rothchild 9:25/31:xx road 10k.

As I understand it (I have talked to people and seen race videos from the era) the "old" Highland one is essentially the same as the current one with the majority of the difference being in the second mile. Now, runners cross the bridge ~1 mile and turn right and run up the side of the hill. The old course went straight up the hill at the end of the bridge. Also, on the old course, at the end of the second mile runners ran down the hill that is now the uphill start of the 2nd mile instead of the one about 100m away that is used today.

I would like to see any old records or even results from some of the "old" 180 yard low hurdle races. The last time I remember seeing one was at the Christian Brother's Relays at St. Pauls back in 1979 or 80 maybe.

The book by Jerry Byrd doesn't seem to be available anywhere I look. Anyone have a copy I could buy? Also, I'm interested in looking into which teams in LA, both boys and girls, have the best top 5 avg. LA probably didn't move to 3 miles till late 60s or so and girls didn't move to 3 till a few years ago so the best I saw on this site is an 18:25 average by Ruston at district in 2006. This should help find some results. As mentioned earlier in this post there was a team that may have averaged low 15s at on meet a few decades ago.

Ed Dubroc ran for Curtis and graduated in 1982. He ran 4:23.3 at the AA state meet in 1981 finishing 4th in what was probably the deepest AA 1600 ever. 4:21, 4:21, 4:22, 4:22, 4:23, 4:27. He ran 2:00.9 in the 800 and also ran the 3200, but I don't have the time on that. He only ran in the 800 in 1982. I don't have his time, but his qualifying time from regionals was 1:58.0

@smithn

Did you know him personally? In the gym his 3200 school record time is listed at 9:59 I believe. 4:23 is also listed, but last year J. Walker ran 1:58.27 which we are putting up as the school record.

I ran against him once. He didn't run XC. The only time I saw him was at the state meet. Our junior year, I only ran the 3200, while he tripled. He didn't place in the top 3 in the 3200. He must have been hurt his senior year. He only ran the 800 at state, which I didn't, and we beat Curtis by 2 points to break they're 2 year streak of state titles. I don't remember hearing why he didn't run the 16/32 at state that year.

@smithn

What a talent to run 4:23 off no cross country base. That also answers the question why the cross country records at Curtis are so soft compared to track. Hopefully this year there are a couple new xc school records.

That 1:58.0 regional time was listed in the state meet program for 1982, it wasn't just from memory.

@smithn

Intersting, you still have those programs? If so, would you be willing to upload pictures of times, etc., somewhere for people to view?