To channel Dennis Green, they are who we thought they were. The John Curtis Christian School Season Opener lived up to billing as far as putting some of the top squads together. Almost a half dozen squads from the Northshore area competed in the open or invite divisions against several good local New Orleans teams, as well as several top Baton Rouge area standouts, to make the meet a success.
Mandeville's girl squad was the class of the field winning by half of the next team's score, St. Thomas Aquinas, even without Olivia Murphy who is just getting back to running after knee surgery. Still, the girls race was a who's who of southeastern Louisiana distance running with more state champions and state qualifiers than you could shake a stick at. Gabrielle Jennings won by a solid 8 seconds which could have been larger had the muddy course been more forviging on the front runner. Her time of 12:05 won't amaze anyone, but her steadfast victory over several other girls boasting PRs in the 11s is worth noting. This is the second year in a row Gabby has won this race.
Another individual who has won two years in a row is Devyn Keith of John Curtis who led the boys to a 21 point score and a solid victory over several other quality squads. Team runner up Rummel had an athlete poised to take the victory with a half mile to go before Keith pulled away slightly. Conner Killian still finished only 5 seconds behind the Curtis Patriot, good for a time of 10:17. Now to get an accurate idea of the course conditions for their race, imagine 300 runners all running a loop or two around a one mile course that was muddy before the race began. The times once again won't impress, but the effort put forth was great.
This meet was a great tune-up for those teams who are racing this Saturday as we get to watch them make the leap to the 3 mile. Full results are posted on Louisiana Milesplit.
The winner's circle:
Mandeville Girls - Team Champions.
Gabrielle Jennings - Photo credit Angelle Albright
Devin Keith - photo credit Angelle Albright
For more photos visit:
Or the the meet page here. Where users will be uploading theirs?!