BLUE DIVISION
Starting off the boys' side is a 7th-grader from Midland. Talan Sievers enters with just three performances to his name, all of which are 2 miles. His personal best stands at 13:00 from the Tuerlings Catholic Middle School races. This race will be, as far as can be told, his first race over the 2-mile distance.
Also competing in the blue division is Antonio Delgado of Dunham. One could argue that Delgado is the one responsible for overthrowing the Episcopal dynasty after having to transfer schools from Houma Christian due to Hurricane Ida. He pulled off a 5th place finish at the Class 2A cross country state meet and set a new personal best this season with a 16:45 3 mile from the STA Southland Invitational.
BRONZE DIVISION
Patrick Dowd finishing at The Southern Showcase
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The sole contender from Louisiana in the bronze division is Patrick Dowd. He is actually separated from the rest of his team who are competing in the gold division with their top seven. Although Dowd is not in that group, he still holds one of the fastest 5k times in the state with his performance at the beginning of the season at The Southern Showcase. He concluded that race with a 16:19 5k. Notably, The Southern Showcase was run at the same venue that RunningLane is being hosted, so Dowd is returning to a familiar field.
SILVER DIVISION
The last of the individual runners from Louisiana may be found here, in the silver division. Starting us off is Mason Appleton of Northshore. He has not done much racing when it comes down to local competition in Louisiana, but he did just recently run a significant personal best in the 3200m. He ran 9:47 at the New Balance dash for Doobie 3200m, dropping his 3200m time down by 14 seconds from the previous track season. Appleton may be one of the more underrated runners entering this weekend.
Cameron Kelly leading the 4A XC State Meet
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Rounding out our individual list is Cameron Kelly of Teurlings Catholic. Kelly dominated the Class 4A cross country state meet with a wide margin of victory and secured his first-ever individual state title. He has run a 5k earlier in the season at the Frank Horton "Night" Invitational where he ran 16:00. This is near equivalent to his personal best of 15:35 for 3 miles earlier this season. He has had a nearly undefeated season with only a handful of runners beating him.