TEAM TO WATCH: St. Louis Saints girls eye three-peat!


When St. Louis head coach Johnny Giordano returned to the school in 2020 to coach track and field, he didn't have tryouts. He couldn't afford to. Everybody who came out made the team, although not all of the girls on the team were able to compete in a meet.

St.Louis junior Ella Segura was in that latter group. She didn't touch the track for St. Louis during her freshmen year. 

Even at the beginning of cross country her sophomore year, she was the team's No. 6 runner.

"We had no expectations for her," Giordano said. "Truthfully, we thought she might end up being a manager."

But Segura had other plans. During that sophomore cross country season she had a coming out party. By the LHSAA State Cross Country Meet, she was Giordano's fastest runner.

"Ella epitomizes the hard work and dedication our girls put into the sport and into their training," Giordano said. 

Segura will go into Saturday's LHSAA State Indoor Meet at LSU ranked in the top five in the state in all classes in three different events. She is ranked No. 5 in both the 1600 (5:18.91) and 800 (2:25.11). She is also ranked No. 4 in the 3200 (11:34.53).

"She is not a rah rah leader," Giordano said. "She leads by example. Her work ethic is second to none. She is a sweet spirit and unassuming, but she is also a tenacious competitor. She has inspired others in our program to do great things."

During the 2021 outdoor season, Segura along with junior Kenzie Touchet and senior Emma Freeman, who is committed to Ole Miss , helped to lead the Saints to a LHSAA Class 3A State Championship. In that meet, Giordano's team qualified 17 in 19 events. Amazingly, the Saints scored no fewer than 2 points in all 17 events.


ST. LOUIS GIRLS STATE LEADING 1600 METER RELAY!

"Our depth is our strength," Giordano said.

This Saturday at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse, St. Louis is qualified in every event as will look to three-peat.

How have the Saints been able to stay on top?

"I think the most important thing we have done is create a competitive culture within," Giordano said. "Our girls like to train. They like to compete. They understand the significance of maintaining a level of fitness. They are dedicated to it and bought in."

It hasn't been easy. First, in 2020 there was covid. As if missing an entire outdoor season wasn't enough, Hurricane Laura and Delta decimated the Lake Charles area, leaving most without basic necessities like electricity and running water. 

"They never waivered," Giordano said of his girls. "They would meet at a friend's garage and train with no electricity." 

Like the last couple of years, Giordano knows that it will not be easy on Saturday.

"Coach Claney Duplechin from Episcopal is a living legend," Giordano said. "You're never going to sneak up on him or out-strategize him. Miguel Becerra from St. Thomas Aquinas. Trent Ellis at Brusly. I could go on down the list of great coaches in Division II. Those guys love track and are passionate about the sport. They will have their team ready and I fully expect their very best."

Going into the meet, Giordano wants his Saints to have a short memory.


ST. LOUIS' KENZIE TOUCHET FINISHES THIRD AT LSU LAST CHANCE 

"We have to go in there and compete like we haven't won anything," Giordano said. "Because we haven't. That's in the past. And what's in the past isn't important. We have to focus on what's in front of us. Each girl has to do her job."

Touchet has certainly done her job, scoring more points during last year's outdoor championship than any other returning athlete. Touchet (9.12)  is currently ranked No. 4 in all classes in the 60 hurdles and No. 1 in Division II. In the 400 meters (1:01.03), she is ranked No. 3 in Division II. Fellow Saints Hannah Boullion and  Shelby Willis  are also ranked in the top five in Division II. The freshman Boullion (1:00.98) is ranked No. 2 while Willis, a senior, is ranked No. 5 (1:03.62) .

But it's not all on the track. The Saints are equipped to score a ton of points in the field as well.

For example, the Saints have the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked shot putters in Division II. Amerie Guillory (34-7.25) is ranked No. 2 and Freeman (33-11.5) is ranked No. 3 in Division II. 

St. Louis' Tia Reeder is ranked No. 1 in Division II in the long jump (17-3) and ranked No. 2 in Division II in the triple jump (34-7.75). In the high jump, Maci Fontenot (4-9.75) is ranked No.4 in Division II. 

The Saints are equally loaded in the relays where all three relays come in with No. 1 ranked Division II times. 

The 2022 LHSAA State Indoor Meet will begin at 10am with the Division I girls pole vault. The running events will begin at 2pm.