The LHSAA State Track and Field Meet will be held at Bernie Moore Stadium on Saturday, May 7. Usually, the state meet is a collection of the very best athletes in the state, but that will not be the case this year in the Class 5A distance events.
One reason is due to an abundance of talent at Jesuit (New Orleans).
The Blue Jays aren't just deep. They have the most talented distance group ever assembled at one school at one time in Louisiana high school track and field history.
Schools in the LHSAA can only enter two athletes per event in the district meet. The top athletes in the district qualify for the regional, and then the top athletes in the run advance to the state meet.
The 'problem' is that Jesuit has seven of the top 12 3,200 meter runners in the state and only two will be able to run at the District 9-5A meet. One of those Blue Jays will be on the outside looking in when the championship season begins next week.
While the current system allows for equal representation across the state, it doesn't allow for teams--and pockets of the state-- to be able to display the full measure of their talent.
This problem will not go away after this year, all of Jesuit's runners will return for the 2022-2023 school year.
And Jesuit isn't the only school with this problem.
In the sprint events, Woodlawn (Baton Rouge) coaches will have a tough call to decide who will run the 200 meters. Their first guy is a no-brainer, J'marcus Sewell (21.73). But Woodlawn has two other sprinters-Jordan Matthews and Jay Veon Haynes-who have both run a 22.05 this season.
One of Woodlawn's talented sprinters, who is tied for No. 14 in the entire state, will be watching the 200 meters at the district meet from the team area in the stands.
Should it change? Potentially, but how?
It will take a coordinated effort on the part of the Louisiana Track and Field Coaches Association to convince enough principals that there should be a change. Jesuit should not be punished because they have the greatest collection of distance runners in state history, and fans of the sport should not be punished by not being able to watch the state's best at Bernie Moore Stadium.
Will it happen? Probably not. Coaches know that a change would put their team at a disadvantage in the hunt for a 5A state title, and give the Blue Jays of Jesuit an advantage in team scoring and possibly allow them to win a state title.
While the example used in this column is the Jesuit distance group, there are other schools who are loaded in distance events who could benefit from the change.
Below would be the projected LHSAA 5A 3200m scoring as is with two athletes max per school.
3200 Meter Run
| PLACE | ATHLETE | GRADE | TEAM | TIME | POINTS | |
| 1 | Michael Vocke | 2022 | Jesuit | 9:06.11 | 10 | |
| 2 | Jack Desroches | 2022 | Jesuit | 9:07.37 | 8 | |
| 3 | Rhen Langley | 2023 | Zachary | 9:14.59 | 6 | |
| 4 | Nathan Fontan | 2022 | Mandeville | 9:27.96 | 5 | |
| 5 | Daniel Sullivan | 2022 | Catholic High | 9:43.06 | 4 | |
| 6 | Trent Wells | 2022 | C.E. Byrd | 9:43.34 | 3 | |
| 7 | Landon Spears | 2024 | West Monroe | 9:45.38 | 2 | |
| 8 | Caleb Babineaux | 2022 | Ruston | 9:46.12 | 1 |
Below is projected scoring if you add unlimited entries per school per event. Jesuit's points in the single event would just from 18 to 34 as they'd have 6 athletes projected to score in 5A.
3200 Meter Run
| PLACE | ATHLETE | GRADE | TEAM | TIME | POINTS | |
| 1 | Michael Vocke | 2022 | Jesuit | 9:06.11 | 10 | |
| 2 | Jack Desroches | 2022 | Jesuit | 9:07.37 | 8 | |
| 3 | Lucas Sampedro | 2024 | Jesuit | 9:11.87 | 6 | |
| 4 | Rhen Langley | 2023 | Zachary | 9:14.59 | 5 | |
| 5 | Patrick Dowd | 2023 | Jesuit | 9:18.65 | 4 | |
| 6 | Robert Buisson | 2023 | Jesuit | 9:22.49 | 3 | |
| 7 | Leland Crawford | 2025 | Jesuit | 9:26.39 | 2 | |
| 8 | Nathan Fontan | 2022 | Mandeville | 9:27.96 | 1 |
Here is the difference if you change to unlimited athletes per event.
It begs the question.
Do we want the best athletes in the state of Louisiana competing at the LHSAA State Track & Field Meet at Bernie Moore Stadium on Saturday, May 7th. If the answer is yes--and, in my opinion, it should be yes-- the qualification procedures for the state track meet must change.