18 UNDERCLASSMEN TO WATCH: At Girls' Region I-5A Meet!

RUSTON'S LILY GARRETT VISITS WITH TEAMMATES AND COACHES BEFORE THE DISTRICT 2-5A MEET

No. 1 - Ruston's Lily Garrett (1600m, 3200m)

    The leader in the clubhouse for this group is Louisiana's 2021 Cross Country Gatorade Athlete of the Year. She is the No. 1 seed and heavy favorite in both the 1600 (5:19.62) and 3200 (11:14.29) at the Region I-5A Meet. Was a leader on the Lady Bearcat team that won the first state indoor championship in school history. In that meet she finished second in the 3200m (11:06.27) and third in the 1600m (5:05.52). Currently, she is ranked No. 2 in Class 5A in the 1600m, and her time ranks her No. 1 in Class 5A in the 3200m.

No. 2 - Ruston's Chelsi Tatum (100m, 200m)

    Held off ASH's Brandi Goldman in the District 1-5A meet to be the district champion for 100m (12.16). The time gives her a tie for the No. 1 seed in the Region I-5A with Airline's Brianna Taylor. However, Taylor ran into a headwind at her District meet, and Tatum had a slight tailwind. Wind direction aside, look for Tatum to be in the mix. She has come a long ways since her 11th place finish (13.15) at the 2021 Region I-5A Meet. She is also in the 200m, where her third place finish at the District 2-5A Meet has her  seeded No. 8. 

No. 3 - Southwood's Rondisia Williams (200m)

The junior from Southwood has quietly put together a solid outdoor season. It was highlighted by her first District 1-5A Championship in the 200m, where she was able to avenge her loss to Airline's Brianna Taylor in the 100m earlier in the meet. On top of that, it was a personal record time of 24.72. As a sophomore, she finished 9th in the LHSAA State Outdoor Meet in the 100m (12.05), but finished fourth in the 200m (25.83) at the Region I-5A meet and did not make it to state in that event. 

No. 4 - Alexandria's Raegan Monroe (800m)

   The ASH sophomore was living her best life at the life at the District 2-5A Meet, scoring 24 points for the Lady Trojans and finding the podium in all three distance events--including a personal record in the 800m (2:27.14). She has the No. 1 seed in the event by two seconds over the No. 2 -- Byrd's Laila Wells, who is No. 9 on this list. She is also seeded No. 3 in both the 1600m (5:32.30) and 3200m (12:37.29). All we're saying is get used to watching her compete. She is going be around for a while. 

No. 5 - Parkway's Mikayla Williams (DS, HJ)

As you can see from the top entries in the girls discus, Williams should have no problems improving on her runner-up performance at the Region I-5A Meet as a sophomore. She went on to finish No. 2 at the 2021 LHSAA State Outdoor Meet. The junior is favored to win the event by tent feet if she is able to replicate the 125-9 thrown at last week's District 1-5A Meet. 

No. 6 - Alexandria's Sarah Dupuy (JV)

There is no such thing as a sure thing, but if there was--ASH's Sarah Dupuy would be it in the girls' javelin Region I-5A Meet. Here 144-0 has her at the No. 1 seed by 24 feet. The junior is currently ranked No. 9 in the US for returning javelin throwers in the US, making her the highest nationally ranked underclassmen in the Region I-5A Meet. 

TOP RETURNING HS GIRLS JAVELIN THROWERS IN THE US!

No. 7 - Southside's Karmen Williams (TJ)

Williams and teammate Karrington Eugene (see No. 12) should have the triple jump on lock for Southside. They are the No. 1 and No. 2 seed going into the meet. Look for the sophomore to make the most of the opportunity in her first individual event appearance, after finishing 5th in District 3-5A and not qualifying. 

No. 8 - Barbe's Ariel Williams (HJ)

Williams is tied with Ruston's Bryanna Craig with the No. 1 seed in the girls high jump. The junior from Barbe is alson the leading representative for District 3-5A in the 200m (26.39) and long jump (17-8). She is seeded No. 2 in the long jump (17-8), behind Craig, and seeded No. 6 in the 200m (26.39)

No. 9- Byrd's Laila Wells (800m)

   The Byrd junior is making the most of her first outdoor season, and it culminated with a District 1-5A championship in the 800m against quality competition in the form of Benton junior Isabelle Russell. Wells picked the right time to have a personal record 2:29.27. She also had a personal record in the 300 hurdles--50.37 to finish second behind Benton junior Jamie Willis (No. 13 on this list). Wells is seeded No. 2 in the 800 meters behind ASH's Monroe, and No. 4 in the 300 hurdles.

   While she has been to Bernie Moore Stadium and watched older brother--Byrd's Trent Wells--compete at the LHSAA State Meet, will 2022 be the year this underclassmen joins big brother in Baton Rouge. We will find out Wednesday. 

No. 10 - Byrd's Jenna Key (3200m)

     A freak injury at track practice as she was preparing the 2022 LHSAA State Indoor Meet sidelined the sophomore Byrd distance runner, who was ranked in the Top 6 in the state in both the 1600m and 3200m. While not 100%, she managed to win the District 1-5A 3200 and is the No. 2 seed behind Ruston's Garrett going into Wednesday's Region I-5A Meet. 

    Key will be joined in the race by her teammate--fellow sophomore--Hudson Roberts, who will compete in the 1600 and Byrd's District 1-5A championship 4x800 team. 

No. 11- Ruston's Autumn Craig (SP, DS, JV)

The No. 2 seed in both the shot put (36'0) and the discus (112-6) where she was the District 2-5A champion. Craig is also the No. 7 seed in the javelin (108-7), where she had a personal record at the district meet. If she is able to get a personal record in the discus or shot put or catches the Parkway's Mikayla Williams (discus) or Ouachita's Kimora Daniel (shot put) having a bad day, the junior could leave Natchitoches with a gold medal. 

No. 12- Southside's Karrington Eugene (TJ)

As stated above. Eugene and fellow Southside teammate could give Southside 18 points in the triple jump if all goes according to plan. 

No. 13 - Benton's Jamie Willis (300h, 100h)

The junior from Benton was the only athlete, in the girls' or boys' division, at the District I-5A Meet to win four individual gold medals, scoring forty points for the Lady Tigers. Her specialty is the hurdles, where she is undefeated over both the 100m and 300m distances this year. Going into the Wednesday's Region I-5A Meet, she is the No. 2 seed in the 100h behind Ruston's Bryanna Craig. In the 300 hurdles, she is the No. 1 seed. 

Willis is no stranger to success. She finished second in the 100h and third in the 300h at the 2021 Region I-5A Meet. She followed that up by placing sixth in the 100h (15.45) at the 2021 LHSAA State Outdoor Meet before finishing her day off by making the podium with a third place finish in the 300 hurdles (46.68).

Before making it to the track on Wednesday, look for Willis to make some noise in the horizontal jumps. She is the No. 3 seed in the triple jump (34-5) and the No. 4 seed in the long jump (16-10.5) 

DISTRICT 1-5A 1600m Runners!

No. 14 - Benton's Isabelle Russell ,No. 15 - Byrd's Hudson Roberts, & No. 17 - Parkway's Cheyenne Olson

Russell is a junior while Roberts and Olson are sophomores! 

No. 18 - Benton's Sadie Hamby  (DS, JV)

The Benton sophomore is seeded No. 3 in the discus (110-0) and No. 6 in the javelin (109-9)