CATHOLIC'S MATTHEW MAYNARD RUNS TO FIRST PLACE AT THE BAYOU BOOGIE IN BATON ROUGE
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There was a sea of orange in the top ten of the varsity boys' race at the St. Michael Bayou Boogie Classic Saturday morning at Baton Rouge's Highland Road Park, and it had nothing to do with rains, which have battered the area for the past two weeks. It was the Catholic Bears, who placed five runners in the top ten to dominate the race
If you thought the Bears would be down after losing Daniel Sullivan, Harrison Thomas, and Clark Chustz, think again. Led by junior Matthew Maynard, who won with a time 16:00.71, Catholic showed that they are not going anywhere for a while.
Other Bears finishing in the top 10 included David Lemann, who was runner-up with a 16:11.45, Cooper Mockler (16:29), Elliott Eagleton (16:42), Donald Scully (16:49.71), and Daniel Hudson (16:49.93).
"With us (teammate David Lemann), it usually comes down to the last 800 meters," Maynard told Robin Fambrough of the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate. "It can be either one of us. I got first today, but I'm not satisfied."
Runners not wearing orange in the top ten included St. Amant's Peyton Bourgeois, David Thibodaux STEM Academy freshman Atticus Solis, Parkview Baptist's Aiden Monistere, and host St. Michael's William Nizzo.
In the boys' team standings, Catholic finished with 23 points, while host St. Michael's was second with 97. Parkview Baptist finished third with a total of 109.
In the girls's varsity race, Vandebilt Catholic's Brynn Kelso made a similar statement.
If you thought VC was going away because they lost Ella Chesnut to graduation, forget about it.
Kelso dominated the girls' field, beating Ascension Episcopal's Sarah Godley by 26 seconds with a winning time of 19:13.
"To be honest, I did not come in with that much of strategy for this race, other than to try to win it," Kelso told Roin Fambrough of the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate. "You debate whether to take it out or just stay with the pack. I wanted to keep the pace as honest and steady as I could."
The Terriers added Olivia Hatch (20:41) and Logan Hamilton (21:01) to the top ten to pull off what some would consider an upset of St. Joseph's Academy.
Other runners in the top ten included; St. Amant freshman Ella Willoughby (20:01), David Thibodaux STEM Academy's Grace French (20:28), St. Joseph's Julia Monzon (20:30) and LA Grace Martin (20:59), Ascension Episcopal's Bella Biggerstaff (20:52).
Vandebilt Catholic edged out St. Joseph's, who split their squads between the Bayou Boogie and the Mobile Challenge of Champions. The Terriers score 44 points, beating the Stickers by five points. Parkview Baptist finished third in the girls' division with a 124 points.
Maynard is looking forward to next week's Episcopal Roundtable run.
"Next week, it will be a lot tougher based on the teams and runner who we will see," Maynard said. "This was the start."