Good things come to those who wait.Herman Batiste of East Feliciana is hoping that waiting until the LSU Last Chance Qualifier to open his 2023 season bodes well for him. Though only a sophomore, he is doing big things, not just on the state level, but the national level.
His freshman year was spectacular, featuring a resume of several events like the 100m, 110m hurdles, 300m hurdles, long jump, and high jump, the most memorable being the latter. Batiste was able to tackle a little bit of everything with general success, which made his team proud at the Outdoor State Meet .
When Herman set foot in Bernie Moore Stadium on May 6th, 2022, he managed to qualify for three events, the 110m and 300m hurdles and the high jump, and took home a podium finish in each of these events.
Batiste had placed 2nd in the 110m hurdles, 1st in the 300m hurdles, and 1st in the high jump for a grand total of 28 points! This alone would have been good enough to place East Feliciana as 7th overall, but thanks to his teammate, Nolan Mosher, in the discus, they were both able to pull out a tie for 5th overall.
Batiste after the 2A Outdoor Championships
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Batiste secured his first and second-ever individual title, as well as being named the Outstanding Athlete of the 2A Outdoor Track Championships.
His success during the high school season carried over to summer track where he qualified for the AAU Junior Olympic Games in early August of 2022 in both the 110m hurdles and the high jump. It's only fitting that Herman had his greatest performance at the largest meet of his season. He closed out his freshman year with an astounding leap of 6-8.75 and a 2nd place overall finish!
This past Saturday, Batiste won his very first indoor high jump event and secured a state lead in the meantime with his leap of 6-6.25 at the LSU Last Chance Qualifier.
Batiste after nabbing the silver at the AAU Junior Olympic Games
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At this very moment, Herman Batiste sits at US #27 in the high jump and stands as the clear favorite for the upcoming LHSAA Division II Indoor Championships, but the real question is if we will see a Division II meet record go down. The record holds from 2020 when Reginald Poole Jr of Kaplan leaped to a height of 6-8. Batiste has already surpassed this height before, so we may be in store for a treat in the upcoming weeks.
Needless to say, if this young man keeps up this trend, then he will have a very bright future ahead of him.