Airline's Chris Montgomery was carrying his blocks to the start of the 4x100 relay on Tuesday evening at the District 1-5A Championships when he spotted his coach, Schirra Fields.
"Hey, coach," Montgomery said. "How are we doing in the team standings?"
Fields, who was put off by the question, pulled a page out of the Bill Belichick playbook.
"Man, don't worry about that," Fields replied. "Just run. Do your job!"
Montgomery and the rest of the Vikings did their job and defeated defending District 1-5A champion Parkway by scoring 161 points. The Panthers, led by sophomore Devon Oliver in the field and Gabe Falting on the track, were the runner-up with 108 points.
"Today the kids did exactly what we asked them to do-just come out and do their job," Fields said after the meet. "We told them that every point mattered. Every event mattered. But we knew if they just did their job there was an opportunity for us to come out on top."
This is the first district championship for Airline since 2019.
The Vikings were led by senior Cameron Jefferson and junior Jeremiah Boudreaux. Jefferson won the 100m (11.08) and 200m 21.73). Boudreaux won the 110m hurdles (15.27) and high jump (6-6). Both were on the Vikings winning 4x200 squad (1:28.24).
"We've had this on our mind since last year when we got second or third," Jefferson said. "Coach Fields and Coach Monroe have been preaching all summer and all winter. We've been working on this since November. Win district. Go back to state and try to do something there. We've just had it on our mind and I love working with these boys. We've work so hard. It's showing up right now."
The running events, which meet management said would begin after the field events, were delayed because Boudreaux continued getting over the the bar in the high jump.
"It felt great," Boudreaux said. "All the jumps were right. I felt good. My form was good. And I'm going to get that 6-8 next week."
Oliver, who is the No. 15 ranked discus thrower in the nation among all sophomores, won the event with a personal record 161-6 to capture his first district title, and then followed that up with a first place effort in the shot put of 49-7.
Oliver's teammate, Falting would get his first district championship on the track beating his friend--Captain Shreve's Evan Johnson in the last 60 meters of the 1600m. Falting ran a 4:31.84. In the 3200m, Johnson (9:57.26) and Falting traded places as Johnson came away with the win.
In the girls' division, Benton, led by 36 points from senior Jamie Willis, won the team title scoring 154 points. Willis picked up a pair of second place finishes in the long jump (16-2.5) and triple jump (32-11) before heading to the track where she won the 100m hurdles (15.14) and 300 hurdles (46.28). In the latter event, Willis broke the Benton school record in the event.
After winning the 300m hurdles with a school record time, Willis went and thanked Captain Shreve freshman Leah Bryant for pushing her. Bryant finished second with a time of 47.33, which ranks No. 2 in Louisiana among all freshmen.
"In the last home meet, I finally beat that (300m hurdle) record," Willis said. "I've been trying for three years now."
"We had a good day," Benton head coach Scott Reeder said. "School record in the pole vault, school record in the 4x400 (4:10.89), school record in the hurdles. I think we scored in every field event. Sadie Hamby did well in the javelin. We had a lot of good performers that had to come through."
Other leaders on the Lady Tiger team included senior Isabelle Russell, who scored 22 points with top three finishes in the 800m 2:28.54), 1600m (5:18.80), and 3200m (12:12.24). Also, Addyson Hulett won the pole vault (10-1) with a school record and 400m (1:00.06).
Airline was runner-up in the girls' division with 117 points. The Lady Vikings were led by freshman Kezyriah Sykes and Janiyah Boudreaux, who both received awards for their outstanding performances.
Sykes won the 100m (12.55) and 200m (25.93). In the 100 hurdles she finished as the runner-up (15.17). Boudreaux won the triple jump (35-0.5) and high jump (5-0).
Byrd's Jenna Key was a double winner in the 1600m (5:17.99) and 3200m (11:55.57). Her time in the 1600m is a personal best and school record.
Parkway throwers Chloe Larry and Mikaylah Williams continued to monopolize their specialty in the throwing events at the District 1-5A Championships. Larry, a junior, won the javelin for the third consecutive year, and Williams, a senior, added her third consecutive district 1-5A discus title. Both had personal records and broke the 130' barrier for the first time on Tuesday. Larry had a winning throw of 130-7 in the javelin, and Williams got off a throw of 132-1.5 to win the discus.