MATTHEW MAYNARD (ORANGE SHIRT) WON SATURDAY'S BAYOU BOOGIE!
For the second year in a row, the Catholic High Bears started the season with runners finishing 1-2 in St. Michael's Bayou Boogie, Louisiana's largest season-opening meet. And for the second year in a row, it was Matthew Maynard and David Lemann leading the Bears to victory. Catholic scored 49 points to take the team title.
Central was second with 125 points and Parkview Baptist, led by Ethan Delatte's fourth place finish (16:18), finished third.
"It was definitely a good race," Maynard said. "We did a scrimmage meet last weekend and it was maybe five degrees cooler so that was a little obstacle we had to overcome this race. It was tougher than I would've liked. I went out a little fast, but I finished strong and luckily came away with a win."
No offense to Maynard, but luck had nothing to do with it. He won last year's Bayou Boogie with a time of 16:00. This year's winning time was 15:51.
Maynard has goals of bettering his personal record of 15:23 from last year's St. Joseph's Invitational.
"I would like to get as close to the fifteen minute minute barrier as I can on this course (Highland Road Park)," Maynard said. "15:23 last year was my best time. I know I can improve on that. So, definitely my main goal is to get as close to the 14's."
Maynard talked about how his mindset has changed as he has progressed through the years in the Catholic cross country program.
"It's definitely different," Maynard said. "Coming here as a freshman running in all the open meets and JV I was more determined to get better. Now, I just want to see the team improve as a whole. I see now that it's way more important to have five guys in the 15s than just two."
Maynard isn't the only Bear who is ahead of schedule. Fellow senior, Lemann, who finished second last year with a time of 16:11, had the same place on Saturday, but his time was 12 seconds faster.
Runner-up Central was led by Andrew Watts, who finished No. 12 with a time of 16:47.
In the girls' division, Teurlings Catholic's Angelle Dupuis won with a time of 19:14. St. Amant sophomore Ella Willoughby edged out Central's Myah Chenier for second place. Both runners were credited with a time of 19:17.
While St. Joseph Academy had their best runners at The Opener in Clinton, MS, Coach Mark LaHaye's Stickers kept enough talent in Baton Rouge to win the girls' division of the Bayou Boogie. SJA scored 53 points with all five runners finishing in the meet's top 13 runners.
Acadiana Renaissance Charter was second with 95 points.