LHSAA D5 Boys' No. 1 And No. 2 Ready To Talk Smack...Again!

You want a safe bet for the 2023 Ochsner Health LHSAA Division V Boys State Cross Country Championships in Natchitoches on Monday, November 13? We have one for you. You can bet there will be some smack talking going on between the top two contenders in the Division V boys' race.

How could there not be?

The No. 1 and No. 2 runners--and friends-- from a year ago are back. Highland Baptist sophomore Tyler Blissett captured his first state title of his high school career with a 16:29 and his friend, Westminster Christian's Owen Melancon (16:50) finished second.

Of course the smack talk will all be in good fun as the two have a history of competing--and camping--with each other. Ther first race was in elementary school at Northside High School in Lafayette. Blissett was in the fifth grade. 

Both of their schools joined forces this summer to host a running camp in Arkansas' Ozark Mountains. Later, both Blissett and Melancon trained together at the Duke Running Camp in North Carolina. 

Of the two experiences, both preferred the team camp in Arkansas over Duke.

"The Arkansas camp had people you know and people you run against," Blissett said. "The Duke camp had guys you aren't going to race and guys you aren't going to see again so it's hard to build relationships." 

Both Blissett and Melancon have had successful seasons. Blissett had a personal record of 14:55 at the Catholic Invitational which was good enough for a fifth place finish. Melancon had a personal record of 16:15 at the LCA Knights Invitational. 

Both of these performances have Blissett and Melancon ranked as the No. 1 and No. 2 runners headed into the LHSAA State Cross Country Championships. 

Blissett has his sights set on Jesuit's Brady Mullen's sophomore state record of 14:59 which was set last year "defending the title." Melancon is looking to "hang on" to Blissett. 

Yet another item on Melancon's state meet To-Do List is making sure his Westminster Academy team goes back to Opelousas with a state championship. Last season, WCA finished as the runner-up to Christ Episcopal, who scored 64 points and placed four runners in the meet's top ten. 

Melancon knows what has to happen for his team to take the next step this year. 

"It's going to take everyone," Melancon said. "We've been working really hard to make sure we get a different outcome this year. We were gutted after the second place finish last year."

This year, WCA currently has three runners ranked in the top six in LHSAA D5 Boys rankings. However, there is drop off at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots. Defending champion Christ Episcopal have three runners in the top 12.