- 2023 District 1-5A Girls' Results!
- 2023 District 1-5A Boys' Results!
- District 1-5A Cross Country Championship Photo Album!
C.E. Byrd head coach Juan Plaza has been around the sport of running for over a quarter of a century. During those 25-plus years he has coached state and national champions as well as state championship teams. But Plaza has never coached a group of cross country girls as talented as the 2023 Lady Jackets, who won their fourth consecutive title at South Bossier Park on Tuesday afternoon at the District 1-5A Championship.
"It's literally the first our top five have run together in a race," Plaza said. "There has always been someone missing-until yesterday. Our No.1-No.4 are all seniors and yesterday we saw how special that class is."
Leading the Lady Jackets was their No. 1, senior Jenna Key, who won her second district title after missing last year's championship recovering from an injury. Key's time in her last race at South Bossier Park 18:39, 49 seconds faster than next closest competitor which was Key's teammate Spencer Frierson (19:28).
While Parkway and Benton had two runners each in the top ten, Byrd placed all five scoring runners in the top ten. Lady Panther's Ember Pierce (3rd;19:28) and Cheyenne Olson (6th:19:54) and Benton's Claire Allen (4th;19:34) and Dominique Coore(10th; 20:51) were named All-District.
Other Lady Jackets making the All-District team by finishing in the Top 10 were Hudson Roberts (7th; 20:13), running in her first race of the season, Laila Wells (8th;20:16) , and Mallory Swint (9th; 20:24).
The only other runner in the top ten is Airline's Elena Heng. Heng (19:37) finished fifth.
"Each girl on the team has their own journey and their own story, but what stood out the most was Hudson's return to racing," Plaza said. "We didn't know what to expect in a race situation and she performed exceptionally well. I am so proud of the entire team."
Byrd's score of 27 points was 25 points better than runner-up Benton (52 points).
Coach Plaza's Lady Jackets now turn their attention to the LHSAA Division I Region I Meet which will be held on Thursday, November 2nd at Lincoln Parish Park. The girls race will be run at 10:30am and the boys will compete at 11:10pm.
In the boys' divsion, Gabriel Falting led the Parkway Panthers to their third-straight District 1-5A Championship. Falting's winning time was 15:36, five seconds ahead of freshman teammate Brennan Robin (15:41).
In all, Parkway placed six runners in the top seven. The only runner in the top seven not wearing Parkway's black and red was Benton's Brody Hutchison (4th; 15:55).
Other Parkway runners in the top seven included Gary Smith (3rd; 15:53), Andrew Kent (5th; 15:57), Ben Ruliffson (6th: 16:02), and Alex Gomez (7th; 16:13).
Rounding out the top ten were Airline's Jayden Williams (16:15), Parkway's Noah Lafitte (16:21), and Benton's Dominic Helverson (16:28).
Parkway won the District 1-5A Championship scoring 17 points. Airline was second with 71 points.
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