BRODERICK DAVIS JUMPS HIS WAY TO A STATE LONG JUMP TITLE IN 2023!
For the second-straight year, the Scotlandville Hornets swept the LHSAA Division I Boys and Girls State Championship. And it wasn't close.
The Scotlandville girls scored 75 points and the boys scored 73 points. St. Joseph's finished as the runner-up in the girls division. Catholic finished as the runner-up in the boys division. Both runner-up teams scored 59 points.
The boys were led by Broderick Davis, who scored 28 points in his three individual events. Davis won the long jump (23-8.25) and 60m hurdles (7.95). Davis also finished second to his teammate Ferzell Shepard (47-3.25) in the triple jump with a mark of 47-1.25 on his first jump.
Both Shepard and Davis only took one attempt in the triple jump.
Besides the 28 points the Scotlandville boys amassed in the jumps, the Hornets also fared well in the relays--scoring 18 points.
The 4x200m relay team of Kyree Langley, Davis, Shepard, and Fayden Brown won the event by over a second with a time of 1:29.38. The Hornets 4x400 team of Everett Alberty, Corinthian Walker, Dylan Evans, and Alden Dupree finished second with a time of 3:29.65.
Catholic won the 4x400m (3:28.66) and finished second in the 4x200m (1:31.05)
"The boys performed very close to what I expected," Scotlandville head Allen Whitaker said. "When we didn't do as well in last year's outdoor meet, before I drove home that night, I had already calculated how we could score 70+ point and win indoor. Our coaching staff trusted my plan and we executed. This group is battle-tested and showed resiliency throughout the meet."
Whitaker had high praise for Davis.
"Broderick Davis showed up big for us," Whitaker said. "He showed that he is a very versatile and gifted athlete. I'm proud that he went out on top in his last indoor state championship."
The Lady Hornets scored 54 of their 75 points in the sprints and relays.
Like last year, Sade Gray and Makeriah Harris were the key contributors in those areas. Both defended their state championships from a year ago. Gray (7.54) beat West Feliciana's Tristen Harris (7.57) in the 60m. Harris finished third with a time of 7.58.
Harris won the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.51.
In the relays, the Lady Hornets got a runner-up finish from their 4x800m team. Layden Jack, Donjae Fields, Aaliyah Allen, and Karlise Davison ran a time of 9:55.
In that event, the St. Joseph's team of Hannah Vaughan, Sara Pasquier, Elise Brown, and Michelle Daigle set a meet and championships record with a time of 9:40.62.
Scotlandville's girls' would get a record of their own and it would come in the last event of the day--the 4x400m relay. Davison, Gray, Jack, and Harris ran a 3:55.28, breaking their own fieldhouse composite record set at last year's state indoor meet.
The Lady Hornets also picked up a win in the 4x200. Sincere Wilson, Gray, Harris and Kanyria Cotton ran a 1:42.09 edging out Warren Easton (1:42.54).
The message Scotlandville girls' head coach Ursula Harris gave her team in the week leading up to the state indoor meet got through loud and clear.
"My message will be to remain focused and keep pushing and do their best," Harris said the week before the LHSAA State Indoor Championships. "Everything else will take care of itself."
For Whitaker and his assistant coach Kevin Jackson, it's the third-straight state indoor championship. Both were on the staff at Ruston High School when the Bearcats won the 2022 state indoor championship.
"I'm still processing winning three state championships and how it was uniquely done," Whitaker said Sunday morning. "It means a lot to me, my family, and my supporters. I couldn't do this alone. There's a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into this and it's great to have a support system like I do. I don't know where this puts me in the history books, but God has shown Himself to be faithful to me time after time. God continues to be my strength and I'm just walking in the steps that He has ordered for me!"