MENARD ATHLETES AND COACHES CELEBRATE AFTER WINNING THE SCHOOL'S FIRST INDOOR TITLE!
When legendary LSU head coach Bernie Moore won his first and only NCAA track and field championship in 1933, he loaded five LSU Tigers in his station wagon, strapped some pole vault poles to the top of the vehicle and headed to Chicago.
Holy Savior Menard head coach Morgan Redmon didn't need five girls to win the school's first LHSAA Indoor State Championship. He only needed four with two of the four--juniors A'Shyria Burns and Cami Harrison--scoring the team's only points.
Menard edged out St. Louis Catholic on Saturday inside the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse capturing the Division II crown after scoring 50 points, four points better than the Saints.
A key moment for the Eagles during the meet was Burns' third attempt in the girls triple jump. She had fouled on her first two attempts. Calmly, she looked over to her coach as if to ask "OK, what do I need to do."
That is one of the things Redmon has come to appreciate the most about one of the sport's rising stars from Central Louisiana.
"She shakes things off when they are not going well," Redmon said. "She never gets flustered. She always like 'tell me what I need to do to fix this.'"
Saturday, after fouls on her first two jumps in the triple jump, the coaching point was simple...and profound.
"I told her to smile," Redmon said. "She is good at this. This is supposed to be fun. Have fun. All she needed to do was get to the finals. If she is two feet behind the board-they will mark it. If she is a quarter of an inch over, they will not."
The coaching point worked.
Burns jumped 35-4.5 on her third attempt and advanced to the finals, where on her fifth jump of the day she jumped 37-2 to move past Doyline's Izayla Harris (36-1.75) and win the D2 girls triple jump championship.
Burns had no problems in the long jump as she jumped 18-8 and won by over a foot. She also won the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.19.
In the 60m, Burns finished third, but was given the same time-7.79- as University Lab's Addison Harvey. However, meet officials reviewed the video and gave Harvey the nod for the silver medal.
Menard also picked up some valuable points from Cami Harrison, who won the pole vault (10-10) and had a pair of fifth place finishes in the long jump (16-1.75) and the triple jump (32-3).
While there will be talk at school and all Central Louisiana about what Menard was able to accomplish on Saturday, he wants his team to stay focused and understand the big picture.
"The greatest thing about winning the state championship is that they get to glorify God with their ability," Redmon said. "I tell them, 'It's for His Glory. Not for yourself.'"