ELYSIAN FIELDS' CARA SIMS IS CHEERED ON AS SHE COMES THROUG THE LINE WITH A COURSE RECORD
PHOTO ALBUM! OVER 1,300 PICTURES FROM THE SPORTSWORLD C.E. BYRD FALL INVITATIONAL
In 2024, Elysian Fields junior Cara Sims has crossed the Texas-Louisiana border twice to compete, and both times she has returned to the Lone Star State with a record. Saturday, it was a course record at South Bossier Park as Sims won the C.E. Byrd XC Fall Invitational with a time of 17:39.
The two previous best times at South Bossier Park have been recorded by former Parkway Panther Sara Funderburk, who went on to compete at LSU, and former Byrd standout Jenna Key, who is in her first year of collegiate competition with the LSU Tigers.
Last March, Sims competed against Key in the 3200m at the C.E. Byrd Yellow Jacket Relays at Lee Hedges Stadium. Key had broken the meet record in her junior year. Sims broke that record with a time of 11:12.
"I was by myself from the get go," Sims said. "A lot of it was mental. I just had to push really strong-mentally-especially on the back part without any fans. My first mile was a lot faster than I thought it was going to be. I slowed down a little, so it was a lesson learned. I went out strong, stayed strong, and fought through the mental battles in the back (of the course)."
"A big difference is my mileage. Last year, I ran six days a week. This year, I haven't taken a day off in ten weeks. I'm averaging 50 to 55 miles. My highest week this year has been 65 miles. I think the higher mileage has definitely been helping me.
"I'm not going hard all the time," Sims said. "I run with my dad a lot. And he is kinda old, we're going a little slower and I definitely like the slower runs."
Finishing second to Sims was Byrd's Anna Lake Watts, who led her No.10 ranked Lady Jackets to their second consecutive team title. Watts was all smiles after running a 19:13, a personal record by over half a minute. Her previous best was 19:45 in a fourth-place finish at the same meet a year ago.
"My goal was to stay with her (Sims) as long as I could," Watts said. "My first mile I came out in a 5:57, which I have never done before. She is so fun to race with. She is so encouraging. When I finished, I was not doing well, and she was right there. I fell into her hands. She is awesome. It was really cool to be able to race with her."
Watts, who moves to No. 4 on Louisiana's list of top sophomore girls over three miles, met Sims at the Byrd track meet in March and the two distance runners have been friends ever since.
After being a part of the best team in school history in 2023, Watts is proud to be playing on major role on this year's squad which has won the last two outings (Ruston High Invitational and C.E. Byrd XC Fall Invitational) and ranked No. 10 in Louisiana.
"They taught us how to lead," Watts said of last year's C.E. Byrd seniors, "For (Byrd senior) Mallory Swint and I being leaders on this year's team, it's special for us to be able to encourage our teammates to be able to do what we did last year. We can do that again. Even though we are young. We all have fresh legs. So far we are all healthy. You know, we can do that. It doesn't matter who it is. We all want it really bad."