PARKWAY'S EMBER PIERCE HOLDS OFF BYRD'S ANNA LAKE WATTS TO WIN THE DISTRICT 1-5A TITLE
It was another great day for the Parkway Panthers boys cross country team as they claimed the District 1-5A championship on Tuesday afternoon at a hot and windy South Bossier Park. Once again, the Panthers were led by sophomore Brennan Robin, who won his first District 1-5A title with a time of 15:09.
While all of the runners have become accustomed to training during the unseasonably hot October conditions, on Tuesday Mother Nature provided strong winds to the list of things for District 1-5A runners to overcome.
"I wasn't thinking too much about the wind, I knew I was going to have to deal with it," Robin said. "I still trying to run pretty fast today. I got out pretty normal, then we were in the back field over there and the wind-that's where I felt it. Every bit of it."
Seven other Panthers were in the top ten including Andrew Kent (No. 3,15:51 ), Aiden O'Nishea (No. 4, 16:00), Ben Ruliffson (No. 5,16:00 ), Alex Gomez (No. 6,16:06), Jesus Cordova (No. 7,16:12), Noah Lafitte (No. 9,16:22), and Richard Sheffler (No. 10,16:49).
"It was unique to see," Parkway head coach Kent Falting said. "We had eight runners in the top ten. I thought they treated the weather well. It was really windy and they agreed to work together and trade the leads off to break the wind a little bit. Anytime you can walk away with eight All-District runners that's awesome."
The only runners to make the Top ten not wearing a Parkway uniform were Benton's Brody Hutchison (No. 2;15:47) and Airline's Jayden Williams (No.8; 16:21).
That collection of runners is the fastest in school history, and it's almost the fastest in District 1-5A history.
The Panthers are not only making history on the course this season, they are also making history on campus as earlier this week Kent became the first Panther in the last 20 years to win Student Of The Year.
"I'm going to be honest, it was surreal," Kent said. "I didn't think I was going to get it. I didn't feel like my interview was great, but when our principal walked into my second block class with my mom it hit me. I was too shocked to really react."
On the girls' side, senior Ember Pierce won the District 1-5A championship with a time of 19:11 holding off C.E. Byrd sophomore Anna Lake Watts (19:31).
"I used Claire and Anna Lake to fight that wind, but once I hit that halfway point, I just left it," Pierce said. "Having Anna Lake behind me, it pushed me. I just kept thinking this is my senior year. I have to get it."
Pierce and the Lady Panthers, who are one of the most improved teams in North Louisiana, gave the Lady Jackets everything they had, but it wasn't quite enough to prevent the C.E. Byrd girls from winning their fifth consecutive District 1-5A championship.
Besides Watts, the scoring Lady Jackets included senior Mallory Swint (No. 5; 20:35), Pressley Lockey (No. 6; 20:56), freshmen Emmy Banker (No. 9; 21:17), and Aubree LaCroix (No. 12; 21:42).
"We knew that they (Parkway) would come out here and want to win, just like we did," Watts said. "It was about who wanted it more. I think Ember and I had an amazing race. It's fun to run with super-fast runners like her and it makes us both better."
While the top two Lady Jackets-Watts and Swint- remained in the same position over the last mile of the race, Lockey was able to pass Benton's Dominique Coore and Banker moved past Parkway's Kiara Jackson to give Byrd a two-point, victory over Parkway.
Other girls making the top ten included Benton's Claire Allen (No.3; 20:09), Parkway's Lauren Taylor (No. 4; 20:16), Parkway's Sofia Bright (No. 7:21:02), Coore (No. 8; 21:09), and Haughton's Clara Hicks (No. 10; 21:31).
Byrd's Amira Rudolphi won the girls' District 1-5A junior varsity race with a time of 23:38 while Parkway's Alex Perez won the boys' junior varsity race with a 18:41, five seconds ahead of Byrd's Evan Delatte (18:46)
