Camryn Haik and Jackson Jarrett Repeat at LHSAA D2 State XC!

Nov 19, 2024

ST. THOMAS MORE'S CAMRYN HAIK AND THE WILLOW SCHOOL'S EMMA ALDANA BATTLE IN THE D2 GIRLS' RACE

It was rinse and repeat at the LHSAA D2 boys' and girls' LHSAA State Cross Country Championships as both St. Thomas More's Camryn Haik and David Thibodaux's Jackson Jarrett successfully defended their state championship from a year ago.

Haik won the girls' D2 race with a time of 18:28, 20 seconds ahead of Emma Aldana, a seventh grader from The Willow School, who stayed with Haik for the majority of the race before dropping off at the end.

Jarrett over a stomach bug which caused him to finish in fifth place at regionals. Jarrett's time was 15:44, and he had a few words for MileSplit LA state editor Jerry Byrd on the way to the podium.

"Hey, Jerry Byrd," Jarrett said. "I read your article. You didn't think I was going to win."

Jarrett was shown the article by a teammate after Sunday's practice session, and he used it as motivation during the race. And he needed every ounce of motivation he could muster with West Ouachita's Jack Kelley breathing hard on his back over the final 300 meters on the track at the Walter P. Ledet Track & Field Complex. Jarrett's time was 15:46. Kelley was two seconds behind him.

It wasn't the only victory for the Bulldogs of David Thibodaux. Coach Brian Nezat's team was able to pull out a victory of St. Thomas More (No. 7, 16:26), led by junior John Henry Fitzgerald by the narrowest of margins. 83 to 91 to be exact.

One man cannot win a team title, and Jarrett was just one of the many impressive performances. Junior Barrett Richard (No. 3, 16:02) and sophomore Emerson Cullen (No. 4, 16:11) played a big part as well. Junior Dallas Citizen (No. 37, 17:24) and senior Evan Kidder (No. 40, 17:28) rounded out the scoring members of the winning David Thibodaux team.

Other boys making the top ten in Division 2 included Teurlings Catholic senior Harrison Marceaux (No. 5, 16:16) and teammate Luke Breaux (No. 8, 16:36), Holy Cross sophomores Luke Davis (No. 6, 16:23) and Keegan Martin (No. 9, 16:39), and E.D. White's Matthew Plaisance (No. 10, 16:40).

On the girls' side, E.D. White, led by junior Caroline Molaison (No. 7, 19:34), placed all five scoring runners in the top 20 to knock off the defending champions-St. Thomas More.

Other scoring members of the E.D. White team included Elizabeth Rodrigue (No. 8,19:45), senior Emma Ritchie (No. 10, 19:54), sophomore Anna Rodrigue (No. 17, 20:38), and junior Sarah DeGravelle (No. 20, 20:48).

Top ten performances on the girls' side were also turned in by West Ouachita's Emma Bielkiewicz (No. 3, 19:02), Academy of Sacred Heart NO's Leah Varisco (No. 4, 19:28), St. Thomas More Abby Kate Mendoza (No. 5,, 19:33), David Thibodaux's Alivia Tassin (No. 6, 19:34), and ARCA's Gracie Daigle (No. 9, 19:47).