LSU HS QUALIFIER! Results, Photos, Race Video, and Notes!

MOLLY CRAMER (4) COMPETES IN THE 1600m AT SATURDAY'S LSU HS QUALIFIER

LSU HS QUALIFIER PHOTO ALBUM!

LSU HS QUALIFIER RESULTS!

LSU HS QUALIFIER RACE VIDEO!

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY

When C.E. Byrd head coach Juan Plaza talks to his team about overcoming adversity, he can point to Saturday morning in Baton Rouge when he walked out his hotel around 6am to find that the passenger's side window had been smashed.

What is usually one of Plaza's favorite pre-meet routines-getting to the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse early and setting up the team tent at sunrise turned into a morning of making phone calls to the Baton Rouge Police Department and his insurance.

He drove to the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse with the pieces of the window still lying in the passenger's seat and on the floor board. 

Once there, he had assistance from good friend St. Louis Catholic head coach Johnny Giordano and C.E. Byrd Parents who cleaned up the mess and gave Plaza a temporary fix so he could make it back to Northwest La.

It was Byrd's first meet in Louisiana after a handful of athletes opened up the season at the Texas A&M Invitational followed by a trip to the Arkansas Invitational in Fayetteville, AR during Week No. 2. 

BURKS VS. BOULLION DELAYED

High school track and field fans in Louisiana will have to wait a couple of weeks before they watch two of the best 400m runners in LHSAA history battle it out. Barbe's Kennedi Burks and St. Louis Catholic's Hannah Boullion were scheduled to compete in heat one Saturday at the LSU HS Qualifier. However, Boullion had a minor injury in the girls' 4x200 and coach Johnny Giordano made the decision to hold her out. 

The decision was made after Boullion attempted to warm up for the 400m, and Giordano even got on his cellphone with a physical therapist to get an opinion on the injury.

"She just didn't have the range of motion you need to compete at a high level," Giordano said. 

Burks won the event with a 56.98. 

Just because Boullion wasn't in the mix doesn't mean that Burks was without competition. Woodlawn's (Baton Rouge) Jaleyia Woods (57.37), St. Joseph's Baton Rouge Alexandria Stewart (57.46),  and Ruston's T'avion Clark (57.79) all proved to be worthy opponents. 

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY (PART TWO)

David Thibodaux's Jackson Jarrett enjoyed the snow which blanketed South Louisiana early last week. What he didn't enjoy was finding a place to get on a treadmill so that he could continue to get some work in.

Jarrett and his father drove around Lafayette looking for a gym that was open. They finally found an Anytime Fitness at an apartment complex 20 miles away. 

Jarrett was only two seconds off John Brigham's 21-year old meet record in the boys 3200m. He won the event with a time of 9:29. 

The two-time LHSAA Division 2 State Cross Country champion pulled Mandeville Max Jacketti and Brother Martin's Noah Mooney along the for ride. Mooney finished as the runner-up with a 9:35. Jacketti was third with 9:38. 

THE WRIGHT TIME FOR A GREAT OPENER

Good things come to those who wait. Just ask Destrehan's Phillip Wright III, who waited until Week No. 3 to open his senior year of track and field. Wright won the 60m with a time of 6.90. Later in the meet he became the first Louisiana sprinter to break 50 seconds in the 400m. He picked up his second win on the day with a time of 49.95.

While several sprinters who are moving on to play football at the next level have recently decided to forego their final season of high school track and field, it was never a question for Wright. 

"I still have a lot to prove to myself," Wright said. "I want to do some things I haven't done yet."

TAKING HOME THE HARDWARE

At every LSU Indoor Meet, the LSU Track & Field Officials' Association gives out awards to most valuable performers. Saturday's winners in the field events were Central Lafourche's Kaden Adams and John Curtis' Addilyn Dufrene.

Adams was at a powerlifting meet last weekend when he got news that he was no longer the No. 1 shot putter in Louisiana. Catholic High's Jack Torrance (56-3) took the spot away from him performance at the McNeese Indoor No. 1 Meet. Adams got the No. 1 ranking back with his throw of 56-6 at the Qualifier. 

Dufrene remained undefeated in the girls' high jump where she won with a jump of 5-6.25. It's a season best and state-leading mark for Dufrene, who has now won two consecutive meets after only winning one meet as a sophomore a year ago. 

Airline's Zion Smith and Madison Prep's Dynasty Wilfred were awarded the outstanding competitor trophies for this performance in the running events. Smith won the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.13. Wilfred won both the 60m hurdles (8.85) and the 800m (2:16).

FRESHMAN WITH AMAZING  DISTANCE DOUBLE!

Through the years, there have been freshmen who have turned in great performances, but no freshman has turned in a distance double during Louisiana's indoor season like the one Parkview Baptist's Molly Cramer turned in Saturday at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse.

At the Qualifier, Cramer won the 1600m (5:07) beating a field littered with state champions like St. Joseph Baton Rouge's Michelle Daigle, Hathaway's Kaitlyn Sawyer, and St. Thomas More's Camryn Haik

She came back at the end of the meet and beat another state champion-older sister Lucy Cramer in the 3200m with a time of 11:11. 

What's hard to believe is that Molly Cramer's personal record in the 3200m came last year when she ran an 11:06 and finished second to Elise Brown (11:00), who is now competing at Tulane University. 

For good measure, Cramer cooled down with an anchor leg on Parkview Baptist's 4x400m relay. The team finished third with a time of 4:07 with Molly Cramer running the fastest split on the team. 

The 5:07.66 is a personal record for Cramer and girls her the No. 1 ranking in Louisiana this year. It gives her and older sister, Lucy, the No.1 and No. 2 spots in the MileSplit LA database for freshmen girls in both the 1600m and 3200m. 

Nationally, Cramer is ranked No. 6 for freshmen girls in both the 1600m and 3200m. 

CRAZY 8'S!

There's no other way to put it. The field in the boys' 800m went nuts with six guys breaking 2:00, led by Calvary's Jackson Burney's 1:58.45. On Burney's tail was Central Lafourche's Trevin LeBouef (1:58.72) and Mandeville's Brayden Berglund (1:58.75).

Other runners turning in impressive performances in the first heat of the boys' 800m were Catholic High's William Decuir (1:59.04), Parkview Baptist's Reed Boudreaux (1:59.43), and Episcopal's Foster Lambert (1:59.52). 

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

West Feliciana's Tristen Harris, who signed with the University of South Carolina in the early signing period, was impressive once again. Harris won the 60m (7.54), just .04 off her meet record tying performance of 7.50 a year ago. For good measure, Harris added a season-best performance of 19-3 in the girls long jump. 

MISTAKEN IDENTITY

It was a case of mistaken identity in the finals of the girls 60m when officials called a false start. Harris, who would go on to win the event, flinched. After conferencing, the officials started walking to the starting line. Harris, who knew that she flinched, began to walk off, but Harris was instructed to go back to her lane. The officials went to Destrehan's Marley Richard, an LSU signee, and told her that she was disqualified for the false start. 

Richard is the best triple jumper in the state and the No. 2 ranked long jumper behind Harris. Richard's brother, Damien Richard, who is a junior at Destrehan, is ranked in the Top 7 in the state in both horizontal jumps. 

We believe--until proven different--the Richards are the best brother-sister jumping combination in the nation.