All Evangel's Roy Morris could do was smile after crossing the line of the 4x100m at the 2024 LHSAA Class 4A State Outdoor Championship. In front of him was Northwood's James Hollingsworth, who anchored the Northwood Falcons to a state championship in the event with a time of 42.29.
Morris knew the feeling. He had experienced something similar the week before when Evangel beat Northwood at the Region 1-4A Meet at Shreveport's Lee Hedges Stadium.
It was the third and final round of the battle between the district 1-4A foes.
NORTHWOOD'S WINNING 4X100m RELAY WON WITH A LA#2 42.26 THURSDAY AT MANSFIELD
Hollingsworth, who also broke the school record in the 300m hurdles with a third-place time of 39.59, graduated. So the scratch leg-Desmond Harris. Despite losing Hollingsworth and Harris to graduation the Falcons have reloaded and are running even faster in 2205.
The team, led by Justin Thomas and Jeremiah Johnson--both of whom were on the 2024 state championship team as sophomores, won the Mansfield Wolverines Invitational with a time of 42.26, almost half a second faster than there winning time during the opener at the Yellow Jacket Relays.
The scratch leg on Thursday was Kyron Johnson and the third leg was Jason Stroughter.
The only thing standing between the Falcons and a No. 1 ranking in Louisiana is Acadiana, who posted a time of 41.80 in their opener at the Charles Lacon Invite during the opening week of the outdoor season.
The 2016 school record of 41.77 set by Dawson Hill, Deandre James, Jamonte Bailey, and Marquez Stevenson is living on borrowed time.
Jokingly, MileSplit LA asked the 4x100m team if there was something in the water in Blanchard, Louisiana.
"It's probably not even the water," Thomas said. "It's the great coaching and the community we have behind us, and the athleticism that we have that we can build on every day at practice."
At those practices, Brown spares no expense to help his Falcons get even faster.
"We have drones to film practice, GPS to track our speed," Thomas explained, "so having stuff to rely on and add on to the coaches' mindset just helps everything improve."
"The Best is Yet to Come," is a slogan often repeated by Northwood's rival--Evangel Christian Academy--but it applies to this group of Falcons, who will all return in 2026.
"Knowing that we are fixing to beat the school record this year and how it's going to be next year," Jeremiah Johnson said.