PARKVIEW BAPTIST'S LUCY CRAMER HEADS FOR THE LINE SATURDAY MORNING
[EDITOR'S NOTE: CHECK BACK HERE FOR RACE VIDEO FROM THE PETE BOUDREAUX INVITATIONAL]
The field assembled at Highland Road Park on Saturday morning for Catholic's Pete Boudreaux Invitational was loaded. When the dust settled, it was the two junior favorites Parkway's Brennan Robin (15:09) and Parkview Baptist's Lucy Cramer (18:01) coming away with personal record performances which moves them up in Louisiana's all-time rankings.
Robin's time gives him the No. 1 time in the state this year as he moves past Jesuit's Brady Monahan, who ran a 15:11 at Nike South earlier this year.
All-time, Robin moves from No. 6 to No. 3 on the list for Louisiana juniors in the 5K. Only Brady Mullen (14:59; Nike Twilight 2023) and Monahan (15:07; Great American XC Festival 2024) have run faster.
Cramer moved from No. 5 to No. 4 on Louisiana's all-time 5K list. Her time is also No. 2 on Louisiana's all-time list for junior girls.
"This race was very fun," Cramer texted. " I went out smooth and tried to progress into the race. It was fun going at it with people chasing me and pushing me through the whole race and I was really happy with the PR and the outcome!"
As always, Cramer drew inspiration from her faith. "Purpose in every step, for my strength is not my own-it flows from Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior" is a quote she has owned this year.
For Robin, it was more about the team than his individual effort.
"Coming down to Baton Rouge was really important for the team because we wanted to see how we stacked up against the state's best competition," Robin. "The team had something to prove because we were ranked low, but we came out and ran our hardest today and finished fourth."
As far as his time is concerned, Robin gave credit to Highland Baptist senior Tyler Blissett.
"Tyler really helped me run a fast time because I had somebody to chase at the end," Robin said. "I would have loved if everybody in the state showed up but I'm looking forward to championship racing.
Brother Martin, who placed three runners in the top ten, won the boys' team title with 60 points, 34 more than host Catholic. Jesuit, running their No. 6 through No. 12 runners, finished third with 100 points.
The Crusader harriers finishing in the top ten included Carson Mills (No. 3; 15:37), William Lionnet (No. 6; 15:52), and Caleb Carmouche (No. 8; 15:57)
St. Joseph's, who placed two runners in the top ten, won the girls' team title with 54 points. Parkview Baptist was third was second with 109 points. Mt. Carmel was third with 153 points.
Stickers finishing in the top ten included freshman Hannah Schneider (No. 7; 18:43) and Hope Lemoine (No. 9; 19:03)