SWEEP COMPLETE! THE E.D. WHITE TAKE THE PODIUM AFTER WINNING THE LHSAA D2 BOYS TITLE
"I need a new heart."
That is the first thing E.D. White head coach Jordan Reed said after learning his boys' team pulled off a state championship victory by a slim six-point margin over St. Thomas More. E.D. White scored 87 points to St. Thomas More's 93. West Ouachita also scored 93 points.
"The boys' and girls' races couldn't have been closer," Reed said. "I was just saying they come across the line. I couldn't be sure if we were first...third. There are so many talented teams out here. We were biting our nails, but I'm so proud of these guys. It wasn't pretty. It was gritty. They ran hard. For some, it was their best race of the year. For some, it wasn't their best. That's why we have a team. I'm proud of them."
It marks the first time since 2020 that the Cardinals have swept the boys and girls division of the LHSAA State Cross Country Meet.
The E.D. White girls won the D2 state championship by scoring 61 points, three points better than Academy of Sacred Heart New Orleans.
E.D. White sophomore William Ledet (No. 6; 16:07) led the boys' team while senior Caroline Molaison (No. 5; 19:16) led the girls.
Individually, David Thibodaux STEM senior Barrett Richard won the boys D2 state championship with a time of 15:38. He did it in front of his former teammate Jackson Jarrett, who now competes for the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. Jarrett won the state championship a year ago.
Jarrett was on hand Monday and gave Richard a congratulatory hug after the race.
Richard's time erased Jarrett's name from the top spot in the record books and now gives the Bulldogs the No. 1 and No. 2 positions in D2 state meet history.
"I knew I was going to be up there, but stepping on the starting line...I had zero hope that I was getting first place," Richard said. "So coming across that line with no one else near me was so exciting. There are no words to describe it."
St. Thomas More senior John Henry Fitzgerald (15:48) was the runner-up. David Thibodaux's Emerson Cullen (15:57) finished third.
The Willow School's Emma Aldana-Huelga continued to impress by winning her first LHSAA State Cross Country championship with a time of 18:28, twenty seconds faster than her state meet time a year ago when she finished as the runner-up in Division 2.
"The conditions were not as favorable as I thought they would be, but I did the best I could and came out with a win," Aldana-Huelga said.
Like Richard, Aldana-Huelga set the D2 record with
"It feels great," Aldana-Huelga said of breaking the D2 record. "Last year, it was not a great race. So, this year to be able to come out and be able to do this...I'm thankful."
Aldana-Huelga added another runner-up state meet performance indoors last year in the 3200 (11:18) before a break-out state outdoor meet in May which saw her pull off the distance triple by winning the 800 (2:18), 1600 (5:03), and 3200 (11:12).
Teurlings Catholic's Abigail Leger (18:57) was the D2 runner-up. Academy of Sacred Heart-NO's Leah Varisco (19:08) finished third.