We are two weeks away from the first Saturday of the 2026 Louisiana high school cross country season. Here are some questions heading into the season.
Let's face face it. Mt. Carmel beating SJA to break a string of nine-straight LHSAA Division I championships was one of the top story lines of the 2025 season. Led by Stella Junius, who is now competing for LSU, the Cubs (55 points) were able to knock the Stickers (89 points) from the top spot of the podium.
Now, all eyes are on the Cubs to see if they defend their title. Was Mt. Carmel's 2025 championship a one off, or do they have what it takes to begin a streak of their own.
While we don't know the answer to the question, we do know that both Mt. Carmel and St. Joseph's will be led by sophomores. SJA's Hannah Schneider (18:21) ran the fastest time of any freshman in Division I. The only freshmen in Louisiana to run faster on that day was Metairie Park Country Day's Varenka Zhuk (18:19), who won Division 4.
MCA was led by seniors Junius and Lucy Quintana. No. 3 for the Cubs was freshman Mary Quintana, who finished No. 13 with a time of 19:03.
So what about No. 2 through No. 5?
SJA has Cate Barbier (19:26), Olivia Crews (19:48), Hope Lemoine (19:51), Kaitlyn Garidel (20:20).
Mt. Carmel has Clare Delahoussaye (19:06), Anna Joubert (1929), Caroline Zimmermann (19:55), Gabrielle Marino (20:18).
PREDICTION: St. Joseph's has seven runners among the top 50 returners in Louisiana. It's a safe bet that the loss at the 2025 LHSAA State Championships motivated the Stickers over the offseason. If Coach Mark LaHaye's team can stay healthy, the Stickers appear to be too deep for anything less than a Division I state championship-their tenth in the last 11 years.