All eyes are on Baton Rouge this weekend and it has nothing to do with LSU or Lane Kiffin. It's all about the Pete Boudreaux Invitational at Highland Road Park where the very best runners from all corners of the state will converge on Saturday morning.
Parkway's Brennan Robin and Jesuit's David Quintana, the equivalent of Louisiana high school distance running supremacy, will battle it out. Robin is coming off a spectacular performance at the 38th annual Chile Pepper, where he ran a 22-second personal record of 14:46 in what was the third place finish. Robin's performance also ranks No. 2 all-time in the MileSplit Louisiana database. The only Louisiana high school distance runner to run fasters was Parkview Baptist's Aiden Monistere (14:33) at the Watson Classic in 2024
Quintana opened with a 15:07 at the Southern Showcase in what was a seventh place finish. Despite opening the season with a personal record, Quintana was expecting more. Last weekend, Quintana ran a 15:16 and finished No. 20 at the Great American XC Festival.
Others runners to watch on Saturday include Dutchtown's Shrey Shah, who ranks ahead of Robin on Louisiana's three mile list with a 14:53 at Episcopal's Round Table Run. That was the second time Shah ran on the Highland Road Park course. He opened his season there at St. Michael's Bayou Boogie Classic with 15:09 runner-up finish.
In the next tier of runners there is an interesting group that includes Zachary's Maximo Gennaro (15:30), Lafayette junior Maddox Tolbert (15:43), and Bossier's Quinton Hodge (15:45). Do not be shocked if either Robin, Quintana, or both pull one of these runner to a good-to-great breakthrough performance.
If it's MileSplit Louisiana Future Stars you are looking for, look no further than Denham Springs sophomore Hunter Voisin, who is seeded No. 10 with a time of 16:20. Parkway's Braxton Thomas (16:25), Dutchtown's Benjamin Jacoby (16:29), and Jesuit's Nathan Braud (16:29) are others sophomores who will be in the mix.
Dutchtown' Graham Foster (17:03) and Jesuit's Julien Soine (17:04) are two freshmen worth keeping an eye on.
While Catholic did not include times for their entries, you can bet the Bears want to show out in their home meet. Leading the Catholic will be Augustin Juneau, who had the No. 2 three mile time in Louisiana last season as a sophomore. Juneau's season best of 14:43 came at the LCA Knights Invitational.
That same course--Sievers Airfield--produced the No. 1 time in Louisiana. It was run by Talan Sievers (14:41) at the D4 Region 2 Meet.
Both Juneau and Sievers will be at the front of Saturday's race. While Sievers has competed in three meets this year, Juneau will be running in his opener.
On the girls side, it looks to be sisters Lucy Cramer and Molly Cramer looking to give Parkview Baptist a one-two punch. Their teammate, sophomore Avery Burnham, who is the No. 4 seed with a time of 18:10, will not be far behind.
The only runner in the top four seeds not from Parkview Baptist in Dutchtown's Keira Melan (17:45), who is the No. 3 seed.
Unlike the boys' top ten, the girls top 10 is littered with young talent. Besides Burnham, there are sophomores Celia Adams from St. Thomas Aquinas, Mary Quintana from Mt. Carmel, and freshman Faith Marengo from Mandeville.
Louise McGehee's Mary Claire Leckert, St. Thomas More's Mia Cestia, and Archbishop Hannan's Jacklyn McMenamin round out the top 10.
There are a slew of state champions at the bottom of the entries who did not list a time when entering the invitational. This group is led by The Willow School freshman Emma Aldana Huelga. Like Juneau, this will be her first cross country race of 2026.
The action begins at 7am with the Boys Varsity. Girls Varsity will follow at 7:30am. MileSplit Louisiana will be there to provide both video and and photos.