Parish athletes win big at state track meet

The parish’s best track athletes all converged on Bernie Moore Track Stadium at LSU over the weekend for the LHSAA Outdoor Track & Field State Meet.

There were some special performances by Ascension athletes. Three area standouts took home state titles.

The parish team that secured the best finish was the Dutchtown girls. The Lady Griffins finished in sixth at the Class 5A meet.

Scotlandville took home the championship. Ruston was the runner-up, and St. Joseph’s Academy, Baton Rouge High and Lafayette rounded out the rest of the top five.

Leading the way for Dutchtown were Ariane Linton and Rachel Fereday. Both competitors won state titles.

For the second year in a row, Linton won the 100. The Arkansas signee captured the title with a time of 11.79. And like last spring, she finished as the state runner-up in the 200 with a time of 24.02.

Fereday won the state championship in the 800 with a time of two minutes and 15.94 seconds.

The Dutchtown boys finished in seventh.

Catholic took home the Class 5A state title, and Ruston was the state runner-up. Jesuit, Woodlawn and Zachary rounded out the rest of the top five.

Dutchtown’s Cole Martin won the state title in the discus with a measurement of 152 feet and four inches.

Teammate Montrell Morris was state runner-up in the long jump with a jump of 23 feet and 7.25 inches.

In Class 3A, Donaldsonville’s Carlos Bell placed third in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.94.

After finishing as the Class 1A state runner-up last season, the Ascension Catholic boys finished in ninth on Friday evening.

Ouachita Christian brought home the state championship. Country Day was runner-up, while Southern Lab, St. Martin’s and Westminster Christian all rounded out the rest of the top five. 

Chase Walker had a huge outing last season as he won state titles in both the 800 and the 1,600. He was also runner-up in the 3,200.

On Friday, Walker couldn’t secure any state titles, but he did finish as the state runner-up in the 800 with a time of two minutes and 3.49 seconds.

His teammate, William Bellina finished right behind him in third with a time of two minutes and 4.07 seconds.