Dutchtown star competes at national track meet

The high-school outdoor track and field season may be long gone, but one of Dutchtown’s most talented athletes is still competing.

Last week, Lady Griffin state champion Leah Scott made the trip to Lawrence, Kan., to compete in the USATF Hershey National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships.

The six-day event took place on the University of Kansas campus at the Rock Chalk Park, and Scott represented her state and parish very well.

The USA Track & Field (USATF) organization is based in Indianapolis, Ind., and it’s the national governing body for track and field, long-distance running and race-walking in the United States.

It also serves as one of the most visible youth athletic development programs in the world. Many of today’s professional track stars were a part of the USATF as teenagers.

Nearly 10,000 of the country’s best young track stars showed up at Lawrence for the USATF Hershey National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships last week.

Entry was based on athletic performances at preliminary, association and regional levels in the USATF program. Competitors are usually between the ages of 7 and 18.

Scott has been competing over the summer with the Future Track Club. In the event in Kansas, she took part in the long jump and triple jump events in the 17-18 girl’s division.

For the triple jump, Scott’s best measurement came out to 38 feet and two inches. This was good enough to place her 16th out of 51 participants.

However, it was in the long jump where Scott was the most successful.

In the event, her best measurement came out to be 19 feet and 1.5 inches. This was good enough to earn her a third-place finish. There were 50 others competitors.

This is just the latest accomplishment for what has been a sensational high-school career for Scott.

In 2016, she won state titles in both the triple jump and the long jump.

This past season, Scott won district and regional championships in both events. When the state meet rolled around, she won another state title in the triple jump, while finishing as runner-up in the long jump.

Scott had the best long jump of anyone in the state this season as she measured out at 19 feet and six inches. Her best triple jump was tied for four-best in Louisiana at 37 feet and 11 inches.

During the summer, she was named to both the Baton Rouge area All-Metro team and the All-State squad.