News Post
Runners Score Perfect 15 to Win Regional
The St. Joseph’s Academy cross country team scored a perfect 15 points to win its sixth consecutive Class 5A, Region 2 Cross Country Championship. The Redstickers placed its five scoring runners in the top five spots, and all seven runners in the top nine, to dominate the competition on November 6 at Highland Road Park. Mandeville finished a distant second with 104 points. Rounding out the top five in the three-mile race were Fontainebleau (128), Dutchtown (145) and Denham Springs High (153).
Later that day, SJA’s second top-seven runners competed in the St. Michael Warrior Run, also at Highland Road Park. The Redstickers finished first with 45 points in a field that featured 14 complete teams and 128 finishers.
In the JV division of the Warrior Run, the Redstickers recorded another perfect 15 to finish first.
“What can you say with three team wins, two of which were perfect 15s,” Coach Mark LaHaye said. “Plus, we had two individual first-place finishes, a total of 25 season-best times with 19 being personal records. And we had a whopping 16 top-10 finishes.”
In regional competition, sophomore Grace Rennhoff was the top finisher in a personal record time of 17:54.1. Junior Emma Claire Hendry finished second in 18:01.4 (personal record); senior Maddie Kate Gardiner was third in 18:05.4; sophomore Hannah Vaughan was fourth in 18:08.1 (personal record); freshman Michelle Daigle was fifth in 18:11.2 (personal record); senior Elise Jones was sixth in 18:19.9 (personal record); and senior Alexis Napoli was ninth in 18:42.0 (personal record).
Warrior Run varsity results are as follows: senior Ava Lemoine, fourth place, 18:47.6 (personal record); senior Amelia Cochran, seventh place, 19:02.0 (personal record); sophomore Stella Vincent, eighth place, 19:05.3 (season best); junior Claire Beyer, 12th place, 19:22.0; sophomore Julia Monzon, 14th place, 19:31.5 (personal record); freshman Kenzie Stentiford, 15th place, 19:49.8 (personal record); freshman Sara Pasquier, 18th place, 19:59.7 (personal record); sophomore Elise Brown, 19th place, 20:00.5 (personal record); sophomore Kaitlyn Francise, 20th place, 20:01.1 (personal record); and sophomore Kathryn Casey, 31st place, 20:51.3.
JV results are as follows: freshman Melia Hooper, first place, 18:40.9 (personal record); freshman Kaiser Stentiford, third place, 20:07.8 (personal record); freshman Ainsley Brignac, fourth place, 20:27.4 (personal record); sophomore Madison Mannino, sixth place, 20:44.2 (personal record); freshman Mary Ellis Beach, eighth place, 20:51.3 (personal record); sophomore Katelyn Shannon, ninth place, 20:55.4 (personal record); junior Cassi Miller, 11th place, 21:21.7 (season best); junior Alex Miller, 12th place, 21:27.7 (season best); sophomore Ellis Maughan, 15th place, 21:54.8 (personal record); and senior Olivia Hotstream, 16th place, 22:33.4 (season best).
The Redstickers will attempt to win their sixth consecutive Class 5A state title on November 16 at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches.
Mindy Brodhead Averitt
Communications Director
Photos courtesy of Tina LaHaye