Cecilia – CECILIA A pair of Saint Martin parish athletes had the same reaction when they qualified for the state track meet at the Cecilia High Class 4A regional.
Cecilia High thrower London Thi, a senior who is the two-time reigning Class 4A discus champion, qualified in both of her signature events, the discus and the shot put, with second-place finishes in both events.
“I’m disappointed in that I finished second in the discus, but I’m still going to state in both events and still have a chance to win a state title in each one,” she said.
Thi had a 128-foot, 11-inch throw in the discus to finish behind Broadmoor’s Khloe Lewis at 130-7.
Thi’s 34-foot, 10inch effort in the shot put was second behind Lewis at 35-3.
Thi also was ninth in the javelin at 80-4.
Breaux Bridge sophomore distance runner Patrick Godeaux finished third in the 1600 meters to qualify for his first state meet.
“I’m going to state,” he said. “It was a tough race and there was a lot of good competition, but I knew if I just ran my race I could finish in the top three, and I did, and now I’m going to state for the first time.
“It’s a great feeling.” Godeaux was third in the 800 meters in 2:01.11 to reach state in that event as well.
Thi and Godeaux are two of several athletes headed to the Class 4A state meet Saturday at LSU’s Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
Cecilia High placed fifth in both the girls’ and boys’ team standings with 54 points for the girls and 55.5 points for the boys. Teurlings Catholic won the girls’ team title with 132 points, followed by Brusly (105), St. Thomas More (86), West Feliciana (83) and Cecilia.
STM was the boys’ team champion with 65 points, followed by Teurlings (63), David Thibodaux STEM (59), Northside (58) and Cecilia. Breaux Bridge had 23 points to finish 11th in the boys’ team standings. Cecilia’s Corey Sassau won the boys’ shot put with a heave of 56 feet, 4 inches and claimed the discus title with a throw of 143-2.
Cecilia’s Asia Batiste qualified for state by finishing third in the girls’ 100-meter dash in 12.47 seconds.
Cecilia’s Sy’Nae Howard and Nikkie Devillier both qualified for state in the girls’ 100-meter hurdles, with Howard finishing second in 15.52 seconds and Devillier third in 16.11 seconds.
Devillier also qualified for state in the 300-meter hurdles with a second-place finish in 48.52 seconds.
Queen Lewis of Brusly won both events, taking the 100 hurdles in 15.27 seconds and the 300 hurdles in 47.90 seconds.
The Cecilia girls’ 4x200 relay team advanced to state by finishing third in 1:47.73. Lana Taylor, Khloe Alexander, Olivia Chavis and Asia Batiste ran for the Lady Bulldogs.
Da’Kelian Chevalier of Cecilia was third in the 400 meters (49.48) to qualify for state.
Jermaine Davis of Cecilia finished second in the triple jump at 45 feet, 1/2 inch and third in the long jump at 21 feet, 4 inches to advance to the state meet in both events.
Cecilia boys who qualified for regionals but finished outside the top three included Shaquille Sanders (6th, 200 meters; 7th, 100 meters), Tucker Clay (9th, 1600M; 11th, 3200M), Gavin Guidry (6th, 3200M), Braylon Calais (110-meter Hurdles, 300-meter hurdles), Jayden Lewis (9th, 300M hurdles; 7th, high jump; 8th, triple jump), Hayden Heard (shot put), Jabarik Sebille (12th, discus), Jace Knott (4th, javelin), Damiyan Hebert (8th, javelin), Kently James (high jump) and Ashton Ruffin (7th, long jump).
Cecilia competed in the four boys’ relay events but did not finish in the top three in those events.
Nathan Thornton, Amiri Noel, Jermaine Davis and Shaquille Sanders were fourth in the 4x100 relay.
Da’Kelian Chevalier, Amiri Noel, Jermaine Davis and Shaquille Sanders were sixth in the 4x200.
Amiri Noel, Dakorey Living, Braylon Calais and Da’Kelian Chevalier were sixth in the 4x400.
Isaiah Greene, Ja’torian Matthews, Brandon Lejeune and Aidan Landry were fourth in the 4x800.
Breaux Bridge boys who qualified for regionals but did not place in the top three to qualify for state included Dakowen Celestine (6th, 100M), Jakyron Wallace (9th, 200M; 5th,
(Leah
400M), Justin James (8th, 800M), Christian Camacho (5th, 1600M; 5th, 3200M), Nelson Borel (9th, high jump) and Gentry Blanchard (7th, pole vault).
Breaux Bridge’s 4x100 relay team of Kai Anderson, Dakowen Celestine, Cruz trail and Noah Solomon finished seventh.
Dakowen Celestine, Cruz Trail, Jakyron Wallace and Kai Anderson finished seventh in the 4x200 for BBHS.
Christian Camacho, Justin James, Jakyron Wallace and Cruz trail qualified in the 4x400 but did not compete at regionals.
Harley Broussard, Christian Camacho, Patrick Godeaux and Justin James finished fifth in the 4x800 for Breaux Bridge.
Cecilia girls who reached the regional meet but did not qualify for state included Riley Falls (8th, 400 Meters), Brinley Broussard (9th, 800M), Caydah Hardy (8th, 1600M; 6th, 3200M), Riley Guidry (12th, shot put), Kinsley LeBlanc (8th, discus), Megan Girod (6th, javelin), and Laney Hill (8th, high jump; 11th, long jump; 10th, triple jump).
Cecilia’s 4x100 relay team of Nikkie Devillier, Khloe Alexander, Olivia Chavis and Asia Batiste finished ninth.
Khloe Alexander, Nikkie Devillier, Lana Taylor and Olivia Chavis finished sixth in the 4x400 for CHS.
Brinley Brasseaux, Madison Lam, Ariel Patin and Zoey Huval were sixth in the 4x800 for Cecilia.
Breaux Bridge girls who qualified for regionals but did not advance to state included Caisley Jordan (10th, 100M; 10th, 200M), Jolie Boutte (11th, 200M), Daleah Ledet (400M), Bailey Robert (11th, 1600M; 3200M), Kamie Dugas (11th, 100M hurdles), Layla Jernigan (11th, discus), Sophie Dore (12th, javelin), Bailey Robert (7th, pole vault) and Athena Davis (12th, long jump).
Breaux Bridge’s Jolie Boutte, Athena Davis, Brelle Hurst and Caisley Jordan were 10th in the 4x100 and 11th in the 4x200.
Daleah Ledet, Caisley Jordan, Kamie Dugas and Jolie Boutte qualified for regionals in the 4x400 but did not run for BBHS.
THROWS SPECIALIST – London Thi of Cecilia High School competes in the discus at the regional track meet at Cecilia High this past Wednesday. Thi qualified for the state meet in the discus and shot put, as she has the past few seasons.. (Leah McClelland)
