Jesuit distance runners steal the show

By Ron Brocato, Sports
Clarion Herald

Michael Vocke came within 33-100ths of a second of becoming the greatest Louisiana high school 1,600-meter runner of all time at the Class 5A portion of the State Track and Field Championships on May 4.

Instead, his Jesuit teammate, Brady Mullen, earned the title “GOAT" in the 3,200-meter event.

Mullen, a junior cross country and track distance champion, set a Louisiana composite record of 8:48.36 in winning the gold medal for that event. His previous best time was 9:10.29, set a year ago.

Vocke, a four-time individual champion in the 1,600, capped off his senior season by running away from his and the state’s best competitors in the remarkable time of 4:12.33. It was the second-fastest four-lap event run by a Louisiana high school athlete, and just a tick slower than the composite record time of 4:12.0 by Archbishop Rummel’s Keith Iovine in 1982.

Iovine died at age 39 in 2002, but his legacy, set 42 years ago, lives on.

Mullen’s record time places him ahead of Brother Martin’s Hunter Appleton, who was clocked in 9:01.49 in a 2019 meet in Arcadia, California.

Mullen is the only Louisiana prep runner to break the invisible 9-minute barrier in the 1,600 meters. He tops a list of elite runners whose times rank among the best in the New Orleans area, including fellow Blue Jays Vocke (9:06.11), Jack Desroches (9:07.37), Lucas Sampedro (9:11.87) and Patrick Doud (9:18.65), all recorded in 2022.

St. Paul’s Zach Albright (9:10.67 in 2014) and Eric Coston (9:11.56 in 2017) are also among the area’s best.

St. Augustine’s Kyzer Dunbar came within three seconds of becoming the second Purple Knight to set an 800-meter record when he ran a 1:52.95 during the season. But Karjuan Williams' state record time of 1:50.14, set in 2005 (the last time St. Aug won the state track and field title) still prevails.

Holy Cross' Josh Brown earned the title of men’s sprint champion by taking gold in the Class 5A 100- and 200-meter dashes at the state meet.

When 2023 100-meter champion Krosse Johnson decided to forgo his senior track season to prepare for a college football career at the University of Arkansas, Brown became Holy Cross’ premier sprinter and answered that challenge by running a 10.35 time in the 100 and following it with a 200-meter time of 21.0 for the double victories.

His 100-time set a school record, previously held by Alvin Lawson, a 10.40 set in 1982.

This spring wasn’t exactly a banner season for local girls’ Catholic schools. But one performance stands out among the area’s best: Cabrini’s Bailee Villavaso set a New Orleans-area record in the pole vault in 3A or higher classes when she cleared 13 feet, 4 inches at a meet hosted by E.D. White. She placed second in the Class 4A meet last week.

Academy of the Sacred Heart was the most recent state team champion among local Catholic schools when the Cardinals claimed the top prize in 2019 and 2018.

St. Katharine Drexel Prep was the Class 2A champion in 2018 and runner-up in 2019.