Track, field stars saved their best efforts for last

By Ron Brocato, Sports
Clarion Herald

May 6, two thousand, twenty-three – a date that may live in infamy for Jazzfest goers and high school track and field athletes.

A daylong deluge dampened the spirits of both factions. But while the music in New Orleans played through the incessant downpours, the weather forced the Louisiana High School Athletic Association to alter its plans for salvaging the final day of the Ochsner LHSAA Track and Field Meet at LSU’s Bernie Moore Stadium.

By moving several field events to the indoor meet facility, then later running boys’ and girls’ 1,600- and 3,200 concurrently, the meet was able to trudge on.

When the ordeal ended shortly before nightfall, the prep stars shone brightly.

Catholic High won its 20th Class 5A team title (12th since 2008), extending our local Catholic schools’  championship drought to 18 years since St. Augustine and Barbe tied for the 2005 team title.

Individually, athletes from schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans were among the brightest stars, even though teams from local Catholic schools (Jesuit was the highest 5A finisher in fifth place. Archbishop Shaw was sixth in the Class 4A meet) under- performed.

The best team came from Academy of the Sacred Heart, which placed fifth in the girls’ Class 3A meet.

The best performances

Among the most outstanding entries were the distance duos from Jesuit.

Junior Michael Vocke’s 4:15.60 in winning the 5A 1,600-meter run broke his previous best time of 4:17.27 he set at the 2021 state meet.

Second-place finisher Jack DesRoches’ time of 4:16.41 was also a personal record for the Blue Jay runner.

In winning the 3,200-meter run, another Jesuit athlete, Patrick Dowd, ran a 9:14.49, besting his previous time of 9:25.05. And his teammate, Robert Buisson, set a personal mark of 9:21.59, thus topping the 9:22.49 he ran in 2022.

Mount Carmel sophomore Catalina Reichard and St. Charles Catholic’s Mya Brown were double champions.

Reichard, the 2022 state cross country medalist, etched her name among those of other local Catholic school stars by winning the Class 5A 3,200-meter run in 11:05.96, which fell fractions short of her city record time of 10:58.38. She also won the 1,600-meter event in 5:04.86, the second-fastest time run locally.

But Reichard put herself among the elite runners like Dominican’s Mia Meydrich (2014), St. Scholastica’s Ellen Faringa (2014), Sacred Heart’s Mary Nusloch (2019) and the Mount Carmel contingent of Krissie Cusimano (1998), Staci Cusimano (1999), Kerianne Langley (2003) and Hope Shales (2019).

Brown, who also starred on the volleyball and basketball courts for the Comets, claimed the Class 2A girls’ shot put and discus titles by throwing the metal ball 37-11 1/2 and the disc 128-6, both personal bests.

Relay teams from Holy Cross  (5A) and Archbishop Shaw (4A) also became champions.

The Holy Cross foursome of Ke’Rynn Smith, Koby Young, Josh Brown and Krosse Johnson found gold in the 4x100 with a 41.17 clocking.

Earlier, the same foursome was involved in a District 9-5A sweep when they placed second in the 4x200 to district rival Edna Karr. John Curtis’ team was third to complete the sweep.

Shaw’s quartet of Kardell Allen, Dallas Borne, Mike Williams and David Kency Jr., tied the team’s best 4x100 time of 41.53 in their gold medal performance.

Williams and Kency also participated in the 4A boys’ 200-meter  dash with Williams running a 21.54 in a second- place finish, and Kency a 21.60 third-place time. But both were personal best performances and set the stage for the relay victory.

ASH’s Leah Varisco finished first in the Class 3A 3,200-meter run by covering the eight-lap event in 11:53.36. Varisco also earned a bronze medal in the 1,600-meter run.

Another winner was Ursuline Academy’s Sophia Freeze, who ran the fastest 800 meters in the Class 3A meet in the time of 2:23.02.

In winning the District 9-5A meet and qualifying for the regional event two weeks ago, Mount Carmel’s Natalie Doiron won the pole vault at a record-tying summit of 12 feet.

That height enabled Doiron to share the three-parish metro vault record with Dominican’s Katelyn Rodrigue, set in the 2006 Sugar Bowl meet.

But moving the pole vault event indoors at the state meet was not an asset to the Cubs’ vaulter who placed second with a height of 11-feet, 5 1/4- inch best.