By Michael Kiral / L’Observateur / March 18, 1998

EDGARD – West St. John’s Crystal Stipe highlighted the host team’s effortwith a first place finish in the 400-meter run at the Sugar Cane Relays Friday afternoon.

The Relays, held at West St. John Stadium, are among the largest staged inthe River Parishes with boys and girls teams from over 20 schools competing. River Parish teams participating were West St. John,Destrehan, East St. John, Hahnville, Lutcher, Riverside and St. James.Assumption won the boys’ competition with 81 points. South Lafourchewas second with 53 points, followed by Ellender (50) and Vermillion Catholic (49). Destrehan placed fifth with 48 points, followed byTerrebonne (47) and Hahnville (40).

In the girls’ competition, H.L. Bourgeois edged out Thibodaux, 75.5-71 forthe team title. Destrehan was third with 59 points, followed by JewelSumner (44) and E.D. White (40). East St. John placed sixth with 37.5points, followed by Riverside with 35 points.

Traun Smith led the River Parishes effort in the boys’ competition with first place finishes in the long and triple jumps. Smith jumped 22 feet, 101/2 inches in the long jump and followed that with a leap of 46-4 1/4 in the triple jump. Teammate Carlos Eugene placed second in the triple jumpwhile Lutcher’s Murray Williams was second in the long jump with a jump of 21-11 3/4 and also placed fourth in the high jump, clearing the bar at 6-0. West St. John’s Joseph Gross added a fifth-place finishing the longjump.

The Hahnville 800-meter relay team gave the River Parishes its other first place finish in the boys’ competition, finishing in a time of one minute, 31.59 seconds. East St. John was third followed by Destrehan. TheHahnville 400-meter relay team placed third, followed by Destrehan, East St. John and St. James. Ellender was first with a time of 43.59.Hahnville’s Craig Coleman placed third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.01. St. James’ Chad Smith was right behind while Hahnville’sAntoine Williams was sixth. Terrebonne’s Claude Johnson won the event ina time of 10.87.Coleman also finished second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.04.Destrehan’s Troy Keller was fourth with a time of 23.38. Ellender’sTristien Verdin took home first in 22.72. Lutcher’s Ricardo Williams was third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.22. St. James’ Brian Landry and Destrehan’s Germond Williamsplaced fifth and sixth, respectively. Destrehan’s Brandon McKnight placedthird in the 400-meter run in a time of 54.13, ahead of Hahnville’s SabrielBennett (54.54).In the field events, Riverside’s Travis Bourgeois placed third in the shot put with a toss of 49-8. His teammate, Rhett Vicknair was sixth in thediscus with a throw of 134-5.

On the girls’ side, Stipe ran 1:01.83 to lead the Lady Rams in the 400-meter run. Riverside’s Michelle Millet placed sixth in the event.East St. John’s Yoshiko Taylor ran to a winning time of 5:55.10 in the1600-meter run and placed second in the 3200-meters with a time of 13:07. Riverside’s Jennifer Smith placed fifth and sixth in the respectiveevents, while Hahnville’s Laurie Bass was sixth in the 1600.

In other running events, Destrehan’s Letoya Breaux was edged out by Bourgeois’ Carrie Norton, 12.51-12.53 in the 100-meters. The Lady Cats’Kawanda Anderson placed third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.29, while East St. John’s Relanda Rousseau was fifth and Breaux sixth.Norton won the event in 26.46.East St. John placed second in the 800-meter relay with a time of 1:50.95.Destrehan was right behind in 1:50.97. Thibodaux won the event in a timeof 1:49.06. Riverside’s 1600-meter relay team placed second behind E.D.White with East St. John in fifth. Destrehan’s 400-meter relay squad wasthird, followed by Hahnville and Lutcher.

In the field events, Riverside’s Amanda Roussel and Destrehan’s Kammi Darensbourg had first place finishes. Roussel jumped 5-2 in the high jump,edging out Destrehan’s Amanda Spivey who cleared the bar at 5-0. Rousselalso placed fifth in the 100-meter hurdles.

Darensbourg placed first in the shot put with a throw of 38-4. West St.John’s Kenyatta Boudoin was second with a toss of 36-1 1/2. Darensbourgalso placed second in the javelin with a toss of 102-6 and in the discus with a throw of 98-1. E.D. White’s Alana Cavell placed first in each event. Riverside’s Mandy Roussel placed fifth in the discus while teammate Hannah Hobdy was fourth in the long jump.

Photo: WEST ST. JOHN’S JOSEPH GROSS sails through the air in the long jump atthe Sugarcane Relays Friday afternoon.

Photo by Michael Kiral.

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