MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / May 2, 1999

RESERVE – Amanda Roussel placed first in the high jump and Lori Smith set a personal record in the 100 meters to help Riverside to a third place finish at the Division IV, Region III Meet Wednesday afternoon at Riverside.

The Lady Rebels finished with 61 points. Newman edged out Jewel Sumner,94-92, for the regional title, rallying from behind with a victory in the 1600-meter relay. St. Thomas Aquinas was fourth with 53 points,followed by Ridgewood with 36. West St. John placed eighth with 24points with St. Charles Catholic right behind with 23 points.The top three qualifiers in each event qualified for the Class 2A state meet Friday at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium on the LSU campus.

Roussel will be making her second straight trip to the state meet after winning the state title in the high jump last year. She took the regionaltitle Wednesday with a jump of 5-6 on her way to being named the meet’s Outstanding Field performer.

“My next goal is to be the state champion again,” Roussel said. “This wasa big comeback after last week. It builds confidence going into state andwill make me concentrate. Hopefully, I can get my record (5-8) again. I’mvery excited and I hope to keep my title.”Roussel also qualified in the triple jump, placing third with an effort of 33-9 1/2. West St. John’s Niesha Green also qualified with a second placejump of 33-10. Ridgewood’s Aisha Otori won the regional title with ajump of 34-1 3/4.

Green’s teammate, Oneka Lewis, qualified in the javelin with a third place throw of 32-4 1/4. St. Thomas Aquinas’ Carlee White won the event with athrow of 34-6 1/4.

Also qualifying for the state meet is St. Charles Catholic’s CristinClement who placed third in the long jump with a jump of 16-3. JadeVincent of Fisher placed first with a jump of 16-8 with Buras’ Zada Jackson second at 16-6.

“It feels real good,” Clement said of qualifying. “My first year in the longjump and I’m going to state.”Riverside’s Kelly Louque is also going to state after placing third in the discus with a throw of 94-10. Sumner’s Lisa Miller placed first with athrow of 105-6.

In the track events, Smith placed second in the 100 with a time of 12.37.Sumner’s Miesha Ellzey was the regional champion with a time of 12.36.Smith, whose previous best time was 12.80, said the difference was howshe got out of the blocks.

“I got out of the blocks real good,” Smith said. “I came out real bad lastweek and coach (John) White made me practice, practice, practice this week. I’m so excited. My goal was to goal to state in the 100 and it finallycame true.”West St. John’s Crystal Stipe qualified in the 400 meters with a thirdplace time of 1:01.17. Newman’s Leslie Feingerts was first in 58.13.St. Charles Catholic’s 400-meter relay team of Abby Howard, MelissaBillings, Katie Arcuri and Clement placed second in 51.49. Sumner tookfirst in 51.03.Riverside’s 1600-meter relay team of Amie Graugnard, Candace Perret, Smith and Michelle Millet also took second, finishing in 3:19.78. Newmanwas first in 4:13.11.Sumner’s Ashley Brandon was the Outstanding Track performer after winning the 200 and placing second in the hurdles.

Return To Sports Stories

Copyright © 1998, Wick Communications, Inc.

Internet services provided by NeoSoft.

Best viewed with 3.0 or higher