By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

LUTCHER – Whitney Stewart, of East St. John, took home the high medal count Wednesday afternoon in the Derbingny Relays, nabbing a first outright, tying for another and finishing third in the 800 meters, High Jump and Triple Jump respectively.

The three medals by Stewart led ESJ to a second place finish in the team standings at the Lutcher meet, trailing only Belle Chasse who finished with 122 points. She edged out second place in the 800 race by nearly two seconds and was six inches out of first in the Triple Jump. Her leap of 4-10 in the High Jump tied her with Rachelle Melancon of St. James and Catherine Capone of Ascension Catholic.

&#8220Whitney’s a hard-worker,” ESJ girls track coach Percy Williams said of his senior athlete. &#8220She’s dedicated to that track. And she is never satisfied. Always thinks she can do better. Her attitude is tremendous.”

Javanti Smith also came away with a first place for ESJ, edging out a pair of Belle Chasse runners in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 17.26. Shonna Grover took a second in the 200 meters behind Reyna Lubin’s winning time of 26.92 for St. Charles. Dyneakya Sanders rounded out ESJ’s top scorers with a second place finish in the Long Jump.

Riverside’s girls team finished three team points behind St. James. The Lady Rebels were led by Jenny LeBlanc, who finished first in the 300 meter hurdles, and Sarah Clement, who tied for first in the pole vault. Jessica Price placed second in the javelin while Maury Laiche finished third in the 200 meters.

The St. Charles girls were led by Lubin’s first place in the 200, in addition to her second place in the 400. Katie Tregre took second in the 100 meters behind Lutcher’s Katie Duhe.

On the boys side of the meet, Lutcher defended their home field with an first place finish overall, running away with the win by more than 85 points. The Bulldogs recorded eight first place finishes throughout, dominating the mid-range races. Khymest Williams had two of those first place medals, edging out a pair of Ascension Catholic runners in the 200 meters and winning the javelin by almost 15 feet. Chadrick Adams had two first place finishes as well, running a 15.73 in the 110 meter hurdles and a 42.07 in the 300 meter hurdles. Adams also took a pair of second place finishes in the High Jump and the Triple Jump.

Jesse LeBlanc had full day for Riverside’s boys team, leading the Rebels with a first, second and third. LeBlanc won the 1600 meters by nearly ten seconds with a time of 4:48.15, took second in the 3200 meters and third in the javelin.