By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

The East St. John boys cross country team finished 19th of 44 teams at the LHSAA Class 5A state championship meet in Natchitoches.

The Wildcats, who finished second place in its district behind East Ascension, held serve as far as district teams go – EA finished 10th, Dutchtown 23rd, and Hahnville 26th.

“We’ve definitely taken a step forward this year,” said ESJ coach Paul Dupuy. “The competition is getting much tougher. We had no seniors on this team, and we did pretty well for ourselves.

“From early on this season, we had the most runners time under 20 minutes than any year since I’ve been here.”

It was the largest field in the history of the state meet.

Baishawn Pratt was the highest finisher among the Wildcats, placing 46th of 312 competing athletes. He ran a time of 18:15 on a muddy surface.

“He posted a time of 17:04 at City Park beforehand,” said Dupuy of Pratt’s performance at the Wildcats’ first place finish at the Andouille Festival. “It was a bit of a tougher surface to run on at state, but he did very well.”

Philip Primeaux of Catholic-Baton Rouge won the event with a time of 16:24.1.

“He usually runs about a 15, so it goes to show they everyone was a little hampered,” said Dupuy.

Coming off of a pulled hamstring, ESJ’s Dustin Dunn finished 111th at a time of 19:13. Donald Sturgis was third among ESJ runners, finishing 137 with a time of 19:37.

Sturgis, a freshman, could be in for a big improvement next season, says Dupuy.

“That sophomore season is usually when you breakout,” said Dupuy. “Baishawn broke out as a sophomore. When I ran, that was when I started to get it. When you run as a freshman, you really have no idea how good you may become.”

ESJ’s Madison Garrett placed 182 of 253 on the girls side, running a time of 26:58.