by RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

East St. John nailed down a sweep at Destrehan’s track and field meet Friday as both the boys and girls teams captured its respective meet championship.

“It’s good to get our first win of the year,” said East St. John boys’ coach Eleno Rodriguez. “We had a good number of young men place. With a lot of injuries, we saw a number of guys step it up for us tonight. It’s a great confidence builder.”

Said girls’ coach Quinton Bradley: “We switched up a lot of events and the girls stepped up to the plate. They exceeded expectations. It’s a tribute to the way they work … this is the best job in the world to me because you’ve always got great athletes here who are always willing to work.”

The Wildcats had a number of first place finishers at the event. Gabriel Richards took first place in the triple jump ( 37-11.5), besting teammate Kadeem Vance, whose 37-3.5 was good for second place. Richards was also the second place performer in the pole vault, behind teammate Marlon Watkins (8-8).

ESJ’s Fred Williams took first in the discus throw with a heave of 121-10.5. Donald Stirgus topped all contenders in the 800 (2:11.03) and in the 3200 (11:29.06).

Dwayne Johnson finished second in the javelin and second in the shot put, capturing boys’ field MVP honors.

The boys 4×100 and 4×200 teams each captured second place while the 4×400 team Jessie Bailey, Javan Albert, Leonard Davis and Fred Williams posted a first place finish.

“That was another one of our brightest spots,” said Rodriguez. “ We’ve got three 10th graders on that team and they’ve run very, very well. They’ve got two more years to grow and develop.”

Among girls, ESJ’s Journae King took first in the high jump. (5-2) Deznee Wilson posted the best time in the 400 (1:00.82).

East St. John’s Darilynn Sampson finished first in the triple jump (34-7.5) and second in the long jump to take field MVP honors among girls.

It was Sampson’s first time ever competing in the triple jump.

“I was shocked. I just wasn’t expecting it,” said Sampson of the MVP award. “Coach told me Tuesday I’d be starting to triple jump. I enjoyed it.”

Said Bradley: “We’re competing in events that are new to us and doing well. Now we want to take it to the next level.”

ESJ took the 4×100 girls relay event took first place with a time of (48.65).

DeChris Strong placed in four events – second in the 200, third in the 300, and helped the 4×1 and 4×2 teams place second.

Strong – who recently captured track MVP honors at South Terrebonne – said his goal is to make it to the state meet.

“There’s a lot of good competition,” said Strong. “It’s just a matter of pushing myself to be the best I can be. Every week I feel like I’ve been improving.”

West St. John’s Ronnie Feist (44-1.5) and LaDarius Lewis stood out among boys. Feist finished first in the shotput while Lewis captured second place among those in the 300. Feist also took second in the discus.

West St. John’s Jennika Jones took first in the javelin (101-0). The Lady Rams’ Amber Howard was tops in the discus (74-6.5).