By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – East St. John, Riverside and West St. John will all be represented at next week’s state track and field championships at LSU after qualifying at their respective regionals earlier this week.

The top three finishers in each individual event qualified for the state meet.

The Riverside girls took second overall at the Region III-2A championship at St. Scholastica. The Rebels’ scored 109 points, only behind St. Thomas Aquinas’ mark of 168.

The Rebels’ Michelle Mayes earned Field MVP honors once again, just as she did at last week’s District 10-2A championship meet. Mayes won the discus (107-2) and finished second in the javelin (94-01) and shot put (33-10).

The Rebels’ Kendra Turner also had a dominant day, winning the regional title in the shot put (34.65) while placing second in the triple jump (32-3.25) and third in the discus (90-1).

“If Michelle hadn’t been there, Kendra would have been field MVP. They both did extremely well and I’m so proud of them,” said Riverside coach Joe Trosclair. “We did exceptionally in the field events.

“Hopefully we’ll see our relay teams come through and our people on the track and give ourselves a chance to make a nice impact at state.”

Channan Simmons banked a first place finish as well for the Lady Rebels, taking first in the long jump (17-2.75).

Toni Perrin is also headed to state after a third place finish in the long jump (16-5.75).

On the track, all three Lady Rebel relay teams are headed to state, with the 4×100 (Kennedy White, Channan Simmons, Peyton Sutton and Tyjah Greenup, 51.84) and the 4×200 (White, Simmons, Sutton and Greenup, 1:48.66) teams each taking regional titles. The 4×400 squad (Toni Perrin, Taylor Aubert, Sutton and Kolbi Johnson) took second with a mark of 4:28.33.

Kennedy White also qualified in the 100, placing second with a mark of 13.41.

For the Rebel boys, the 4×100 (Gerald Songy, Darrion Cook, Von Julien and Curtis Thomas, 45.12) and 4×200 team (Songy, Cook, Thomas and Julien, 1:33.92) each took third place to move on to state.

Individually, JuJuan Bell qualified in the high jump, taking second with a mark of 5-10.

At the Class 5A regional meet in Thibodaux, the 4×200 and 4×400 ESJ boys track and field teams each placed, with the 4×200 squad (Jacob McNeil, Darius Lipps, Jarrod Jackson and Dequan Cross) recording a time of 1:30.28 to notch a second place finish. The 4×400 team took third with a time of 3:31.78.

The Wildcats’ Jalen Brown is headed to the state meet in the high jump after posting a mark of 5-09, good for third place. Jarrod Jackson’s mark of 51.26 netted him third in the 400.

The Ladycats’ efforts were highlighted in part by the work of Elizabeth Scioneaux, who continued a strong senior season with a second place finish in the long jump (18-01.25).

Scioneaux also helped the Ladycats 4×100 track and field team qualify for state, along with Keilah Washington, Ayonte Thomas and Bianca Holmes. The squad posted a mark of 51.52.

“It was bittersweet,” said East St. John coach Mark Creecy, who noted that many of his athletes posted season or career best times but did not advance to state due to an exceptionally competitive field. “The silver lining is that a strong performance can still turn heads. Ayonte Thomas hit her personal best by a foot in the long jump and took fourth, also a personal best in the 100-meter hurdles. She earned herself some more scholarship money, so it kind of solidified the next step for her.

“It’s just a tough, tough region. Our 4×4 team ran a 4:34 last week to get here and shaved off nearly 11 seconds to 4:24. And it wasn’t enough.”

Creecy said that the 4×100 team has been gaining momentum with the return of senior Bianca Holmes, who, he said, “is getting faster every meet.”

He has high hopes for both the relay squad and for Scioneaux individually.

“We’ve got a week and a half to get faster, to get better,” said Creecy. “Joi (Scioneaux) has posted personal bests each of the last two meets. She’ll be ready. We’ll go to work and see what we can do.”

At the Region III-1A meet, West St. John’s Quan Scott is headed back to state after winning the boys long jump (23-02.75), placing second in the triple jump (45-1.50) and third in the high jump (5-11).

Maya Trench will make her first state appearance after finishing third in the triple jump (30-11).