LHSAA State Indoor Track & Field Championships (LA)
Armand "Mondo" Duplantis says he hasn't gotten tired of breaking records yet. The Lafayette, La. freshman won the Division I pole vault title at the LHSAA State Indoor Championships, breaking his own National Freshman Class Record in the pole vault with a US #5 clearance of 16 feet, 9.5 inches.
The mark also broke the Division 1 state meet record, which formerly belonged to his older brother, LSU senior Andreas Duplantis.
"It's always nice to get bragging rights in the house," the younger Duplantis said.
Duplantis was alone on the runway once the bar increased to 15 feet. (Runner-up Jesuit senior Austin Scott vaulted 14 feet, six inches). He missed three attempts at 17 feet.
"I think I was just getting a little tired, I already won it and I already PRed. I was satisfied kind of, I don't think I [felt like I] really needed the next bar."
His debut state title came one weekend after winning the 108th NYRR Millrose Games in New York City, one of the country's most elite meets housing thousands of fans to watch professional as well as prep competition.
"Honestly, [state was] probably more pressure than Millrose because I got friends in the stands watching, all my family, grandma, grandpa... I think Millrose is more prestigious than this but this is still more pressure."
First Baptist Christian junior Gabrielle Jennings captured both the 1,600m and 800m to end the day with a career total of 33 state titles.
The win in the 1,600m was particularly sweet, as she led wire-to-wire to break the Louisiana State Championship composite record with a 5:03.82 effort. She won by 25 seconds. Jennings returned in the 800m and narrowly missed the Division 2 meet record with a 2:20.45 win.
Other top performers included Janie O'Connor, who led the Zachary girls to the Division 1 team title over defending champions Baton Rouge High. Sophomore O'Connor won the 400m (US #25 56.53) and 60m (T-US #15 7.55), while leading the Broncos to victory in the 4x200m (1:43.68) and third place in the 4x400m (4:06.52).
O'Connor ran her 60m personal record 7.55 in the prelims and won the final in 7.66. By the time MileSplit caught up with her, O'Connor was already thinking about the next number - a magic 7.47.
Chelsey Jones ran fearlessly to win the D1 800m wire-to-wire in a US #21 time of 2:15.21 to break the Louisiana State Championships composite record. She returned to anchor the Mandeville 4x800m to victory, nearly collecting another state record as the Skippers ran 9:51.77 for the win. Baton Rouge High set the 9:50.98 standard in 2004.
But the Skippers quartet - including Olivia Murphy, Ally McCulley and Kylie Touchard - were simply shocked enough to improve so much. Their previous season-best time was 10:08.
Devyn Keith of Curtis ruled the D2 boys distance events as predicted, taking home titles in the 800m, 1,600m and 4x800m.
One of the most thrilling races of the day came from the D1 boys 3,200m, as Catholic's Jeffrey Kelley charged to a 9:39 wire-to-wire win. Class 5A Cross Country Champion Hayden Kingfisher of Parkway was breathing down the junior's neck during the entire race, but Kelley never faltered.
Kelley's win was one of many for the Baton Rouge area squad, which took home the D1 team title. His time also set a new school record.
Teammate David Toups was a surprise winner in the D1 1,600m, where he burst out of nowhere down the final backstretch in a display of speed that may be worthy of "Kick of the Week" honors.