Louisiana State Championship (LA)
Gabrielle Jennings Captures 38th State Title; Devyn Keith Gets Revenge Over Eric Coston
Gabrielle Jennings Captures 38th State Title In Record Time
Gabrielle Jennings is a senior, but she has dominated Louisiana distance running since she was in fifth grade. The Furman recruit captured her 38th Class C state title in 18:27.7, which stood as the fastest time of the championship. Despite extremely muddy conditions that resulted in the state meet's large school races being rescheduled to Wednesday, Jennings' time is also her fastest-ever winning time at this meet - and she has won eight times! The First Baptist Christian athlete has won the Class C state cross country title every year since 2008.
Olivia Murphy Guides Mandeville To Class 5A Title
The Girls Class 5A race once again pitted Mandeville against St. Joseph's of Baton Rouge. Last year, the St. Joseph's Redstickers pulled out the victory over Mandeville, 45 to 63 points, after the Skippers lost their top two runners to injury. This year, a healthy duo of seniors Olivia Murphy and Claire Crosby took the pace out right at six minutes for the mile with defending champion Sara Funderburk in tow.
Funderburk, an LSU soccer signee, faltered in mile 2 with a cramp and would place just 35th overall. Murphy and Crosby cruised through a muddy two miles in 12:18; Murphy capped a standout senior year by winning her first state title in 18:36.2. She will run for Southern Illinois University next year.
Crosby, the state 1600m champion, took second in 18:52 for her highest ever placing at the state meet. She will run for the University of Kentucky next year.
St. Joe's junior Gabbi Chauvin was third (19:51), but the 1-2 sweep was enough to propel the Skippers past the Redstickers, 48 to 59 points.
Devyn Keith Wins Large Schools Race Over Rival Eric Coston
The boys Class 5A championship featured a showdown between Eric Coston of St. Paul's, who won this race two years ago as just a freshman, and Devyn Keith of John Curtis, the state's most dominant distance runner for the past two years who fell to a disappointing fifth-place finish at the New Orleans Metro Championship at the beginning of the month.
A maelstrom resulted in a muddy course and a last-minute date switch for the large schools races from Tuesday to Wednesday, which could make things difficult for any harriers hoping to qualify for NXN this Saturday. Coston and Keith took the pace out in 5:11 for the mile with Catholic High's Jeffrey Kelley in tow; by the two mile, Keith and Coston were alone in 10:37 and at the finish - all Keith. The senior, a recent Tulane signee, won in 16:08 as Coston took second place for the second year in a row in 16:15.
Keith's John Curtis High School Patriots are actually classified as Class 2A by enrollment size, but chose to enter the Class 5A race for more competition. They fell just short of winning the team title as Jesuit won for the second year in a row with 106 points to Curtis' 118 points. Coston's St. Paul's High School was fourth with 134 points.
Full results and coverage here.
