Leo Cavell
May 24, 2011
James Walker
May 26, 2011It’s always hard to say goodbye.
This week, our local high school students, teachers, administrators and coaches will be saying plenty of them.
The Class of 2011 will be graduating across our various high schools this week. Man, what a class that was for my wing of the world, athletics.
They produced thrilling victories and also agonizing defeats. We saw great seasons, good seasons, average seasons and even bad seasons.
We saw state titles, from both teams and individuals alike.
Ah, the Class of 2011 truly was a special group.
So from that basic premise, I got to thinking. What would the Super Senior look like from the Class of 2011?
What would happen if we could mold the best of every intangible in sports and blend it into one player?
Hop aboard the TPT science lab and let’s make that fantasy into a reality.
Here is what I would consider the perfect senior from this amazing group of young adults that produced countless hours of entertainment both for me and for our community.
BUILDING THE SUPER SENIOR WITH THE CLASS OF 2011 TRI-PARISH ATHLETES:
Head: E.D. White fullback Dylan Ledet. Ledet is probably the toughest of the tough in the area. The Cardinals relied upon this workhorse for 20, 30 and sometimes even 40-plus carries during the season. But Ledet is just as good in the classroom as he is on the field, sporting a sparkling grade point average. He is committed to continue his playing career at Cornell, but he also had offers from Columbia and Dartmouth. For anyone who doesn’t know those schools, they are all in the Ivy League. For anyone who doesn’t know what the Ivy League is, I’ll simplify: You need to be very, very, very smart to get there.
Hands: Terrebonne volleyball setter Cymoine Fleming. Volleyball is not an easy game to play. Maybe it’s just me, but the thought of a pretty big, round ball being spiked into my teeth isn’t my idea of fun. But Fleming showed tremendous hands and even better coordination, taking those spikes and popping them into the air to put her team on the offensive side of the ball. Being a defensive player in volleyball is one of the roughest jobs in all sports, but Fleming did it to near perfection. She wins over Ellender wide receiver Jermaine Johnson, who wouldn’t have been a bad choice, either.
Arm: South Terrebonne pitcher Tyler Naquin. A crafty lefty, Naquin uses his solid mechanics to get the baseball over the plate. From there, the ball does all the work, as it wiggles and shakes away from hitters’ bats. Picking one arm was probably the most hotly contested race of all of these, but I will go with Naquin over Terrebonne quarterback Mike Williams, although I have to say, you really can’t go wrong with either guy. Spoiler alert: Williams will get his credit elsewhere in this column.
Legs: Patterson halfback Kenny Hilliard. You take a look at Kenny Hilliard and the guy just looks like one of those Greek statues that you see in the movies. From the waist-up, he’s built like an army tank. But believe it or not, he draws most of his strength through his legs. Hilliard used his lower body strength to scurry for three or four extra yards on virtually every play throughout his career with the Lumberjacks and this really was one of the easiest choices of the bunch, because the guy is just built like a monster.
Heart: Terrebonne basketball player Tamitris Bryant. Bryant’s body was a mix between a human pinata and a wrecking ball during games this season. She’d get bumps and bruises from opponents, while also self-inflicting wounds from diving all over the court for virtually every loose ball. Heck, let me rephrase, Bryant’s bumps and bruises had bumps and bruises on them by the time the season ended. Bryant isn’t the biggest kid on the block, but she proved game-in and game-out that she has the biggest fight. No one works harder than this kid, no one.
Toughness: Terrebonne quarterback Mike Williams. In a playoff game with his team’s fate hanging in the balance, Mike Williams could barely stand on the sidelines. That didn’t stop him from going back into the game and moving his team to the next round of the playoffs. Overcoming pain and also a few years of demons, Williams led the Terrebonne senior class out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time in their careers.
Team: Vandebilt Catholic. Building the super athlete is one thing, but who would they play for? That one is easy, they would have to be a Vandebilt Terrier. This was another banner year for the school athletically, winning multiple state titles throughout their athletic programs. Where they didn’t win, they came pretty darn close. With a relatively young core bunch of athletes in 2011, the best might be yet to come for the school, too. My, oh my, is that ever a scary thought!
Spirit: Vandebilt quarterback T.J. Cantrelle. Cantrelle used a mixture of toughness, will, determination and self-described faith in God to overcome an injury and lead the Terriers past rival E.D. White. Unfortunately, that was one of the last times Cantrelle took the field, as he was one of four Terriers killed in a tragic automobile accident. Cantrelle embodied everything you want a senior class to stand for, he was a great leader, a good student and just an all-around good classmate.
Vandebilt students from all realms spent the entire year mourning the loss of both he and the other classmates. But the Terriers’ athletes say they felt Cantrelle with them throughout their seasons and I have no doubt his spirit lives on all throughout the Tri-parish area.
This guy was a once in a generation kind of leader.
