No pain, no gain for South Lafourche’s Gardner

South Lafourche senior Auriel Gardner walked into the shot put ring last Wednesday with a pulled muscle in her lower back and also a strain in her throwing arm.

She walked out of it a district champion.

Fighting through her litany of injuries, which forced her to miss the final tune-up meets of the season, Gardner overcame the pain and outlasted the competition in last Wednesday’s District 8-5A track meet at South Lafourche High School.

“I feel awesome,” Gardner said. “All season long, this is exactly what I wanted to do, win a district championship, so I’m so happy to have accomplished that goal.”

Gardner came into the meet with the farthest recorded throw of anyone in the district, so it’s not fully surprising that she finished the event in the winner’s circle.

But the way that she got there is a bit more impressive.

Despite battling though what she described as “indescribable” pain, Gardner unleashed her personal best throw of 34-feet-6-inches to outlast the competition.

She said she expected to be able to compete even with the pain, but had no idea she’d be physically capable of unleashing the best throw of her career.

“No way,” she said with a laugh. “I had no idea I’d do that today. Honestly, I thought I’d throw pretty bad today.”

With the victory, Gardner successfully clinched a spot in Regionals. When she gets there, Tarpons coach Joey Guidroz said he expects more of the same from his senior.

“She’s tough, she’s tough, there’s no doubt about it,” Guidroz said. “She’ll gut it out for you. Throwing injured doesn’t just wear on your arm and your back, but it also wears on your mind and she was able to overcome that and it really shows her dedication.”

While Gardner played through pain, Central Lafourche’s Abby Lazard continued to bring the hurt to the rest of her district competition.

Like she’s done all year, Lazard won the long jump, high jump and triple jump events for the Lady Trojans, giving the team plenty ammunition to score its 130 points, good enough for the district title.

“She’s been doing well this year,” Lady Trojans coach Chris Arnold said. “We were just hoping it’d carry over into the district meet and our quest to compete for a team district title. She’s been putting the work in during practice and has been pushing to get better, so we’re thrilled she was able to perform so well here.”

Lazard was able to bring home the trio of titles, but it wasn’t without a fight. The Central Lafourche junior trailed in both the triple jump and long jump events before winning in her final leap.

“It’s like I don’t put all of my energy into it until I know I have to do it to be able to win,” Lazard said. “I don’t know, it’s like I don’t try until somebody is beating me.”

In the triple jump, the competitor she overcame was her own teammate, sophomore Kierranika Duncan, who makes up a formidable 1-2 punch for the Lady Trojans as they make a run toward Regionals.

“She’s pushing her,” Arnold said. “It’s good to have competition within the same team. They definitely make one another better.”

BOYS:

While Lazard was winning three first place trophies in the field, Thibodaux High School’s Jarrell Gray was doing the same on the track.

The Tigers’ standout runner took home the top prize in the 400m dash, the 800m run and the 1,600m relay.

He also finished second place in the 200m dash, too, accumulating a large number of Thibodaux’s 92 team points.

“I just wanted it, you know? I just wanted to have a strong day today,” Gray said. “I wanted to win, that’s all.”

Despite the runner’s simplistic answer, nothing is easy about the four races Gray excelled in, which test both endurance and speed.

Gray said the biggest challenge is staying energized, despite having to run 1,800m among his four events.

It apparently worked as he served as the anchor leg in a massive comeback in the 1,600m relay to close the meet, pushing the Tigers from fourth place to first in his lap around the track.

“The shorter distance races are much more fast paced,” he said. “Those are the races that are hard for me to keep up in sometimes, but I can do it. I can compete in them all.”

The only person to cross the finish line first ahead of Gray on the day was Terrebonne senior Devante Clark, who also had a memorable day on the track.

Clark won the 200m dash with a time of 23.15 to beat out Gray by a thousandth of a second. But it was his heroics in the 100m dash that stole the show.

The Terrebonne senior wasn’t favored to win, or even seriously compete in the event, thus putting him in the first of two heats.

The first heat is usually comprised of those with slower times on the season, while the second is comprised of those with faster clocked times on the season.

But despite being a heavy underdog, Clark beat all comers in both heats, running an 11.47-second sprint to earn the acclaim as the fastest man in the district.

“It really was,” Clark said when asked if he was surprised he won. “I thought honestly I was going to get fourth. Fourth or lower, that’s honestly what I thought, because I was in the slow heat. I’m not going to lie, first place was unexpected.”

At Regionals, it’s not likely Clark will be in the “slow heat”.

When he gets there, he will have plenty of support from his peers, as well. Terrebonne rode Clark’s success to score 124 points as a team, good enough to win the district title.

Also winning first for the Tigers were George Jackson in the high jump and Jose Morales in the 1,600m run.

Clark said he can’t wait to get back on the track and try to take home the Regional title.

“We’re ready,” he said. “We had a good showing here and we’re ready to go out and try and do more at Regionals.”

Team Results:

BOYS: 1, Terrebonne 124; 2, South Lafourche 107; 3, H.L. Bourgeois 96.50; 4, Thibodaux 92; 5, South Terrebonne 62.50; 6, Central Lafourche 40; 7, Assumption 36.

FIELD MVP: Deonta Ward, H.L. Bourgeois

TRACK MVP: Jarrell Gray, Thibodaux

GIRLS: 1, Central Lafourche 130; 2, H.L. Bourgeois 96; 3, Thibodaux 92; 4, South Lafourche 69; 5, Terrebonne 64; 6, Assumption 62; 7, South Terrebonne 45.

FIELD MVP: Abby Lazard, Central Lafourche

TRACK MVP: Joya Tardieff, Thibodaux

South Lafourche shot putter Auriel Gardner unleashes a throw during last Wednesday’s District Track Meet. Despite an injured back and arm, Gardner won the event and has advanced to Regionals. CASEY GISCLAIR