Deborah Carney
October 20, 2009
Mrs. Leontine (Tina) Harris
October 22, 2009
Go to any cross-country meet and you will find plenty of T-shirts that read, “Our sport is your sport’s punishment.”
No one in the Tri-parishes thrives at the suffering better than South Lafourche High School senior Blaine Gisclair.
Four meets so far this season have produced four victories for Gisclair – the H.L. Bourgeois Challenge in 15:51, the E.D. White/Thibodaux Invite in 16:26, the Terrier Invite in 18:05 and the Gator Invite in 15:36
The Terrier Invite, hosted by Vandebilt Catholic, is the longest meet of the season at 3.1 miles. Still, Gisclair blew away the competition, finishing 28 seconds ahead of the field.
His win at the Gator Invite helped the Tarpons claim their second consecutive team victory of the season.
Gisclair is setting a positive example for South Lafourche’s young squad, the majority of whom – 12 of the 18 boys’ cross-country team members – are freshmen and sophomores.
After coming in 24th out of 283 competitors at the state Class 5A cross-country championship last year, Gisclair is looking to improve on his mark this season.
SportsNet caught up with the 17-year-old as he prepares for next week’s Parish Championship Meet at H.L. Bourgeois High School.
SportsNet: Has it been difficult for you and the rest of the Tarpon team to train this season with all the rain we’ve had?
Blaine Gisclair: I try and train when it’s not raining, like the late afternoon or at night. Even if it rains all day, I still have to get my workout in. I can’t stop or I’ll get out of shape. I usually only skip Saturday.
SN: How far do you run during training?
BG: I usually top out at 7 miles at the most.
SN: Since the Terrier meet is about a half-mile longer than your others, did you prepare for that race any differently?
BG: No. I did the same workout, but did a little more speed conditioning. That hasn’t been working out for me too much though.
SN: Why not?
BG: I’m working toward the state meet (Nov. 16 at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches). They have guys there that have the sprint speed. I really need to work on that.
SN: What’s your personal best?
BG: 15:36. I set that at the South Terrebonne meet.
SN: There are a lot of freshmen (5) and sophomores (7) on the boys’ team this year. How does it feel being a team leader and trying to get the younger guys to compete at a varsity level?
BG: I wouldn’t consider myself the leader. As a team, we’re very strong. I like to credit them for our success. They have helped us win. We do have a lot of freshmen, but they’re going to be good when they get older. We’re getting better now.
SN: I understand you are getting a lot of attention from universities about running for their team. Who has shown the strongest interest?
BG: UL-Lafayette is looking at me right now. Southeastern (Louisiana), Nicholls, UL-Monroe.
The assistant coach at LSU showed some interest, but I’m not too sure about that.
SN: Why not? Most Louisiana high school athletes dream of competing for LSU.
BG: I don’t know. I guess it’s just not what I’m interested in.
SN: What is more important for being a good cross-country runner – endurance or speed?
BG: Endurance really counts the most. It’s a lot of mileage that we race for. We usually get two days of speed work in to help with our kicks at the end of the race.
SN: Do you prefer to get out way ahead of the pack or have somebody near you the whole race like former South Terrebonne runner Chase Menard did with you last year?
BG: I like competition.
I need somebody to push me and help quicken my pace.
We’re going to be competing in two big races this year: the Walker High Shootout and one at UL-Lafayette. We’re going to have more and better competition there, so I’m looking forward to that.
SN: I once spoke to a college cross-country coach who said you have to be a little bit off to be a good cross-country runner. Do you think there is any truth in that?
BG: Yeah, that is pretty true. Not too many want to just run all day long. It’s one of the toughest sports out there.
