STATE SUPREMACY: Cardinals win sixth consecutive cross country title

Louisiana Tech freshman Steven Cortez helped E.D. White capture its fifth consecutive Division III championship last year with a first-place individual performance.

But it was his younger brother, Kevin, who was heavily instrumental in helping the Cardinals win No. 6 last week at the LHSAA/State Farm State Cross Country Meet, held in Natchitoches.

Kevin Cortez, a sophomore, battled through the searing pain of an injured foot to pass three runners just before the finish line to post a 14th -place time of 17:33.

In doing so, he helped the Cardinals place first in the team standings with 54 points – only five ahead of second-place finisher West Feliciana.

“He (Cortez) really stepped up and ran hard even though his foot was bothering him, and he’s usually our sixth or seventh runner,” said E.D. White coach Eddie Cole, who went on to explain that doctors are still determining whether Cortez’s foot is broken or has strained ligaments. “(Winning) No. 6 was the closest yet. It was really exciting.”

Finishing ahead of Cortez for E.D. White was Jordan Reed (sixth overall, 16:54), Chris King (ninth, 17:15), Evan Thibodeaux (12th, 17:30), and Philip Grabert (13th, 17:31).

Redemptorists’ Jesse McDavitt won the individual race in a time of 16:15.

“Our margin of victory was a lot larger last year,” Reed said. “This year’s win was a lot tougher. Our team took a big hit when we lost Steven Cortez, but I was confident that our team could still do well this year.”

The Lady Cardinals placed third in the girls’ race behind strong performances from Kelsie Coats (sixth, 19:25), Taylor Dugruies (11th, 19:58), Spenser Ford (16th, 20:32), Genevieve Leslie (17th, 20:54), Lindsay Constant (23rd, 21:03), Lora Monier (32nd) and Taylor Naquin (36th).

It was the last high school race for Coats, who is being recruited by Nicholls State and the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

“The girls gave everything they had,” Cole said. “I couldn’t be prouder of the effort we gave. Even though they were a little upset with finishing third, this is possibly one of the best girls’ teams we’ve ever had at E.D. White.”

Vandebilt makes strides

Like E.D. White, the Vandebilt boys’ team also entered the 2007 season without its 2006 individual state champion – Alex Breaux – who was lost to graduation.

But that didn’t prevent the Terriers from improving on last year’s sixth-place team finishes at the Division II championships.

Vandebilt’s 134 points were good enough for third place behind St. Michael (43) and Beau Chene (122).

The Terriers were led by Ross Mullooly (ninth, 16:55), Justin Babin (10th, 16:56), Chris Watson (21st, 17:37), Bruno Doria (41st, 18:27) and Alex Hebert (54th, 18:49).

Coach David Malone was particularly impressed with Babin’s performance.

“About a month ago, Justin lengthened his stride a little and found out that this was his problem,” he said. “Since then, his times have improved dramatically.”

Freshman Alexis Guidry came in 33rd (21:51) for the Lady Terriers, which leapt from a 13th-place finish in 2006 to seventh.

She was helped by Ayme Haydel (40th, 22:04), Emily Carrere (47th, 22:27), Logan LeBlanc (58th, 23:11) and Madi Kelton (67th, 23:41).

“Alexis was dehydrated,” he said. “She collapsed about 10 feet before the finish line and about 10 people passed her at the end.”

Malone looks forward to welcoming back Guidry and the rest of his young lineup the next few seasons.

“The girls team learned how to compete this year,” he said. “Hopefully we can win district next year and take top five in state.”

Other local finishers

The South Lafourche boys’ team placed 10th overall in the Division I race.

Tyler Folse was the Tarpons top runner with a 32nd-place time of 17:07.

Falling behind South Lafourche was South Terrebonne (23rd), H.L. Bourgeois (27th), Thibodaux (30th), Terrebonne (31st) and Assumption (34th).

The Assumption girls were 17th in Division I, followed by South Terrebonne (22nd), Central Lafourche (24th), Thibodaux (26th) and H.L. Bourgeois (30th).

Ellender Memorial finished 18th in the Division II boys’ meet.

Photo courtesy of E.D. White High School The E.D. White boys’ cross country team shows off their trophy after winning its sixth consecutive Division III state championship last week in Natchitoches.