Staff writer
Cedar Creek’s Ansley Long starred over distance Tuesday and Simsboro’s boys were champions in regional LHSAA track and field action, while the streaking Ruston and Choudrant baseball teams learned their regional round playoff opponents.
CEDAR CREEK TRACK & FIELD: Ansley Long swept the girls 1600 and 3200 meter runs Tuesday, winning the longer race by almost a minute, at the LHSAA Region I Class A track and field championships at Lakeside High in Sibley.
The Cedar Creek girls scored 93 points and were regional runner-up to Ouachita Christian (127). The Cougars were sixth in the boys team standings with 28 ½ points.
The Lady Cougars qualified 13 entries for the state meet next week in Baton Rouge. The boys had four qualifying performances with top four finishes Tuesday.
Long gave the Creek girls the school’s only two wins. Teammates taking second were Sarah Adams in the long jump (15-10), Annie Jones in the javelin (108-11), Lauren Osafo in the 800 (2:31.50), and Cara Beth Hill in the 400 (1:03.02).
Lady Cougars in third place: Rileigh Geis (triple jump, 33-11 1/2), Ashlyn Bourn (discus, 94-9), Caroline James (1600, 5:51.39), Taylor Ramsey (3200, 13:10.29) and the 4×400 relay (4:30.94); and taking fourth: Lauren Entergin (pole vault, 6-6).
For the Cougars, the top finishes were bronze medal performances in the 3200 by Ethan McCarthy (11:02.68) and in the 4×400 relay (3:37.20). Fourth place went to John Abram Earle (pole vault, 10-6) and Logan Johnson (400, 56.86).
SIMSBORO TRACK & FIELD: The Tigers won the Region I Class B championship Tuesday at Lakeside in Sibley. The Lady Tigers were regional runner-up. Meet officials had not published results online as of Tuesday at midnight.
RUSTON TENNIS: The agony of defeat was a new and bitter taste for Ruston’s previously unbeaten No. 1 doubles team of seniors Andrew Ellis and Will Johnson, who were edged in a pro set tiebreaker 11-9 Monday night in the LHSAA Division I quarterfinals at Forsythe Park in Monroe.
Ellis and Johnson were paired at the outset of the 2020 season by veteran coach David Poe. They were undefeated last year when the pandemic halted sports competition in mid-March, and overwhelmed every opponent they encountered this spring, including through two rounds of the state tournament.
After a rough start against Catholic High’s Brady St. Martin and Jeff Duncan in the quarterfinals, Ellis-Johnson dropped their first set of the season 6-2, but found their stride in the final stages. Ellis-Johnson evened the match with a 6-4 second set triumph.
They had match point in the pro set at 9-8, but the Catholic duo saved it. Then the CHS player who had tremendous service trouble all evening came up with two aces to score the upset and advance to today’s semifinals, where they lost to a team from Brother Martin.
The painful twist: split set matches in the first three rounds of the state tournament are decided by a pro set, with the first team to 10 or more and ahead by two prevailing. In the semifinals and finals, opponents play a third set after splitting the first two.
“The boys started to find it at the end of the first set and had the momentum in the second set. I know that we had played a third set, our guys would have won, but in the tiebreaker, it just barely went the other way,” Poe said. “They’ve had a fantastic two years together and I’m proud to have coached them. It was a pretty emotional ending Monday night, to say the least.”
RUSTON BASEBALL: Central of Baton Rouge dispatched visiting Hahnville 9-3 Tuesday, earning a trip to Ruston later this week for a regional round best-of-three series against the Bearcats.
Ruston (25-8) has won 13 in a row and is the fifth seed in Class 5A. No dates or times were announced as of Tuesday night.
CHOUDRANT BASEBALL: Winners of their last 25, the No. 1 seeded Aggies enjoyed a first-round bye while No. 16 Holden earned the chance to travel to Lincoln Parish with a 12-5 win Tuesday over Bell City.
The regional round game will be played at 6 p.m. Monday in Choudrant.
There are no playoff series in Class B, just do-or-die single-elimination games through the playoff bracket.
The Aggies are 28-3.
