By Kyle Roberts
BATON ROUGE, La. — Ruston High’s cross country boys took first place overall at the St. Joseph’s Academy Invitational in the 3-mile varsity run with junior Bearcat Thomas Rogers taking first place overall individually in varsity and junior Liam Lowe taking junior varsity.
The Bearcat took the varsity win with 46 (1+2+7+17+19) combined points, while junior varsity won with 31 (1+5+6+7+12).
“We wanted to end September at Highland Park because it would give us a really good idea of where we were as a team in comparison to the rest of the state,” Ruston head coach Dustin Cochran said. “Everyone runs at Highland Park at some point during the season, so it’s easy to compare times. The SJA meet is the most well attended competition dense meet you will find outside of the state meet, so this was the perfect one to test us. The fact that we were able to win the varsity and JV races on the same day speaks volumes about the number of kids and their families who have made cross country a priority in their lives and their level of dedication.
“You don’t win this meet if you’re not laser focused on the task at hand. You can lose this meet off the line by getting trapped behind 300 people. This course winds and turns a lot and it’s not the easiest place to pass. The boys executed the race plan from the gun and really had a good showing here.”
Rogers finished with a time of 14 minutes, 57.50 seconds for first in varsity, while freshman Taylor Roller was right behind at 15:02.40. Senior Landon Byrd took seventh at 15:29.30, while sophomore Al-Amin Wilson ran 16:03.90 for 19th.
Junior Cole Magee rounded out Ruston’s scoring at 16:06.20, which was a highlight for Cochran.
“I’m really proud of Cole Magee,” Cochran said. “Cole lost his varsity spot in the first meet of the season, and never complained. He put his head down and took the spot back last week by running amazing in the junior varsity race. Today, he blasted his PR and ended up being our fifth man to close out the scoring. It’s the epitome of life knocks you down, and you have to take it sometimes, then get back up swinging. He didn’t let it rattle him. He was patient and only got better. I told him after the opener that he wouldn’t run slow again, and that the next one would be better. Fast forward a month, and he has arrived.”
Other noteables from the race were Rogers’ time making him just the fifth runner ever to break 15 minutes on the challenging course, while Roller’s time was good for eighth fastest.
On the junior varsity side, Lowe ran 16:31.10 for first, while sophomore Taylor Huddleston took fifth with a time of 17:03.60. Freshman Ben Boudreaux ran 17:03.95 for sixth, while freshman Preston Parker took seventh at 17:04.21.
Senior Noah Holland rounded out scoring for junior varsity with a time of 17:25.48.
On the girls’ side, the Lady Bearcats took fifth in the 3-mile run at 248 (13+19+34+66+116).
“The girls team is absolutely starting to get it together despite missing so many of our very talented runners,” Cochran said. “The heart and togetherness that the girls team is showing is second to none, and they are laying the foundation for their team to end up right back in the winners circle sooner rather than later.”
Sophomore Parker Nations took 17th overall at 18:58.90, while junior Zoie Holstead took 25th with a time of 19:14.20. Freshman Hallie Hebert finished 41st at 20:00.80, while freshman Emmersyn Nations finished 80th at 21:17.10. Aydan Murry took 142nd at 22:51.90.
“Parker and Zoie are really starting to roll and gain confidence and Aydan continues to get faster and faster each week,” Cochran said. “All six girls who ran Saturday PR’ed or ran their seasons best. I keep saying it, but if this girls team keeps it up, they’re going to be a top team in the state. They follow the plan and it’s means a lot to them. They’ll be ready in November.”
Brennan Youngblood and Wyatt Hancock both ran unattached in the boys’ junior varsity race and finished with times of 18:40 and 18:49, respectively.
