Each Monday and Friday, the Lincoln Parish Journal will post a list of non-for-profit upcoming events happening in the parish. If you would like to add your event to this list or advertise your for-profit events, please email us at lpjnewsla@gmail.com.
Friday, March 29
Spring Break for Lincoln Parish Schools
Ruston City Hall and Utility Building closed
Saturday, March 30
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Ruston Farmers Market
Sunday, March 31
Easter
Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
The Louisiana Tech Football team will make the hour trip west to Bossier City for the Red River Run Through on Tuesday, April 23, at Freedom Fields.
“We are excited to take our spring practice to the Shreveport-Bossier area,” head coach Sonny Cumbie said. “North Louisiana and Shreveport-Bossier are very important to us because of our recruiting and also our alumni and lettermen.
“We wanted to engage the alumni, fans and coaches in that area and give them a chance to watch us practice and to connect with our players,” Cumbie said. “It is a way for us to give back and say that we appreciate everyone in that area. We look forward to seeing them at our practice.”
Attendance and parking for the practice are free. Food trucks will be onsite for fans in attendance. Food trucks and tailgate games will open for fans at 5:30 p.m. The Bulldogs will arrive at 6 p.m. and begin practice at approximately 6:30 p.m. There will be an autograph signing session following the event at 8 p.m. where fans can meet and greet Bulldog student-athletes.
The Louisiana Tech football roster features numerous Shreveport-Bossier products, including Ean Burch (Deep Snapper, Loyola College Prep), Daxton Chavez (Wide Receiver, Airline HS), Zyion Claville (Wide Receiver, Huntington HS), Decoldest Crawford (Wide Receiver, Green Oaks, Ja’Marrion Kennedy (Offensive Lineman, Northridge), Kendrick Rucker (Wide Receiver, Huntington HS), Logan Smith (Kicker, Benton).
For the second consecutive year, LA Tech has six home games at Joe Aillet Stadium. The Bulldogs will open the season with non-conference foes Nicholls (Aug. 31), and Tulsa (Sept. 21). Tech closes out the home slate in conference play with Middle Tennessee (Oct. 10), UTEP (Oct. 22), a homecoming matchup with Jacksonville State (Nov. 9) and Kennesaw State (Nov. 30).
Season tickets renewal for the 2024 Louisiana Tech football season are live, with new information regarding new sales coming soon.
Lorean O. McKeever Gordon
Sunday 11/06/1932 — Friday 03/15/2024
Visitation: Friday 03/29/2024 2:00pm to 5:00pm at King’s Funeral Home
Celebration of Life: Saturday 03/30/2024 11:00am, Asberry Missionary Baptist Church, 604 Paine Rd., Chatham
Interment: Saturday 03/30/2024 Following Service, Asberry Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery, Chatham
Eliud Pabon
Sunday 07/05/1959 — Saturday 03/16/2024
Visitation: Saturday 03/30/2024 10:00am to 11:00am, Mt. Harmony Baptist Church, 210 Mount Harmony Church Rd, Ruston
Celebration of Life: Saturday 03/30/2024 11:00am, Mt. Harmony Baptist Church, 210 Mount Harmony Church Rd, Ruston
Lois Hudson Foxworth
November 17, 1932 – March 22, 2024
Visitation: Kilpatrick Funeral Homes – Ruston, Friday, March 29, 2024, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Service: Kilpatrick Funeral Homes – Ruston, Friday, March 29, 2024, 1:00 pm
Cemetery: Providence Baptist Cemetery in Keithville, LA, Friday, March 29, 2024
Charles Wessels
March 30, 1934 – March 23, 2024
Visitation: Saturday, April 6, 2024, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM, Grace United Methodist Church, 3401 North Trenton Street, Ruston
Funeral Service: Saturday, April 6, 2024, 11:00 AM, Grace United Methodist Church, 3401 North Trenton Street , Ruston
Cemetery Committal: Saturday, April 6, 2024, 12:00 PM, Kilpatrick’s Memorial Gardens , 1270 HWY 544, Ruston
Two individuals were arrested in Dubach Friday after Lincoln Parish deputies responded to a report of an assault with a sword.
The sheriff’s office received a report about 6:30 p.m. Friday that Michael J. Bakker, 61, of Dubach, had attacked a woman with a sword. Deputies found Bakker and Jessica G. Jorgenson, 39, at the Fuller Loop residence.
Jorgenson said Bakker had accused her of bringing other people into the house and stealing his property. The dispute escalated and he swung a sword at her, hitting her on the hand and drawing blood.
Bakker admitted grabbing the sword and using it against Jorgenson because he said she was choking and hitting him.
During the investigation, the sword was located. A records check revealed an arrest warrant for Bakker for failure to appear in Third District Court on a simple criminal damage to property case.
A warrant for Jorgenson was found with the Bienville Parish Sheriff’s Office for first offense DWI.
Both Bakker and Jorgenson were booked on the warrants at the Lincoln Parish Detention Center. Bakker was additionally charged with aggravated battery.
Bail for Bakker was set at $75,000. Jorgenson was transferred to Bienville Parish authorities.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
By T. Scott Boatright
It’s been a decade since the Cougars of Cedar Creek won the school’s second straight baseball championship.
So the 2014 Cougars reunited a week ago to watch the current Cedar Creek team take on Glenbrook and celebrate the championship that all the coaches and players from that season remain proud of today.
It was all the brainchild of current Cougars coach Chad Yates, who brought up the idea of a reunion to Ben Haddox, who was head coach of the 2014 Cedar Creek baseball team.
“Coach Yates reached out to me about a month ago and told me that I might not realize, but this is the 10th anniversary season of that championship,” Haddox said. “And to be totally honest, I had no idea.
“So when he put that bug in my ear I realized what a tremendous opportunity it was. So I was able to get all of the players’ phone numbers and reached out to them, and we had a great turnout. I believe it was 14 or 15 of the guys on the varsity team that year who were able to come back.”
Two of the four seniors on that 2014 Cougars team were unable to attend the reunion.
“Grant Clary was our pitcher in that championship game but is now a professor at Tennessee Tech and couldn’t make it back,” said Haddox. “Mark Vandenlangenberg is in Florida finishing up his work in the medical field, so he couldn’t make it back.”
The other players on that 2014 state championship squad were seniors Jacob Antee and Auston McNeill; juniors Brock Blackwell, Jacob Brown, Chance Chestnut, Cole Frasier, Garrett Granger, Wes Gresham, Aaron Hunt, Preston Sparks, Josh Sullivan and Kade Theodos; sophomores Huff McIntosh, Jackson Miller, Jacob Mitcham and Josh Terral; and freshmen Aaron Clark and Alex Puckett.
Coaching with Haddox that season were Casey Blalock, Shane Mabou, Gene Vandenlangenberg, Shannon Brown and Andy Smith.
The 2014 Cougars compiled an overall record of 31-5 and went 10-0 in district play.
And the Cougars roared through the postseason, winning 12-0 over Crescent City, 15-2 over East Beauregard, 10-2 over St. Frederick in the quarterfinals, 13-8 over Central Catholic in the semifinals and 5-1 over Sacred Heart in the state title showdown.
Coaching that 2014 Cougars team to the Class 1A title was particularly special for Haddox because he played for the 2000 Cougars squad that won the school’s first state baseball championship.
“It was just a really unique and great situation to be part of both teams,” Haddox said. “What made it even better was our softball team also won state titles those years with Julie Riser, who had won state as a Cedar Creek player and then won another state title as a coach as well.”
Haddox said the uniqueness of that season doesn’t end with the fact it was a double championship year for Cedar Creek’s diamond teams.
“It’s a totally different experience winning a championship as a coach than it was winning one as a player,” Haddox said. “That 2014 (baseball) team was so unique in how they did it. They probably don’t like me saying this, but they were probably (only) the third or fourth most talented team I ever coached.
“They weren’t the most talented, but they were the hardest to beat. When they got out on the field together they really bought into the system and implemented it incredibly well. They just found ways to win games.”
Haddox remembers a point during that 2014 season he feels propelled his team to the state title.
“We played Claiborne Christian in the Choudrant Tournament that season, and we had won a lot of games,” Haddox said. “And Chad Olinde and those guys came out and put it on us in only five innings. They really stuck us in the mud.
“I remember getting on the bus on the way back and that the kids handled it really well. I remember being mad and frustrated and they just let me know that was it — that was the last game they were losing. And we rattled off about 16 wins in a row. We ended up splitting with OCS, and that was our only loss the rest of that season. The kids just went on a tear. That game was the turning point.”
During last week’s reunion, the Cedar Creek Booster Club cooked for the team and gave them a tour of the new baseball fieldhouse and all of the additions that have been done since the 2014 team’s playing days.
“The school really looks a lot different now than it did 10 years ago with all of the updates, upgrades and new buildings,” Haddox said. “So the players had a unique experience of walking around the campus and seeing everything that was new to them.”
Haddox said reuniting and reminiscing about that magical season was the goal for the reunion.
“It was all about the stories,” Haddox said. “There was a lot of laughing. We were out on the field getting ready to throw out the first pitch, and we were all cutting up the whole time. It was very cool.”
He said he missed the few 2014 who couldn’t make it back for the reunion.
“They’ve all got their own lives now, and kids and that kind of thing,” Haddox said. “In fact, the few of them that couldn’t make it were out of state — one in Tennessee, one in Florida, one in Wisconsin. Another had to work in Birmingham (Alabama).
“So they’re really spread out, which makes it a unique situation. We had one come in from the New Orleans area and another from Jackson so we did have guys who traveled in for this. It was an awesome thing.”
McNeill, a Louisiana Tech graduate now working in Dallas as a commercial lender for Origin Bank, was one of the two 2014 Cedar Creek seniors who attended the reunion.
“I think that game we talked and reminisced about the most was that state championship game,” McNeill said. “A lot of the guys had their rings on from that year. Jacob Antee wore the jersey that we wore when we won the game.
“Sacred Heart for the most part outplayed us in that game. They had 10 hits and left 14 runners on base, but fortunately for us we found a way to win the game.”
McNeill also remembers that early season loss to Claibone Christian in 2014.
“That Claiborne Christian game was a wake-up call for us where we kind of refocused,” McNeill said. “We beat OCS in an early game but ended up losing a game against them later in the season because of a couple of errors.”
Antee, who recently graduated from dental school and has started a practice in Monroe, was another 2014 senior Cougar who attended the reunion.
“It was great,” Antee said of the reunion. “It was the first time I had been back there since I was a freshman in college, so it was great seeing all of the guys. It definitely brought back old memories. That’s all we talked about during the reunion.”
Antee said he was impressed by the changes the past decade has brought to the school and the program.
“The locker room was pretty different than it was in our day,” Antee said. “They’ve definitely made a lot of upgrades around the whole school. But I enjoyed being there and getting to see all of it.”
By Hanna Singh
Students from Ruston Elementary school received a day filled with dental education and checkups during the 3rd annual “Give Kids a Smile Day” Friday March 15.
Hosted by Johnston and Murphy Dental Care, 43 children received over $13,500 in free dental care and participated in educational stations to learn about dental hygiene.
The team at Johnston and Murphy took the morning off to bring in two school buses filled with third graders. Each student received a blue t-shirt and had the opportunity to meet the mascot, a giant tooth wearing a crown. Twenty-two employees worked diligently to provide cleanings and checkups for each student, while volunteer dental hygiene students from Louisiana Tech and University of Louisiana at Monroe assisted in the process.
Johnston and Murphy Marketing Director Amanda DeMoss emphasized the importance of children receiving not only dental care but also education.
“I think it’s so important that they get this education because dental decay is the number one child disease in the country and it’s totally preventable,” DeMoss said. “I feel like we’re planting those seeds and showing them how to prevent losing or damaging those teeth.”
In addition to Johnston and Murphy Dental Care, several other community groups contributed to the event. The Lincoln Rotary Club organized six stations to educate students on brushing, flossing, cavities, nutrition, and even conducted a plaque attack science experiment. The Lincoln Parish Library set up a photo booth station for students and staff to capture memories of the day, while North Louisiana Medical Center provided two volunteers to assist at the nutrition station.
President of the Lincoln Rotary Club Victoria Sullivan expressed her gratitude in supporting the event.
“We’re really grateful to support not only Dr. Murphy, but also the kids in the community,” Sullivan said. “It’s super important for us to see the kids learn about brushing their teeth and other things they may not get to learn otherwise.”
“Give Kids a Smile Day” was first created by Murphy three years ago. Inspired by a mission trip where he witnessed healthcare being provided to children and families, Murphy developed a passion for dentistry and pursued it as a major in New Orleans. Today, Murphy and his team provide free dental work and education to students in the Ruston community annually, fostering an appreciation for good oral hygiene among youth.
By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
NATCHITOCHES – At first glance, Tuesday Natchitoches Central High School hired a recently deposed college football head coach to be the Chiefs’ third head coach in as many seasons.
Look again, says Jarrod Baugh, head coach of the state champion Ruston High Bearcats. His longtime friend Brad Laird has a long series of involvement with powerful high school programs (Ouachita, West Monroe, Nashville, Ark., and Longview, Texas) led by legendary head coaches, and was himself a great player on a state championship team for Ruston and later a successful head coach who helped set the foundation for the Bearcats’ return among Louisiana’s best.
Natchitoches Central principal Micah Coleman and athletic director Dean Johnson announced Laird’s hiring Tuesday morning, just over a week following the departure of Jess Curtis to the Lafayette area’s Southside High. Curtis, who guided his hometown Many High School to three small school state titles and three more state finals appearances in his last nine seasons there, admittedly relocated not because he was disenchanted with NCHS, but because of the opportunity in football down south along with nurturing a developing romance.
For Laird, taking over at NCHS continues his affection for his adopted hometown.
“The city of Natchitoches has been great to me. For 28 of my 50 years have been in Natchitoches in some form or fashion, and now I have the opportunity to stay in this community and be a part of Natchitoches Central Chiefs football and a great high school,” he said.
NCHS is the lone member of District 1-5A not located in Caddo or Bossier parishes. The Chiefs were 2-8 last season under Curtis and had their only winning record in many years, 7-4, in 2021 under second-year coach James Wilkerson, now an assistant at state champion Calvary Baptist.
Laird was considering opportunities outside of football when the NCHS job opened. He was also mulling an offer from Curtis to join the Chiefs’ staff as offensive coordinator.
When Curtis moved on, Laird immediately surfaced as the leading candidate for the post. He had resigned last October as head coach at Northwestern State, and while his 16-41 record in 5 ½ seasons was unimpressive and the Demons’ season was cancelled after six games by NSU president Marcus Jones in the wake of the off-campus shooting death of a player, Laird was hardly a pariah in the community. His hiring was widely hailed by locals on social media Tuesday.
Ruston’s Baugh joined the chorus.
“I know he’ll do a great job at Natchitoches Central. They’ve got a helluva football coach,” said Baugh, who landed in Ruston from Texas as an assistant on Laird’s staff over a decade ago.
“Brad’s done a lot of things in coaching, and was raised by a great coach (his late father Billy Laird). He’s coached on both sides of the ball and when he was here as head coach, he handled our special teams and we were always very good there,” said Baugh. “He’s a well-rounded coach, extremely knowledgeable, and does whatever he can to help kids. It’s going to be a very good situation for those folks.
“He has a lot of experience at several really good high school programs. It won’t be like he’s going to be feeling his way through. He’s going to be at the top of the scale as far as coaching high school football.”
Laird’s interest and that of the school system’s administration was mutual. As discussions proceeded last week, they agreed giving the new coach oversight of the feeder junior high school programs for NCHS was vital to developing the program – something Laird helped facilitate in his three years as Ruston’s head coach.
“The administration has been great. Their vision and mine aligned, and I’m so excited about the future,” said Laird.
“It starts at the top, in whatever business you’re in. With superintendent Dr. (Grant) Eloi, principal Micah Coleman, athletic director Dean Johnson, we have great leadership, and it feeds into the dynamics of the school. You’ve seen success in boys and girls basketball, in baseball and softball, in volleyball, and more throughout the year. So you can forsee the success that will happen in the future in football.”
It’s never easy moving to a strange place.
It’s especially challenging when that place is in a totally opposite end of the continental United States from where one grew up.
But Ruston Daily Leader sports writer Matt Belinson has done it with flying colors in my opinion.
The proud Iowa State graduate — we don’t hold that against him — packed the U-Haul and headed south for hotter pastures to pursue his dream of covering college athletics.
Although Matt works for our fellow media outlet across town, he is an easy fellow to befriend.
Mild-mannered, professional, friendly. The perfect fit for Ruston.
He came to the Deep South almost two years ago and has done a fabulous job of covering not only Louisiana Tech and Grambling State Athletics, but our area high schools as well. He is a one-man sports shop for the Leader (Buddy Davis would be proud).
Matt was a stranger to Ruston and Lincoln Parish. He basically brought a knife to a gunfight in a lot of ways. Between my business partner Kyle Roberts, our fellow Swiss Army knife writer Scott Boatright, and myself, we boast more than 120 years of living in Lincoln Parish. Our wealth of knowledge of this area is vast.
But Matt hasn’t flinched. He works hard to develop relationships with coaches, players, administrators … well the people of our parish. And because he has done such a good job with this, he has overcome a lot of the lack of historical knowledge of are area.
The first time I met Matt was at a Cedar Creek football practice. And as much as I may have wanted to consider him as the opposition, his personality and passion to cover our local teams endeared him to me almost instantly.
Definitely a respect for the job he does.
Matt is an incredible writer. He can craft a story through the written word as well as most 40-year veterans of the industry. And believe me, in this day and age of the disappearance of this skill — the ability to write — that’s quite the compliment. He is old school in a lot of ways, which this old guy can certainly respect.
Kyle, Scott and I have great admiration for the young man. As three Louisiana Tech journalism alums and Wiley Hilburn disciples, we sure appreciate the Matt Belinson’s of the world. They are an endangered species. Wiley would be another one that would be a Matt fan.
A lot of times in today’s world, it’s easy to look at the competitor as the enemy or opposition. It’s been impossible to do that in the case of Matt. No, Matt is a friend and a fellow scribe.
When we see Matt at events, we instantly gravitate towards him and talk about whatever we are covering, or at least something related to Lincoln Parish athletics.
I’m not sure how long Matt will stay in Ruston. He is a budding star to say the least. But I do know that Lincoln Parish is lucky to have him.
You can never have too many people telling the stories of our parish.
At 4 a.m. on March 28, 1979, one of the worst accidents in the history of the U.S. nuclear power industry begins when a pressure valve in the Unit-2 reactor at Three Mile Island fails to close. Cooling water, contaminated with radiation, drained from the open valve into adjoining buildings, and the core began to dangerously overheat.
The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant was built in 1974 on a sandbar on Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna River, just 10 miles downstream from the state capitol in Harrisburg. In 1978, a second state-of-the-art reactor began operating on Three Mile Island, which was lauded for generating affordable and reliable energy in a time of energy crises.
After the cooling water began to drain out of the broken pressure valve on the morning of March 28, 1979, emergency cooling pumps automatically went into operation. Left alone, these safety devices would have prevented the development of a larger crisis. However, human operators in the control room misread confusing and contradictory readings and shut off the emergency water system. The reactor was also shut down, but residual heat from the fission process was still being released. By early morning, the core had heated to over 4,000 degrees, just 1,000 degrees short of meltdown. In the meltdown scenario, the core melts, and deadly radiation drifts across the countryside, fatally sickening a potentially great number of people.
As the plant operators struggled to understand what had happened, the contaminated water was releasing radioactive gases throughout the plant. The radiation levels, though not immediately life-threatening, were dangerous, and the core cooked further as the contaminated water was contained and precautions were taken to protect the operators. Shortly after 8 a.m., word of the accident leaked to the outside world. The plant’s parent company, Metropolitan Edison, downplayed the crisis and claimed that no radiation had been detected off plant grounds, but the same day inspectors detected slightly increased levels of radiation nearby as a result of the contaminated water leak. Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh considered calling an evacuation.
Finally, at about 8 p.m., plant operators realized they needed to get water moving through the core again and restarted the pumps. The temperature began to drop, and pressure in the reactor was reduced. The reactor had come within less than an hour of a complete meltdown. More than half the core was destroyed or molten, but it had not broken its protective shell, and no radiation was escaping. The crisis was apparently over.
Two days later, however, on March 30, a bubble of highly flammable hydrogen gas was discovered within the reactor building. The bubble of gas was created two days before when exposed core materials reacted with super-heated steam. On March 28, some of this gas had exploded, releasing a small amount of radiation into the atmosphere. At that time, plant operators had not registered the explosion, which sounded like a ventilation door closing. After the radiation leak was discovered on March 30, residents were advised to stay indoors. Experts were uncertain if the hydrogen bubble would create further meltdown or possibly a giant explosion, and as a precaution Governor Thornburgh advised “pregnant women and pre-school age children to leave the area within a five-mile radius of the Three Mile Island facility until further notice.” This led to the panic the governor had hoped to avoid; within days, more than 100,000 people had fled surrounding towns.
On April 1, President Jimmy Carter arrived at Three Mile Island to inspect the plant. Carter, a trained nuclear engineer, had helped dismantle a damaged Canadian nuclear reactor while serving in the U.S. Navy. His visit achieved its aim of calming local residents and the nation. That afternoon, experts agreed that the hydrogen bubble was not in danger of exploding. Slowly, the hydrogen was bled from the system as the reactor cooled.
At the height of the crisis, plant workers were exposed to unhealthy levels of radiation, but no one outside Three Mile Island had their health adversely affected by the accident and no one died as a result of the accident. Nonetheless, the incident greatly eroded the public’s faith in nuclear power. The unharmed Unit-1 reactor at Three Mile Island, which was shut down during the crisis, did not resume operation until 1985. Cleanup continued on Unit-2 until 1990, but it was too damaged to be rendered usable again.
For more information on This Day in History, go to History.com.
MANDEVILLE, La. – Keep Louisiana Beautiful (KLB) is proud to partner with French Quarter Festival (FQF), a free music festival attracting more than 870,000 people April 11-14, 2024. To reduce cigarette litter, KLB is providing ash receptacles to FQF and distributing pocket ashtrays. In addition, through the FQF app, event attendees can learn ways to be environmentally responsible while enjoying the festival’s offerings. Shared tips include:
“According to Keep Louisiana Beautiful’s 2023 litter study, tobacco products make up 24% of the litter on our roadways,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “Cigarettes pollute our waterways and can harm wildlife, so please dispose of your cigarette butts responsibly while at French Quarter Festival.”
“Keep Louisiana Beautiful looks to French Quarter Festival as a leader in hosting clean, sustainable outdoor events,” said KLB Executive Director Susan Russell. “We are proud to support the work they are doing and hope all of Louisiana’s outdoor events adopt best practices for litter prevention and waste reduction.”
“Keeping event sites clean enhances the attendee experience and stops mismanaged waste from becoming litter,” said Andrew Woodruff, Director of Operations and Event Production at French Quarter Fest, Inc. “Event goers can also be a part of the solution by properly disposing their trash, compost, cigarettes, and recycling.”
In addition to picking up pocket ashtrays at the Geauxing Green Tent on Kohlmeyer Lawn, festivalgoers can stop by the tent to learn more about litter prevention and waste reduction. KLB will also be giving away daily prize packs with T-shirts, reusable water bottles, stickers, and more.
In 2023, KLB partnered with French Quarter Festivals, Inc. (FQFI) to create the Greener Grounds Guidebook and Workbook to provide practical ways event organizers can plan to manage and reduce waste, increase recycling, and prevent litter at their events. The Greener Grounds Grant was subsequently developed to support the implementation of the best practices outlined in the guidebook and workbook. Grant applications are now being accepted at KeepLouisianaBeautiful.org.
All are encouraged to get involved in Keep Louisiana Beautiful’s many free programs. Learn ways to become engaged at KeepLouisianaBeautiful.org.
With so much change taking place across the university landscape these days, I thought I would identify my top five prognostications, projections, or possibilities for Louisiana Tech. As an alumnus, a tuition paying parent, an aspiring campus speaker, and an active supporter of athletics, I have given a great deal of thought to various academic, athletic, and administrative opportunities for the University. The one disclaimer that I will note prior to sharing: I developed this column on a very turbulent flight to Philadelphia this week, so I might have been a little distracted!
Just a few thoughts and a lot of questions. One thing I have found in over 35 years of leading in business, it was more important for me to ensure I was asking the right questions than for me to provide all the answers.
I noticed how eerily similar some of the thoughts are to La Tech a generation ago.
Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communucations
The 10th-ranked Louisiana Tech bowling team is heading to Arlington, Texas, for the NCAA Tournament Regional on April 5-6, which will be held at the International Training and Research Center.
The Bulldogs earned an at-large bid and will face Conference USA foe Sam Houston on Friday, April 5, at 9 a.m. CT.
The regional will be double elimination, except for the play-in match, and will be the Mega Match Format except for, if necessary, match eight; it will be a best-of-seven Baker match. The Mega Match Format is comprised of a best-of-three style, with the first game being a traditional team total pinfall, followed by a five-game Baker total pinfall. A best-of-seven Baker match will determine the winner if the two teams split the first two sets.
Alabama State and Belmont Abbey will open the regional with the play-in match on Thursday. The winner will face No. 4 overall seed North Carolina A&T.
The Tech and Sam Houston winner will face the winner of that match at 3 p.m. CT, while the two losing teams will face off in an elimination match.
Saturday will start at 9 a.m. CT with an elimination match followed by the regional championship matches.
The regional winner will compete in the NCAA women’s bowling championships, which will be held April 12-13 at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Michigan.
On June 1, 1943, in the midst of World War II, Leslie, a film producer, along with his business manager Alfred Chenhalls, boarded a civilian British Overseas Airlines Douglas DC-3 airplane for a flight from Lisbon, Portugal to Bristol, England. Leslie had been lecturing in Spain and Portugal on how films were made and promoting an upcoming film. Leslie was favored by the British government for his anti-Nazi propaganda and films which supported the war effort.
Leslie was not supposed to be on flight 777. It was sold out. On the day before the flight, two passengers, Derek Partridge, a young son of a British diplomat, and his nanny Dora Rove were “bumped” to make room for Leslie and Alfred, whose priority status allowed them to take precedence over other passengers. He was returning to England to complete work on “The Lamp Still Burns”, a film he was producing.
In the previous year and a half, the same plane had been operating on scheduled flights from Lisbon to Whitchurch on a route that did not pass over what was considered a war zone. However, in November 1942, and again in April 1943, the plane had been attacked by Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters, but each time the pilots were able to escape by using evasive maneuvers.
At 7:35 on the morning of June 1, 1943, flight 777 took off from Lisbon with 17 passengers and 4 crew onboard. For two hours, the flight was uneventful. Unbeknownst to the flight crew, a swarm of eight Luftwaffe Ju 88 airplanes had taken off from Bordeaux. Their mission was to find and escort two U-boats to an undisclosed location. At about 10:50 a.m., as the German pilots were searching for the U-boats, they spotted a grey silhouette of a plane in the sky. Although they could make out no markings, they knew it was an enemy plane. They were unaware of any scheduled civilian flights in the area.
At 10:54 a.m., the pilot radioed their coordinates and said that they were being followed and fired upon. The pilot radioed: “I am being followed by strange aircraft. Putting on best speed… we are being attacked. Cannon shells and tracers are going through the fuselage. Wave-hopping and doing my best.” The Germans continued firing on the plane. The left engine and wing caught fire. First Oberleutnant Herbert Hintze, who led the squadron of eight German planes, called off the attack when he realized it was a civilian aircraft, but the damage was done. The plane was severely damaged and on fire. Three people jumped from the burning plane, but their parachutes were on fire and failed to open. The plane crashed, floated briefly, then sank. The German pilots photographed the wreckage of the plane floating in the Bay of Biscay. There were no survivors.
On the following morning, newspapers printed the following message: “The British Overseas Airways Corporation regrets to announce that a civil aircraft on passage between Lisbon and the United Kingdom is overdue and must be presumed lost. The last message received from the aircraft stated that it was being attacked by an enemy aircraft. The aircraft carried 13 passengers and a crew of four. Next of kin have been informed.”
When the plane failed to reach its destination, a British Short Sunderland flying boat flew to the coordinates provided by the pilot. As the flying boat reached the coordinates, a squadron of eight Luftwaffe Ju 88s, maybe the same Ju 88s, attacked. A furious battle ensued in which the flying boat shot down three of the German planes. Three more planes were listed as “possibles,” meaning they were damaged and probably crashed. But the flying boat had sustained a lot of damage itself. The flying boat crash landed on Praa Sands beach on the southwestern tip of England.
After the war, First Oberleutnant Herbert Hintze said his pilots were angry that Luftwaffe leaders failed to warn them about the scheduled flight. The difference, according to Herbert Hintze, is that they would have escorted the captured plane to Bordeaux, where the Luftwaffe was based.
Following World War II, many people theorized that the crash of the plane carrying Leslie was no accident. The most popular theory is that the plane was shot down because the Germans mistakenly believed Winston Churchill was on the flight. In this theory, German spies mistakenly identified Leslie’s business manager Alfred Chenhall as Winston Churchill. Leslie, according to this theory, was mistakenly identified as Detective Inspector Walter H. Thompson, Churchill’s bodyguard who favored Leslie. Churchill himself believed this theory. In his memoirs he wrote, “The brutality of the Germans was only matched by the stupidity of their agents. It is difficult to understand how anyone could imagine that with all the resources of Great Britain at my disposal I should have booked a passage in an unarmed and unescorted plane from Lisbon and flown home in broad daylight.”
Some theories claim Leslie was a spy. Others claim he was killed because of his anti-Nazi propaganda in films. Regardless of the reason, the families of 21 individuals lost loved ones, and, not that his life was any more important than anyone else on the flight, the world lost a film producer who was also one of the finest actors of the era, Leslie Howard. His most remembered role was that of Ashley Wilkes in one of the greatest films of all time, “Gone with the Wind.”
Sources:
1. The Rock Island Argus, June 2, 1943, p.1.
2. Blackwell Journal-Tribune, June 2, 1943, p.1.
3. The Sacramento Bee, June 2, 1943, p.1.
4. The Atlanta Journal, June 2, 1943, p.1.
5. Richard M. Langworth, “How Many Assassination Attempts on Churchill? Ask Walter Thompson,” The Churchill Project – Hillsdale College , September 18, 2019, https://winstonchurchill.
By Malcolm Butler
Lincoln Prep senior Stephen Burks earned first team all-state honors on the Class 1A team as voted on by members of the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
Cedar Creek duo Leah Sutherland and Mallory Smith and Lincoln Prep’s Asijah Wright all earned honorable mention all-state honors on the girls side.
Burks led the Panthers to the District 2-1A title and a spot in the Select School Division IV playoffs where they advanced to the state semifinals.
He averaged 17.1 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game for head coach Antonio Hudson’s squad as Lincoln Prep advanced all the way to Marsh Madness before falling 62-55 to eventual champion Crescent City.
Smith averaged 11.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game for Cedar Creek while Sutherland averaged 7.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.6 steals in helping lead the Lady Cougars to the Select School Division IV playoffs.
The duo were instrumental in the Lady Cougars winning a pair of playoff games out of the No. 9 seed spot before falling to eventual state champion Southern Lab in the state quarterfinals.
Wright was the ring leader for the Lady Panthers, averaging 11.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. She guided Lincoln Prep to its most successful girls season in years, including a spot in the Select School Division IV playoffs and an upset win over No. 13 seed Catholic Pointe Coupee in the first round of the playoffs.
BOYS FIRST TEAM
Jbari Adams Ringgold 6-5 Sr. 19.5
Stephen Burks Lincoln Prep 6-0 Sr. 17
Dwight Magee Crescent City 5-9 So. 29.3
Matthew Weaver St. Martin’s Episcopal 6-3 Sr. 21
D’Ray Vital Hamilton Christian 6-11 So. 15
BOYS SECOND TEAM
Benjamin Case Central Catholic 6-1 Jr. 22.1
Bryce Guillory Westminster 6-3 Sr. 20
Jovanni Perez Crescent City 6-1 Sr. 22.3
Ayden Warren St. Mary’s 5-11 Sr. 17.8
Leonard Hicks Thrive Academy 6-1 Sr. 23
OUTSTANDING PLAYER: DWIGHT MAGEE, CRESCENT CITY
COACH OF THE YEAR: BRANDON RUSS, CRESCENT CITY
Honorable mention: Mixon Bankston, St. Mary’s; Ben Bienvenu, St. Mary’s; Mikey Bougere, East Iberville; Damorion Burks, White Castle; Omarion Carr, Arcadia; Rodtravious Crawley, Arcadia; Spencer Dunn, Homer; Tate Hamby, Ouachita Christian; Jermarquis Hampton, Haynesville; Cameron Hardnett, Southern Lab; Garrett Humphery, Hamilton Christian; Jophie LaForge, St. Martin’s Episcopal; Cooper Odom, St. Martin’s Episcopal; Marc Perkins, Delta Charter; Parker Robinson, St. Frederick; McKennis Savoie, North Central; Isaiah Stevens, Crescent City; Bailey Streams, Covenant Christian; Roderick Tezeno, Opelousas Catholic; Nylan Williams, Central Catholic.
GIRLS FIRST TEAM
Rhianna Battles Northwood 5-5 Sr. 21
Kinsley James Southern Lab 5-9 Sr. 16
M’Kiyiah Olivier Highland Baptist 5-3 Sr. 27
Asia Patin Southern Lab 5-6 So. 16
Justice Young Arcadia 6-0 Sr. 12
GIRLS SECOND TEAM
Mckenzie Deville Hamilton Christian 5-2 Sr. 21
Cambrieion Link White Castle Jr. 5-4 24
NyAsia Moran Northwood-Lena 6-6 Sr. 14
Jade Oliney Central Catholic 5-6 Jr. 19
Kenzie Nino LaSalle 5-7 Sr. 17.2
OUTSTANDING PLAYER: RHIANNA BATTLES, NORTHWOOD
COACH OF THE YEAR: LAKINYA CURRY, ARCADIA
Honorable mention: DeAsia Alexander, Arcadia; Z’Riah Buggs, Homer; Sophie Burchard, East Beauregard; Maddie Carey, Covenant Christian; Avery Cournoyer, East Beauregard; Darcy Edgar, Ouachita Christian; Jordan Geason, Central Catholic; Lanetta Hill, Logansport; Alayna Knight, Catholic-Pointe Coupee; Garri Lawson, St. Martin’s Episcopal; Kelsey Robinson, White Castle; Mallory Smith, Cedar Creek; Leah Sutherland, Cedar Creek; Katee Woodward, Ouachita Christian; Asijah Wright, Lincoln Prep; Kali Shiver, Sacred Heart; Bre’Ardoin, Sacred Heart.
Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
For the second straight weekend, Louisiana Tech will face a team its tied with atop the Conference USA standings.
The Bulldogs face Liberty in a three-game series in Lynchburg, Virginia, with the two teams tied for first place in the league with identical 7-2 marks after three weekends of conference action.
Today’s game is set for 6 p.m. with Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m. All three games can be seen on ESPN+
Last weekend the Bulldogs took two out of three at home against WKU with both teams entering that series in a three-way tie for first.
Louisiana Tech (23-6, 7-2) is coming off a 8-0 run-rule (5 inn.) win over Grambling State Tuesday night in a game that saw Nicole Hammoude hit a first inning grand slam to set the tone. Hammoude has homered in back-to-back games and has 10 RBI in the past four games.
Hammoude leads LA Tech with 24 RBI this season and has recorded four RBI in consecutive games, the first Bulldog with four or more RBI in back-to-back games since Anna Cross accomplished the feat on Feb. 22, 2014.
As a team, LA Tech has already recorded 10+ hits in 10 games this season after doing it eight times a year ago.
Opponents are hitting just .230 against the Bulldogs’ pitching staff in 2024. LA Tech holds a team ERA of 1.95 and a 1.10 WHIP in 197 innings pitched this season, both ranking No. 1 in CUSA. In the last two seasons the Bulldog pitchers have held opponents to two runs or less in 46 of their 84 games played. The Bulldogs have shutout four opponents this season.
LA Tech has won its first three conference series, marking the first time since 2010 that Tech has accomplished the feat when the Bulldogs were a member of the WAC.
The Flames (17-14, 7-2) played a very challenging non-conference schedule that included Oregon, Clemson, Missouri, Penn State, Oklahoma, UL-Lafayette, Duke, and Charlotte. The Flames are coming off a 3-1 loss to Virginia on Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs and the Flames will be meeting for the third, fourth and fifth times this week. Liberty leads the all-time series 2-0 with a pair of wins in 2016.
Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Louisiana Tech puts its five-game winning streak on the line when the Bulldogs travel to face FIU in a three-game Conference USA series in Miami starting today.
First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m. followed by Friday (5:30 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m.)
All three games can be heard on 97.7 FM and seen streamed on ESPN+.
Tech (21-6, 3-0 CUSA) earned an 8-4 victory over I-20 foe ULM on Tuesday night at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park. It marked the fifth straight win for Tech which swept its league-opening three-game series against Jacksonville State last weekend in Ruston.
FIU (13-12, 4-2 CUSA) fell to Miami 14-7 at home on Tuesday while giving up eight runs in the final three innings. The Panthers picked a series win over Western Kentucky following a 7-3 win on Sunday afternoon.
LA Tech is 21-18 all-time against FIU which the first meeting between the two programs came in 1999 when the Bulldogs lost 6-2 in Miami. Tech swept FIU last season in Ruston, scoring 20 runs on the weekend.
Cornelius Ragan “Dickie” Thompson, Jr.
May 5, 1929 – March 20, 2024
Visitation: First Baptist Church, Ruston, Thursday, March 28, 2024, 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Service: First Baptist Church, Ruston, Thursday, March 28, 2024, 2:00 pm
Eliud Pabon
Sunday 07/05/1959 — Saturday 03/16/2024
Visitation: Saturday 03/30/2024 10:00am to 11:00am, Mt. Harmony Baptist Church, 210 Mount Harmony Church Rd, Ruston
Celebration of Life: Saturday 03/30/2024 11:00am, Mt. Harmony Baptist Church, 210 Mount Harmony Church Rd, Ruston
Lois Hudson Foxworth
November 17, 1932 – March 22, 2024
Visitation: Kilpatrick Funeral Homes – Ruston, Friday, March 29, 2024, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Service: Kilpatrick Funeral Homes – Ruston, Friday, March 29, 2024, 1:00 pm
Cemetery: Providence Baptist Cemetery in Keithville, LA, Friday, March 29, 2024
David Lynn Thomas, Sr.
January 3, 1959 – March 23, 2024
Visitation: Thursday, March 28, 2024, 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM, Owens Memorial Chapel Funeral Home
Funeral Service: Thursday, March 28, 2024, 2:00 PM, Owens Memorial Chapel Funeral Home
Cemetery Committal: Thursday, March 28, 2024, 3:30 PM, St. Rest Cemetery, 13015 LA-146, Dubach
Charles Wessels
March 30, 1934 – March 23, 2024
Visitation: Saturday, April 6, 2024, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM, Grace United Methodist Church, 3401 North Trenton Street, Ruston
Funeral Service: Saturday, April 6, 2024, 11:00 AM, Grace United Methodist Church, 3401 North Trenton Street , Ruston
Cemetery Committal: Saturday, April 6, 2024, 12:00 PM, Kilpatrick’s Memorial Gardens , 1270 HWY 544, Ruston
By Malcolm Butler
Lincoln Prep senior Stephen Burks earned first team all-state honors on the Class 1A team as voted on by members of the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
Cedar Creek duo Leah Sutherland and Mallory Smith and Lincoln Prep’s Asijah Wright all earned honorable mention all-state honors on the girls side.
Burks led the Panthers to the District 2-1A title and a spot in the Select School Division IV playoffs where they advanced to the state semifinals.
He averaged 17.1 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game for head coach Antonio Hudson’s squad as Lincoln Prep advanced all the way to Marsh Madness before falling 62-55 to eventual champion Crescent City.
Smith averaged 11.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game for Cedar Creek while Sutherland averaged 7.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.6 steals in helping lead the Lady Cougars to the Select School Division IV playoffs.
The duo were instrumental in the Lady Cougars winning a pair of playoff games out of the No. 9 seed spot before falling to eventual state champion Southern Lab in the state quarterfinals.
Wright was the ring leader for the Lady Panthers, averaging 11.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. She guided Lincoln Prep to its most successful girls season in years, including a spot in the Select School Division IV playoffs and an upset win over No. 13 seed Catholic Pointe Coupee in the first round of the playoffs.
BOYS FIRST TEAM
Jbari Adams Ringgold 6-5 Sr. 19.5
Stephen Burks Lincoln Prep 6-0 Sr. 17
Dwight Magee Crescent City 5-9 So. 29.3
Matthew Weaver St. Martin’s Episcopal 6-3 Sr. 21
D’Ray Vital Hamilton Christian 6-11 So. 15
BOYS SECOND TEAM
Benjamin Case Central Catholic 6-1 Jr. 22.1
Bryce Guillory Westminster 6-3 Sr. 20
Jovanni Perez Crescent City 6-1 Sr. 22.3
Ayden Warren St. Mary’s 5-11 Sr. 17.8
Leonard Hicks Thrive Academy 6-1 Sr. 23
OUTSTANDING PLAYER: DWIGHT MAGEE, CRESCENT CITY
COACH OF THE YEAR: BRANDON RUSS, CRESCENT CITY
Honorable mention: Mixon Bankston, St. Mary’s; Ben Bienvenu, St. Mary’s; Mikey Bougere, East Iberville; Damorion Burks, White Castle; Omarion Carr, Arcadia; Rodtravious Crawley, Arcadia; Spencer Dunn, Homer; Tate Hamby, Ouachita Christian; Jermarquis Hampton, Haynesville; Cameron Hardnett, Southern Lab; Garrett Humphery, Hamilton Christian; Jophie LaForge, St. Martin’s Episcopal; Cooper Odom, St. Martin’s Episcopal; Marc Perkins, Delta Charter; Parker Robinson, St. Frederick; McKennis Savoie, North Central; Isaiah Stevens, Crescent City; Bailey Streams, Covenant Christian; Roderick Tezeno, Opelousas Catholic; Nylan Williams, Central Catholic.
GIRLS FIRST TEAM
Rhianna Battles Northwood 5-5 Sr. 21
Kinsley James Southern Lab 5-9 Sr. 16
M’Kiyiah Olivier Highland Baptist 5-3 Sr. 27
Asia Patin Southern Lab 5-6 So. 16
Justice Young Arcadia 6-0 Sr. 12
GIRLS SECOND TEAM
Mckenzie Deville Hamilton Christian 5-2 Sr. 21
Cambrieion Link White Castle Jr. 5-4 24
NyAsia Moran Northwood-Lena 6-6 Sr. 14
Jade Oliney Central Catholic 5-6 Jr. 19
Kenzie Nino LaSalle 5-7 Sr. 17.2
OUTSTANDING PLAYER: RHIANNA BATTLES, NORTHWOOD
COACH OF THE YEAR: LAKINYA CURRY, ARCADIA
Honorable mention: DeAsia Alexander, Arcadia; Z’Riah Buggs, Homer; Sophie Burchard, East Beauregard; Maddie Carey, Covenant Christian; Avery Cournoyer, East Beauregard; Darcy Edgar, Ouachita Christian; Jordan Geason, Central Catholic; Lanetta Hill, Logansport; Alayna Knight, Catholic-Pointe Coupee; Garri Lawson, St. Martin’s Episcopal; Kelsey Robinson, White Castle; Mallory Smith, Cedar Creek; Leah Sutherland, Cedar Creek; Katee Woodward, Ouachita Christian; Asijah Wright, Lincoln Prep; Kali Shiver, Sacred Heart; Bre’Ardoin, Sacred Heart.
By Malcolm Butler
Former Louisiana Tech cornerback L’Jarius Sneed became one of the highest paid cornerbacks in the NFL on Tuesday when he signed a four-year, $76 million contract with the Tennessee Titans.
Sneed, who is considered one of the top defensive backs in the NFL, is coming off another Super Bowl title as part of the Kansas City Chiefs less than two months ago.
Reports say Sneed’s deal includes $55 million guaranteed and a $20 million signing bonus. Sneed’s $19.1 million average annual value now ranks sixth highest among cornerbacks and his $55 million guaranteed ranks fourth highest.
Sneed was originally given the franchise tag by the Chiefs before being dealt to the Titans.
During last season, Sneed totaled 78 tackles, a career-high 14 passes defended and two interceptions. He led all NFL defensive backs in fewest yards per attempt and is one of just two players to register at least two interceptions and five TFL each of the past three seasons.
The former Minden High School prep star played for Tech from 2016 through 2019 before being selected in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He totaled 179 tackles and eight interceptions with the Bulldogs.
Courtesy of GSU Communications
Grambling State University’s Orchesis Dance Company jazzed things up before taking the audience to church Sunday as their 75th anniversary celebration continued with a Spring Showcase inside the Conrad Hutchinson, Jr. Performing Arts Center.
Titled “Featuring a Legacy of Excellence in Dance,” the program was also highlighted by a guest performance by Make A Difference Dance Company, a youth troupe based in Shreveport, Louisiana.
The first half of the program brought the jazz with performances to songs “Act Bad” by Dj Jess, “Take the ‘A’ Train” by Duke Ellington, “Rock Steady” by Arethra Franklin and “Wish I Didn’t Miss You” by Angie Stone, “Bills, Bills, Bills” by Destiny’s Child and “Boogie on Darrell,” which featured music by Earth, Wind and Fire and The Emotions.
That part of the program also featured the first of two videos shown during the performance —- “The Reveal” — which showed Orchesis Dancer Michaela Morris.
The program’s second half of the show featured inspirationally based music and dance.
“Deliverance” was performed to the song “Cry Out” by All Nations, “What’s Going On” featured the Marvin Gaye classic and the program closed with a dance set to “Long as I got King Jesus” by Vickie Winans.
The second video was shown during that part of the program and featured the Orchesis Dance Company turning in a powerful performance set to Nina Simone’s version of “Strange Fruit.”
Orchesis Director J’amie Griffith, a 2016 GSU graduate wrapping up her first year after replacing former director Diane Maroney-Grigsby was pleased with the way the showcase turned out.
“I’m happy,” Griffith said. “I thought it was a great start and finish of our 75th anniversary year.”
Griffith said she was the one that came up with the idea of adding video performances to the showcase.
“I got into dance film in graduate school (Griffith received her Master’s of Fine Arts in Dance from Oklahoma State University in 2022),” she said. “So, I had done some freelance work with choreographers and videographers and then I brought that here with me and introduced my dancers and students to it.”
“We actually just finished our third one, so that one will premiere at Dance His High Praise (the Orchesis Dance Company’s annual spring performance in Shreveport).”
Maroney-Grigsby was on hand to watch Sunday’s showcase.
“It was beautiful — outstanding,” Maroney-Grigsby said. “Just being here, I feel like Mama, sister, friend — all of it. They did amazing and I’m so proud.”
Griffith said that taking over as Orchesis director in the troupe’s 75th anniversary year has been what she termed amazing.
“It’s definitely been a full-circle moment because I was a student here as well as the captain,” Griffith said. “Just to see during the fall celebration so many generations coming back to dance and meet with our current dancers and let them see where we come from and let those older generations see where the legacy is now and how it’s carrying on was wonderful.”
By Kyle Roberts
Voting continues for “Best Historic Small Town” in USA Today’s 10 Best poll. Votes can be cast once per day until April 1.
Original article:
Residents already know the truth: Ruston is one of the best cities to live in, bar none.
And now, USA Today has Ruston as one of the nominees for a poll for “Best Historic Small Town.”
“We were blown away that we were nominated for the best historic small town,” Ruston’s Main Street director Amy Stegall said. “This means so much as a Main Street community that we have been selected as an nominee. Historic preservation is a huge part of the main street world, and to see our efforts recognized at this level is awesome.
“We encourage everyone to get out and vote because it recognizes the hard work of our community to ensure that Ruston’s unique identity remains even as we continue to grow.”
As of publication, Ruston is ranked second out of 20, behind Ludington, Mich.
Voters can vote once per day until April 1 by clicking here.
By Daniel Young
Louisiana Tech University’s estimation team won first place in the Heavy Civil Division at the TEXO Foundation and Associated Schools of Construction Region 5 Student Competition, and team leader Gabriel Lipe won second place for his presentation skills.
Competing against the best and brightest students from construction programs in the South, the team of construction engineering students Drake Black, Connor Branch, Skylar Belt, Zaria Jones, Francisca Gutierrez, and Lipe used programmable software known as ProCore, mathematics, and skills they learned in Tech’s construction engineering technology classes to calculate the cost of a construction project.
They then traveled from Ruston to Hurst, Texas, with team adviser and Construction Engineering Technology Program Chair Reginald Jeter. There, they met with the company that estimated and built the project to defend their results and answer judges’ questions.
Lipe, who is also president of the Associated General Contractors/North American Society of Trenchless Technology, said internships, part-time jobs and their Tech classes helped them prepare for their estimate bid.
“I think all our experiences outside the classrooms, especially previous internships and part-time jobs helped us understand everything that was being asked of us,” Lipe said. “Every member has also been through Mr. Jeter’s estimating class, which provided us with many of the skills necessary to compete. Without Mr. Jeter, so much of what we accomplished as construction engineering technology majors would not have been possible, so having the opportunity to pay him back just a little bit by winning this competition was fulfilling.”
Lipe said the most difficult portion of the competition was the scheduling and communication aspects of the challenge, particularly since everything had to be turned around within an 18-hour window.
“We overcame this challenge by assigning everyone a specific job to complete,” he added. “This ensured that we covered all our bases and would not miss anything.”