BATON ROUGE, La. — Ruston High School turned in a strong showing this weekend at the 2026 Class 5A State Track & Field Championships at LSU’s Bernie Moore Track Stadium, highlighted by a state championship, multiple runner-up finishes and a school record.
The Lady Bearcats’ 4×800-meter relay team of Maddy Parkman, Madison Morris, Eden Dawsey and Hallie Hebert captured the Class 5A state title with a time of 9 minutes, 36.48 seconds.
“This was an unforgettable weekend for our program,” Ruston coach Trey Smith said. “Our athletes competed with heart, toughness and determination against the best competition in the state, and they delivered in a major way.”
T’Avion Clark added one of Ruston’s top individual performances, finishing as state runner-up in the girls 400 meters with a personal-best time of 54.67. Clark also helped the Lady Bearcats’ 4×400 relay team of Mattison Russell, Megan Modest, Clark and Dawsey finish second while breaking the school record with a time of 3:51.59.
Journi Douglas also earned state runner-up honors, placing second in the discus with a throw of 134 feet, 4 inches. She added a fifth-place finish in the shot put at 35-0.5.
On the boys side, Ahmad Hudson scored in two events, finishing fourth in the discus with a personal-best throw of 156-8 and sixth in the high jump at 6-1.5.
Joshua Daulton finished eighth in the 1,600 meters in 4:27.20, while Al-Amin Wilson placed ninth in the 3,200 meters in 9:55.22. The boys 4×800 relay team of Wyatt Hancock, Taylor Roller, Cooper Slate and Preston Parker finished eighth in 8:15.10.
Smith said the Bearcats had to overcome difficult conditions throughout the weekend, including lightning delays, events pushed back more than two hours and several field events moved indoors.
“Even with the challenging environment, our athletes never backed down,” Smith said. “They competed with grit, composure and relentless effort from the first event to the final relay.”
Smith said the weekend reflected the commitment shown by Ruston’s athletes and coaches throughout the season.
“We could not be more proud of this group and everything they accomplished,” Smith said. “The future of our program is incredibly bright, and this team has set a tremendous standard moving forward.”
