Airline won the District 1-5A boys track and field championship for the third straight year Thursday at Airline.
The Vikings scored 133 points to 115 for runner-up Byrd. Captain Shreve was third with 113, Parkway fourth with 106 and Haughton fifth with 42.
The meet started at 4 p.m. despite heavy rain earlier in the day. About an hour into the meet, a line of thunderstorms rolled through, causing a delay. But the meet continued as skies cleared. The temperature dropped after the storms, especially when the sun set.
One of the meet’s top races was the boys 800 meters. Byrd’s LaDann Thomas, the defending 5A state champ, edged Airline’s Taejon Morris. Thomas ran a 1:56.61. Morris was only .09 behind in 1:56.70.
Both times were faster than Thomas’ time of 1:57.44 in the state meet last year.
In the first running event of the day, Morris teamed with Goffrey Cole, Gabriel Cole and Joshua Burns to win the 4X800 relay in 8:20.08.
They defeated a Byrd foursome that included Thomas and 1,600 and 3,200 champ Allen England by 19.23 seconds.
Morris also ran on the Vikings’ winning 4X400 relay team with Brian Marshall, Gabriel Cole and Tommy Williams. They ran a 3:27.67. Byrd was second in 3:29.11.
Tommy Williams, who won the 300 hurdles in 39.89, was Airline’s only individual district champ. The Vikings used superior depth to win the team title.
Devin Bilbo and Williams finished 2-3 in the 110 hurdles in 15.13 and 15.41, respectively. Shreve’s Latyler Hayes won in 14.95. Bilbo was also third in the 300 hurdles in 43.21.
Gabriel Cole finished third in the 800 in 2:02.40. Joshua Burns and Goffrey Cole went 2-3 in the 1,600 in 4:35.42 and 4:36.03, respectively.
Goffrey Cole and Burns finished second and third, respectively, in the 3,200 in 10:10.19 and 10:14.73.
Brandon Marshall was second in the long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 5 inches. Shreve’s Jamaria Hunter and Parkway’s Kaybian Smallwood also went 20-5. Hunter took first via the tiebreaker and Smallwood third.
Marshall also finished third in the triple jump.
Parkway’s Palmer Hearne and Kobe Gill tied for first in the high jump. Both cleared 6-0.
Parkway’s Kentravious Morris finished second in the 200 in 22.93. Southwood’s Wesley Calloway won in 22.76.
Anyone who saw Haughton receiver/quarterback CJ McWilliams play football the last couple of seasons knows he’s fast. Thursday he showed just how swift he is.
McWilliams, a standout baseball player who hasn’t been running track, pulled out a third-place finish in the 100 in 11.26. Shreve’s Ladarian Frieson won in 11.19 and Calloway was second in 11.24.
Parkway’s Hunter Picard was second in the javelin with a 142.5, only a half-inch behind Byrd’s Jamarsha Huglon.
Parkway’s Tommy Cook and Haughton’s Jake Pieri finished 1-2 in the pole vault with vaults of 10-3 and 8-6, respectively.
Parkway’s Jamal Asberry, Jaquaylon Johnson, Morris and Dariusz Patterson combined for a runner-up finish in the 4X100 in 43.22, just .05 behind Shreve.
Asberry, Smallwood, Johnson and Donovan Jackson took second in the 4X200 in 1:30.17. Byrd won in 1:30.06.
The top four finishers in each event qualified for next Thursday’s Region I meet at Northwestern State.
Other qualifiers from Bossier Parish schools were Haughton’s Matthew White (third, shot put), Airline’s Montrez Henderson (third, discus), Airline’s Gabriel Cole (fourth, 400), Parkway’s Clayton Wood (fourth, 3,200), Haughton’s Montoya Bonapart (fourth, high jump), Airline’s Daniel Brewer (fourth, pole vault) and Haughton’s Solan Culver (fourth, javelin).
Airline’s 4X100 relay team qualified with a third-place finish. Parkway’s 4X400 and 4X800 teams also qualified with third-place finishes.
