Featured photo by Robert Summerlin
The Parkway boys team completed an outstanding season with a fourth-place finish in Division I at the LHSAA Cross Country State Meet Monday at Northwestern State in Natchitoches.
Parkway sophomore Brennan Robin also finished fourth.
Parkway scored 167 points. Jesuit of New Orleans won its fourth straight state title with 27. Brother Martin finished runner-up again with 39. Catholic-Baton Rouge was third with 102.
Robin covered the 3-mile course in 15 minutes, 10.09 seconds. He improved his time from the 2023 meet by about 28 seconds. He improved his finish by eight spots.
Runners faced damp and humid conditions with occasional showers.
The top three finishers were the same as last year.
Jesuit senior Brady Mullen won easily in 14:44.22. His teammate, junior Brady Monahan, finished second in 14:58.28. Brother Martin senior Noah Mooney was third in 15:03.08.
Other Parkway runners in the scoring were junior Ben Ruliffson (35th, 16:30.07), senior Andrew Kent (40th, 16:33.13), junior Noah Lafitte (45th, 16:45.47) and senior Jesus Cordova (54th, 17:02.73).
Airline junior Jayden Williams Benton junior Brody Hutchison both had very good performances.
They finished 22nd and 23rd, respectively, in 16:06.27 and 16:07.80.
Benton finished 15th and Airline 17th.
Parkway sophomore Aiden O’Nishea was 52nd and senior Alex Gomez 83rd.
Benton sophomore Dalton Bliss was 62nd and freshman Sam Ivins 85th. Airline sophomore Austin Bonney was 64th.
Parkway finished eighth in Division I girls, two spots higher than last year. Benton was 10th and Haughton 19th.
Senior Ember Pierce led parish runners with a 28th-place finish in 20:07.89. Baton Rouge High’s Lucy Thomas won in 17:25.54.
Benton junior Claire Allen and Parkway senior Lauren Taylor finished 31st and 32nd, respectively, in 20:16.54 and 20:18.15.
Benton junior Dominque Coore finished 45th in 20:45.81.
Benton sophomore Aaliyah Gonzalez and Haughton junior Clara Hicks were 63rd and 68th, respectively.
Parkway sophomore Sofia Bright and freshman Khalilya Harris finished 74th and 75th, respectively. Junior Angela Espinoza was 86th.
Baton Rouge St. Joseph’s Academy won its ninth straight state championship with 54 points. New Orleans Mt. Carmel was second with 99, Ruston third with 107 and Byrd fourth with 141.