Three athletes from Bossier Parish schools won events in the Region I-5A meet Thursday at Northwestern State’s Walter P. Ledet Track Complex.
Benton senior Jamie Willis swept the hurdles.
Two members of Parkway’s state championship basketball team won field events. Senior Mikaylah Williams took the discus and junior Jayla James won the shot put.
But coming in first wasn’t necessarily the most important thing.
The top three finishers in each individual event and the top teams in the four relays qualified for Class 5A meet Saturday, May 6, at LSU’s Bernie Moore Stadium. Fourth-place finishers are alternates.
Including the three winners, 11 athletes from parish schools qualified.
Thursday’s rain made for a wet track in some events but temperatures were generally mild.
Willis won the 100-meter hurdles in 14.71 seconds and the 300 in 46.51.
She finished .12 ahead of Airline freshman Ke’Zyriah Sykes in the 100 and .59 ahead of West Ouachita’s Macy Hattaway in the 300.
Willis’ teammate Kyla Daux was third in the 300 in 47.62.
Williams and Benton junior Sadie Hamby finished 1-2 in the discus. Williams threw 119 feet, 8 inches and Hamby 117-8.
James won the shot put with a throw of 37-0 1/2. New Iberia’s Morgan Davenport was second with a 36-9.
Airline’s Sykes qualified in three other events and was second in the points standings with 26.
She finished second in the 100 in 12.20 and the 200 in 25.34. Alexandria’s Jakyra Edwards won the 100 in 11.91 and Barbe’s Ariel Williams took the 200 in 24.84.
Airline sophomore Jaycie Wallace qualified with a third-place finish in the 100 in 12.38. She finished fourth in the 200 in 25.81, .18 out of third.
Sykes and Wallace teamed with sophomore Janiyah Boudreaux and freshman Rikiyah Taylor for a runner-up finish in the 4X100 relay in 48.85. Alexandria won in 47.79.
Boudreaux also finished second in the triple jump with a 36-9. New Iberia’s Laila Sigure won with a 37-6.
Benton senior Isabelle Russell finished second in the 1,600 in 5:17.64. Comeaux’s Sya Bolden won in 5:13.05.
Airline junior Elena Heng was third in the 800 in 2:24.53. Bolden won in 2:21.98.
Parkway junior Chloe Larry finished third in the javelin with a 126 8 1/2. Alexandria’s Alexis Guillory won with a 139-2 3/4.
Benton junior Addyson Hulett and Parkway freshman MaKenzie Marshall came very close to qualifying in their respective events.
Hulett finished fourth in the 400 in 59.89, just one-hundredth of a second behind third-place finisher Breanna Quinney of Alexandria.
She finished fifth in the pole vault with a 9-0, 6 inches lower than the third-place height,
Marshall was fourth in the long jump with a 16-2 1/4, just 1 3/4 inches inch less than third-place finisher Destiny Hooper of Lafayette.
Parkway senior Ty’lissa Henderson finished fifth in the high jump with a 5-0, 2 inches lower than the third-place height.
The Airline foursome of Zamiyah Kitchen, Heng, Tomya Grider and Sarah-Catherine Tauzin was fourth in the 4X400 relay in 4:11.85, 5.84 out of third.
Airline finished fourth in the team competition with 64 points. Benton was fifth with 58 and Parkway seventh with 42. Alexandria won with 114.
