Airline sophomore Will Dart swept the boys distance events in the Region I-5A track and field meet Thursday in Alexandria.
Dart won the 1,600-meter run in 4:25.4 and the 3,200 in 10:10.91. Dart’s teammate and fellow sophomore, Joshua Burns, finished second in the 3,200 in 10:11.73.
In the 1,600, Dart and Byrd’s Allen England dueled for the second week in a row. District 1-5A champ Dart, whose time was his best this season, won by 1.71 seconds.
The top three finishers in each event qualified for the Class 5A Allstate Sugar Bowl/LHSAA State Outdoor Track and Field Championships to be held May 5 at LSU.
Airline senior Brittney Roberson won the girls 400 in 56.68, her best time this season. Pineville’s Maygan Shaw took second in 57.47.
Roberson also qualified in the 200 with a third-place finish in 25.35. Ce’nequal Sewell of ASH won in 25.07.
Airline’s Taejon Morris finished runner-up in the boys 800 in 1:58.73, his best time this season. Byrd’s LaDann Thomas, the District 1-5A champion, won in 1:58.10.
Haughton finished second to Ouachita Parish in the boys 4X100 and 4X200 relays. The Bucs’ foursome of Kynan Hayes, Kason Green, Emile Cola and Lavonta Gipson ran a 42.07 in the 4X100 to Ouachita Parish’s 41.86.
Haughton is the defending state champion in the event.
Hayes, Green, Gipson and Greg Phil ran a 1:27.85 in the 4X200, finishing 1.11 seconds behind Ouachita Parish.
Hayes finished fourth in the 100 in 10.67. According to results posted on Louisiana MileSplit, the second- and third-place finishers ran the same time. Lafayette’s Armando Duplantis, the world junior record holder in the pole vault, won in 10.57.
Cola also qualified in the high jump. He and four other athletes cleared 6-4. Cola placed third based on fewer misses. Jorien Valien of ASH won with a 6-6.
Parkway’s Jazz Rasouliyan qualified with a third-place finish in the girls 3,200. She ran a season-best 12:11.51. Rosalie Michot of Lafayette won in 11:22.75.
Airline came close to qualifying in the very fast girls 4X400 relay. The Lady Vikings ran a season-best 4:07.87, about 3.5 seconds slower than third-place Lafayette.
Other fourth-places finishers included Airline’s Tommy Williams (boys 110 hurdles, 41.13), Parkway’s Shanna Abdeljabar (girls discus, 97-4) and Parkway’s Abbie Norcross (girls javelin, 112-3).
Airline’s Melanie Bailiff is heading back to LSU in three para-ambulatory events — the 100, discus and shot put.
— Russell Hedges, rhedges@bossierpress.com
