Gents claim regional crown; CHS Ladies fall just short of title

BENTON – It has been nearly three decades since the Crowley Gents have won a regional track title.
They were close in 2013 and 2014, finishing as the runnerup in Class 3A at regional meets in Westlake and North DeSoto.
On Thursday, the Gents finally got over that hump.
The Gents racked up 86.5 points, posting 26 of those in the final four events, to slip past district foe Leeseville (81 points) for the regional title.
West Ouachita was third in the field of 15 teams with 59 points.
“You know, this is just really amazing,” said CHS coach Jeptha Wall after the team results were announced following the meet. “You know, when you hit regionals you get to quality stuff; so, apparently, we have quality stuff.
“It was a big day for us, traveling this far (nearly four hours) and being kind of unfamiliar with the majority of the field.”
The Gents didn’t get off to the best of starts as they qualified just two athletes and scored 23.5 points in the field events.
Darrid Romero tied his personal best in the pole vault with a mark of 13-0 to place second while Nick Deville had a third-place throw of 129-9 in the discus.
It was, however, a pair of fourth-place finishes and one fifth that kept the Gents in contention heading into the track events.
Deville was fourth in the shot put (44-1 1/2) and Chris Lewis was fourth in the triple jump (44-3) while Paul Goodley was fifth in the high jump (6-2).
“We had some very good performances tonight and we kind of nickle and dimed  it in the field,” said Wall. “Darrid got up there and jumped well today to kind of get us going. And then we had a few third and a few fourth place finishes. We didn’t qualify a lot in the field, but it gave us a chance to come up in there and kind of do something.”
Leading the charge on the track were Quentron Gallow and Damon Guidry with regional victories in the 800-meter run and the 300-meter hurdles.
Gallow won the 800 by over three seconds, blowing past West Ouachita’s Jansen Nowell in the final 100 meters to finish with a time of 2:00.15. Guidry clocked a 39.68 to slip past Neville’s Dalen Alexander.
Gallow and Guidry also joined Mikal Hebert and Jacq’Co Price on the Gents’ 4x400-meter relay team that placed second with a time of 3:25.68.
Guidry also joined Jeremy Johnson, Xavier Johnson and Price to place second in the 4x200-meter relay (1:27.61) and had an impressive third-place showing in the 110-meter hurdles despite running in the slow heat.
Terrell Thomas picked up two points in the 110 hurdles with a fifth-place time of 15.53.
“We had took Cookie (Damon Guidry) out of the 4x200 for a while because of the high jump,” said Wall. “We knew that he could roll, but we didn’t want to get caught up  because he has been so valuable in the high jump.  But the opportunity was there so we put him in it and he shined through.
“And the other ones ran well on it (4x200), too. Jeremy Johnson, a freshman, ran well on it and Terrell and Jacq’Co ran strong.”
Price also qualified in the 200-meter dash with a runnerup time of 21.60 and advanced in the 4x100-meter relay along with John Marceaux, Xavier Johnson and Thomas after posting a second-place time of 42.27.
Jeremy Johnson added to the Gents’ point total with a pair of sixth-place finishes in the 100-meter dash (11.03) and the 400-meter dash (52.11).
“We really ran as good as we could have on the track,” said Wall. “Overall for the boys, it was a good day on the track.”
On the girls side, the CHS Ladies were just as impressive as their counterparts.
The Ladies tallied 61 points on the day to take regional runnerup honors behind champion Huntington which finished three-points ahead with 64.     DeRidder was third with 59 points.
The highlight of the day for the Ladies was turned in by Jalaysia Hebert, who qualified for state in four events.
Hebert won both hurdle events but where she shined was in the 300-hurdles where she logged the school record with a blazing time of 46.33.
“Jalaysia just shattered the school record tonight in the 300-hurdles,” said Wall of Hebert breaking the previous record of 48.1 set by Mercedes Rogers three years ago.     “She ran well in the 100-meter hurdles as well. She’s just so much stronger this year and her running between hurdles has gotten so much better.”
Hebert won the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 15.20 and also qualified in a pair of relay events. She joined Anijah Williams, Ajah Kneeland and Jaliah Vallian to place second in the 4x100 (50.89) and teamed with Williams, Karlnasha Johnson and Vallian for third place in the 4x200 (1:48.00).
The Ladies also turned in a winning time of 4:15.09 in the 4x400-meter relay, which was nearly as impressive as Hebert’s school record in the 300-hurdles.
Williams made up nearly 100-meters on the second leg, taking the Ladies from last place to first before handing off to Johnson, who maintained the lead. Erin Hetzler ran the anchor and withstood a late charge by DeRidder to win the event.
“We just ran 11 seconds faster than we ever ran,” said Wall of his 4x400 relay team. “ Ajah ran six seconds faster than she ever ran on the opening leg and Anijah gave us a good lead. Karlnasha held on to it and extended it a little bit more and made them chase her and Erin finished it off. Erin has one speed but it don’t stop.”
Williams also qualified in the 200-meter dash with a third-place time of 25.73.
“Anijah qualified in all three relays and the 200,” said Wall. “She’s like our female Jacq’Co (Price.).”
Myah Rogers also qualifed for next week’s state meet at LSU’s Bernie Moore Stadium with a third-place finish in the high jump (5-0) while Kneeland scored a fifth-place finish in the triple jump (33-4).