By JERRY BYRD JR., Journal Sports
Winning the Field MVP award at the Yellow Jacket Relays was not something that was on the radar of C.E.Byrd’s Ja’Michael Davis as he showed up on Saturday morning at Lee Hedges Stadium. Competing well, staying warm, and looking good for the senior recognition pictures during the meet were on his “To Do” list.
Davis won the high jump (5-10), finished second in the long jump (18-1), and finished second in the 400 meters (53.19) on his way to being the only local athlete to win meet MVP honors.
His teammate, Xavier Anderson, gave the Yellow Jackets 14 additional points in the jumps by finishing first in the triple jump (40-4) and fourth in the long jump (17-10.5).
Other local winners included North DeSoto’s Dominic Smith (125-2) in the boys discus, Loyola’s Tripp Romer (4:56.07) in the boys 1600, Parkway’s Devon Oliver (44-3.5) in the boys shot put, Huntington’s Samantha Taylor (16-4) in the girls long jump, Benton’s Isabelle Russell in the girls 1600 (5:41.58), and North Webster’s Peyten Ware (10-0) in the girls pole vault.
Local relay teams to come away with a victory included Loyola’s boys Distance Medley Relay (11:55.62), Huntington’s boys 400-meter relay (45.48), and Byrd’s girls 4×800 relay (10:54.37).
Photo by GAVEN HAMMOND
Ruston scored 236 points in the boys division, 165 points more than runner-up North DeSoto.
Of all the things the Bearcats did on the track and in the field, nothing was more impressive than senior Caleb Babineaux’s 3200 time of 9:46.12, which bettered the meet’s old record, held by Byrd’s Trent Wells, by 13 seconds.
“I wanted to run fast,” Babineaux said, almost apologetically, to his teammate, Nelson Blackburn, who chided his record-setting teammate about not following the pre-race plan.
Benton’s Mason Haley (9:50.52), who finished second, didn’t mind. Neither did Parkway sophomore Gabe Falting (9:51.90), who finished fourth. Both Bossier Parish distance runners set new personal records. Blackburn (9:51.47) finished third in the race.
All four runners broke the previous meet record on a day which saw few records fall due to the cold, windy meet conditions.
“I just wanted to get out,” Babineaux said. “It’s a tough year for running in Louisiana. There is a lot of good competition. I was hoping Trent Wells would be here to help us run a little faster. Unfortunately, he wasn’t here so we had to improvise and do what we can.”
Wells was at the meet, but did not run. Byrd head coach Juan Plaza kept him out of competition to rest a nagging injury. It may be a week or two before Wells returns.
Babineaux won Track MVP honors at the meet.
On the girls side, it was a much closer race as the LHSAA Division I state indoor champions, Ruston, and the LHSAA Division II state indoor champions, St. Louis, battled to the meet’s final event. The Saints came out on top, scoring 153 points and edging out the Lady Bearcats by one point.
