By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
NATCHITOCHES – Brennan Robin ran the 10th-fastest time Monday by any Division I boys competitor in the history of the LHSAA Cross Country Championships.
His 15:05.70 mark was the second-best clocking among all 1,101 participants and the 788 who finished.
His second place was his top finish yet, two spots higher than last year’s, at the state meet hosted since 1992 by Northwestern State at the Walter P. Ledet Track Complex.
He was not pleased. Not one bit.
The Parkway junior had a state championship in mind. He was primed to upset the presumptive favorite, Jesuit senior Brady Monahan.
But that plan went awry, he said, when he broke away from the pack and set the pace in the first mile of the three-mile course.
“It wasn’t the race I was hoping for,” Robin admitted. “I got impatient and I took the lead during the first mile, and that wasn’t the plan. The other boys from Jesuit had a plan and ended up overtaking me at the end of the race.”
Monahan rallied to win in 14:59.63, sixth all-time in Division I meet history. Robin was 13 seconds faster than the third finisher. No bueno, he said.
“I wanted to win. Second isn’t what I was going for, so to me, it’s kind of a failure. I just ran out of myself today.”
Robin, who uncharacteristically collapsed onto the track immediately after crossing the finish line, didn’t agree that his progression of finishes at the state meet was a consolation.
“It was probably the worst (of his three races), because I was closest to winning, and I failed to do that,” he said. “It definitely is gonna hurt.”
Despite his frustration, as Robin headed toward the awards ceremony with the other top 10 runners, he was eager to learn the team standings.
Parkway duplicated last year’s fourth-place team placement, scoring 142 points. It was the best finish by a Division I public school.
Jesuit won its fifth consecutive Division I crown with 29, followed by New Orleans’ Catholic League rival Brother Martin (93), Catholic of Baton Rouge (105) and the Panthers.
Parkway got a strong race by senior Ben Ruliffson, 11th in 15:50.72. Joining Robin and Ruliffson on the Parkway scorecard were senior Noah Lafitte (35th, 16:42.8), junior Aiden O’Nishea (36th, 16:44.4) and freshman Braxton Thomas (60th, 17:32.8).
Under the radar was the fifth-place finish by Airline senior Jayden Williams, a quantum leap forward from a very good 22nd last year. Williams clocked a blistering 15.25.55 Monday, earning composite All-State honors with a mark that would have won any other division.
Two other local runners posted top 10 finishes.
Caddo Magnet’s Jack Pattillo took seventh in the boys Division II race with a 16:09.64 time. Also crossing in seventh, in the girls’ Division III competition, was Sophia Fertitta of Loyola, posting a 20:08.91 clocking.
The Byrd girls team ran fifth in the Division I standings with 229 points, with Mt. Carmel’s 55 winning the state title.
Loyola’s boys were ninth in the Division III competition, scoring 231, in a race won by perennial power Episcopal’s 39 points.
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