Vincent Stewart and Shannon Grover lead Wildcats in meet

By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

BATON ROUGE — When it comes down to it, Vincent Stewart saved his best for last.

As the 5A defending state champion in the high jump, Stewart set a personal best of 6-09 to take his second consecutive title while helping to lead East St. John in the state meet at LSU on Saturday to a fifth place finish in the team standings. And while Stewart’s first place finish gave ESJ a leg up in the meet, it was the legs of Shannon Grover that scored the most for the Wildcats.

Grover entered the state meet as a qualifier in two individual events and two relay races, and left Bernie Moore Stadium in Baton Rouge after scoring points in each and every one of those events. Placing sixth in the 100 and 200 meters, with times of 11.17 and 22.56 respectively in a sometimes blustery set of conditions, Grover scored two points for ESJ. In the baton races Grover joined up with leadoff runner Johnny Owen, third-legger Terrell Jackson and anchor James Furtick to a second place finish in the 4 X 200 with a 1:28.79. That placing was good for eight points. In the 4 X 100, Grover, Jackson and Owen paired up with Stanley Jackson leading off. That team finished with a third place time of 42.34 which was less than .4 of a second behind the first place finishing Barbe runner.

With 16 points scored for ESJ in the relays, combined with Stewart’s 10 from the high jump, the Wildcats put 26 up on the board for a fifth place tie with Fountainbleau.

The girl’s side found the LadyCats scoring their points in the relay races. In the 4 X 200, the ESJ squad took a close third place behind Dutchtown. That team was composed of Shonna Grover, Dominique Dunn, Danasia Wallace and anchor Darielle Sanders, who crossed the finish line at 1:43.33.Grover, Dunn and Sanders were back on the track for the 4 X 100, and joined with Jacobi Wilson at the lead-off spot for the team that placed fifth with a time of 49.8.

Also representing East St. John at the meet, Ashlee Cooper competed after qualifying through regionals in the discus and shot-put. But Cooper struggled on Saturday and came up short of her seeding mark for an eighth and ninth place finish respectively.

Hahnville made a good showing with five individual scorers who got 25 points in all for a ninth place overall on the girl’s side, and eight points on the boys side. Danielle Douglas may have had the best all-around performance of all the local competitors, winning first in the girl’s 400 meter dash with a 57.31 and sixth in the 800 with a 2:25.80. She was also part of the HHS 4X 400 relay that got second. DHS’s Shaquieda Wells was fourth in that same race with 59.53. Shane Boyle was the Tigers top performer on the boy’s side with a third place in the 200 meters at a time of 22.08.