By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur
RESERVE – East St. John posted another strong track and field showing at last week’s Glen Oaks meet, as both the boys and girls teams took second place overall finishes.
In boys events, Darius Lipps took first place in the 100 and 200 meters, posting winning times of 11.0 and 22.5 seconds. The Wildcats’ 4×200 relay team (Xavier Lewis, Jacob McNeil, Lipps and JeVaughn Albert) ran a time of 1:30 to nail down first place in that event. Donald Stirgis rounded out first place winners for the ESJ boys with a winning time of 4:30 in the 1600.
Darren Williams took second place in the discus with a throw of 120. Justin Anderson finished second in the javelin with a mark of 140. Tyrell Crockett (12:30) and Darrion Perry  (12:50) finished second and third respectively in the 3200 while Chad Murray (5:20) took third in the 1600.
“It was a good day for us,” said ESJ boys track and field coach Greg Gathers. “We took the opportunity to see how some different people would perform in certain events. We finished behind a good Southern Lab team by six points … That’s a team with a lot of depth. So to compete with them was a positive.”
In girls events, Regina Rixner captured field MVP honors, highlighted by her 31-0 first place throw in the shot put. Dominique Gray finished first in the discus with a mark of 71-9.
Elizabeth Scioneaux took first place in both the long jump (15-11) and the triple jump (32-0) while taking third place in the high jump (4-6).
Cecilia Woods finished first in the 3200 (16.16). Raja’Ne Morris took second in the 200 (26.91). The 4×100 relay team (Scioneaux, Bianca Holmes, Ariel Scioneaux and Ayonte Thomas) took second place in the 4×100, improving their season best time by three seconds (50.79). Thomas finished second in the triple jump (31-3).
“We did really well,” said ESJ girls track and field coach Mark Creecy. “We had a number of people out with it being Easter weekend, but we had a good showing. “
Creecy has been pleased this season with the versatility of his Ladycats team. The Glen Oaks meet was a prime example as ESJ had high placements in sprinting, distance running and numerous field events.
“We’re able to put two athletes in each event,” said Creecy. “We just have a lot of depth on the team this year.”
The Wildcat boys and girls are set to compete at the Pelican Relays Friday at Southern University, an event that will feature teams not only from Louisiana but from outside the state as well.
Gathers said that the event’s placement at Southern provided a good platform to showcase the team’s athletes, including Stirgis and Albert, who have been garnering attention from the school.
Both Gathers and Creecy said they were looking for a strong performance this week.
“We’ll see a lot of the better teams in the state and others from out of state,” said Creecy. “We’ll be putting our best combinations out there for relays and looking to see how we stack up.”