By RYAN ARENA

L’observateur

BATON ROUGE – The West St. John boys boasted an individual state champion and a number of top three finishers at Thursday’s Class 1A state track and field meet at LSU. But the Rams fell short of their goal of winning their first ever state crown.

They stayed in contention for most of the day, but it would be Oak Grove’s time. Oak Grove scored 65 points to seize first place. The Rams finished fourth with a score of 48, behind Haynesville (58) and Southern Lab (52).

“I thank God for a great season,” said West St. John coach Martin Sylvain. “To be in this position, training without a home track … I’ve gotta thank our athletes for pushing through and making the commitment to travel every day.

“Of course, when you set a goal to win a championship and you know you’ve got the team to do it, and you fall short, it’s always going to be disappointing. But we had a tremendous year.”

On the girls’ side, the Lady Rams finished 24th.

In the Class 2A meet, Riverside’s Lady Rebels finished 10th overall, led by Shea LaFountain’s championship performance in the high jump. She took the state crown with a leap of 5-2. She also took third in the triple jump with a mark of 35-2.

The Rams’ Damon Scott finished his season with the state championship in the boys triple jump, winning the event with a leap of 46-0. He also finished third in the high jump with a mark of 6-0.

Corey Warmington captured second place in the 400 with a time of 50.28.

LaDarius Lewis was third in the 300 meter hurdles (40.84).

In the field, Blake Carter captured third in the shot put (47-7.5).

Sylvain said a pair of disqualifications in the regional left his team with a bit less firepower in the state meet.

“I knew we were in a little trouble there. We might have left about 16 points back at the regional,” he saiad.

For the Ram girls, Ambria Major and Kyla Morris notched the highest finishes.

Major took fifth in the triple jump with a mark of 35-3.5, while Morris was fifth in the shot put (31-1).