By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

Several locals are on the fast track to compete at the top level of track and field in the state this weekend at LSU.

St. John Parish’s best bet for success looks to be a pair of sophomores from Riverside and St. Charles as Jesse LeBlanc has qualified for three different events while Reyna Lubin looks to better her eighth place finish in last year’s 400 meter race.

Riverside’s LeBlanc, who is coming off of the district meet where he took four first place finishes in the javelin, 800 meters, 1600 meters and 3200 meters. In last week’s regional meet, he took another first place for the mile and finished third in the javelin, 800 and 1600 meters. He makes his second trip to the state meet after finishing seventh in the 3200 meter race and just missing the top ten in the 1600.

Lubin, of St. Charles, qualified for the state tournament with a second place finish in the 2A regional meet. She was just two seconds off of first place finisher Samantha Farber of St. Martin’s.

Also making a splash locally in 2A region III is Lutcher’s Luther Ambrose. Ambrose took home first places in both the long jump and triple jump and finished second to Joe McKnight of John Curtis in the 100 meter dash.

On the girls side, Riverside is sending three students to the state meet this weekend. Sarah Levin, who finished second in the javelin in regionals, Marci Millet, who finished third in the javelin, and Maurie Laiche, who took took second in the 100 meters.

For 3A, Lutcher’s boys took second place overall for the regional meet last week behind a first place finishe by Jarron Jackson in the 400 meters and second places by Khymest Williams, in the 200, Fred Thomas, in the 400, and Chaddrick Adams in the 110 meter hurdles. Also qualifying for the state meet with third place finishes was Kyle Clark, in the shot put, Aston Williams, in the javelin, Adams, in the high jump, and Chris Luerson in the pole vault. The girls were led by Katie Duhe, who finished second in the javelin.

In large school competition, East St. John has two individuals set to compete for state honors as Shannon Grover edged into a second place finish in the 200 meters at the regional meet and Jamaan Kenner took home a third for the high jump. ESJ’s boys also qualified in each of the three relay events. For the girls, Darielle Sanders qualified for the state meet with a third place finish in the long jump.

Hahnville and Destrehan also will be represented well in the state meet as they have a pair of jumpers who took first in regionals. Marcus Campbell, of Hahnville, qualified for the triple jump with a leap of 6-3 and Tim Molten qualified for the long jump with a leap of 23-7.75.

Hahnville’s girls have a chance to do some damage since they’ve put eight individuals into the state meet after taking the overall team victory in regionals. Keira Davis took a pair of second places in the shot put, just behind first-place winner Rickia Preston, and in the discus. Also taking second places in the regional meet were Kayla Thomas, in the long jump, and TaNeisha Steib, in the 100 meter hurdles

West St. John and Reserve Christian round out the local qualifyers with six for the Rams and 14 for the Eagles. Neil Bernard was the top finisher for RCS’ boys team with a first place finish in the mile, a second in the 3200 meters and a third place in the 400. Ashley Wilking led the Lady Eagles in their regional meet with a pair of firsts in the long jump and the 100 meter hurdles to go with a third in the triple jump.

WSJ will be represented by Donald Brown, in the javelin, Blake Commini, in the discus, Terrance Nathan and Ramos Mitchell, in the 300 meter hurdles.