By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
Alexandria Senior High remained unbeaten during the outdoor track season as the Trojans and Lady Trojans swept their fourth straight meet by winning Ruston’s Hoss Garrett Relays on Thursday.
The Lady Trojans racked up 129.5 points to easily outpace the host school for the girls team title, while the Trojans scored 105 points to finish more than 20 points ahead of runner-up Tioga.
ASH had two MileSplit elite performances at the meet. Hunter Rivet won the discus with a throw of 161 feet, 6 inches as the top individual performance for the Trojans, while Raegan Malone outdueled Ruston’s Parker Nations in the 1,600 meters, winning by 1.65 seconds in a time of 5:12.01.
Menard’s A’Shyria Burns (100 meters, 12.22) and Cami Harrison (pole vault, 11-0) also turned in elite performances on the girls’ side, while Tioga’s Max Kadrmas ran 39.22 to finish second in the 300-meter hurdles. Kadrmas also finished second in the 110 hurdles (15.41).
ASH senior Jeremiah Jeffers-Wright (48-1) and Rivet (46-10) finished 1-2 in the boys shot put, while sophomore Omar Isa (1:58.17) edged Pineville senior Justin Descant (1:58.54) to win the boys 800 meters.
ASH seniors Jakyra Edwards (25.28) and Brea Woods (34-8) won the girls 200 meters and shot put, respectively, while the Lady Trojans swept all four relay races.
Tioga senior Jacorian Norris (44-2) won the boys long jump ahead of ASH junior Marquis Butler (43-9).
Burns and Harrison finished first and third for Menard in the 100-meter hurdles and triple jump as they combined to score 52 points for the third-place Lady Eagles.
WARDEN SHINES IN FIRST START: LSU-Alexandria signee Matt Warden gave up just two hits in nine shutout innings in the first start of his career Saturday as Pineville snapped an eight-game losing streak and swept a doubleheader against Ruston.
A senior catcher/outfielder, Warden had not pitched in three weeks and had been limited to being a designated hitter after breaking his left thumb while catching, but he showed no signs of rust in his return to the mound.
Warden, who had made four relief appearances before Saturday’s start, ended up with a no-decision as the Rebels won 1-0 on a 10th-inning walk-off single by Aiden Ordner that scored Cohen Hardy from second. Decker Smith, who had two of the Rebels’ five hits in the game, earned the win with one scoreless inning of relief.
The Rebels (3-14) won the first game of the doubleheader 3-2 in nine innings on a walk-off wild pitch as Hardy scored from third base in the bottom of the ninth. Sophomore Garrett Jackson tossed four scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win.
LADY EAGLES’ STREAK HITS EIGHT: The Menard Lady Eagles went 3-0 last week and ran their winning streak to eight games with a District 4-2A win over Oakdale and a Saturday home sweep of Oak Hill and Anacoco to improve to 12-10 on the season.
Sophomore Kaylee Methvin has gone 7-0 in the circle during the winning streak, starting six of the eight games. Methvin, senior shortstop Emily DeSelle, junior third baseman Sophie Giordano and eighth-grade catcher Kate Perrotti have all homered during the streak.
DeSelle leads the Lady Eagles with five home runs on the season, while Giordano has three.
With just over two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Lady Eagles have eight games left on the schedule, beginning with a home showdown against Buckeye on Monday, as they try to climb higher than their current No. 7 spot in the Division III Select power ratings.
SOFTBALL STANDINGS SHAPING UP: While Buckeye (15-6) already wrapped up the District 2-3A softball title, other district races are coming into a clearer picture.
Menard is undefeated at 4-0 in District 4-2A with a one-game lead over Rosepine and Oakdale and a win over each. The Lady Eagles play both again next week.
Tioga (16-5) lost its District 2-4A game against Grant, 15-8, and sits in second place, one game behind the Lady Cougars. They finish district play at home Tuesday against Franklin Parish, while Grant needs to beat Peabody on Tuesday to wrap up the district title.
ASH (13-12) is 4-2 in District 2-5A, in second place, two games behind West Ouachita. Pineville (13-11) picked up its first district win over West Monroe last week, but at 1-5 has been eliminated from contention for the district title.
Grace Christian (15-4) is unbeaten in District 5-B at 4-0, winning those games by a combined score of 52-1. In 18 starts this season, junior pitcher Rylee Guillot has compiled an 11-4 record with a 1.41 ERA and 134 strikeouts in 84 ⅓ innings.
The Lady Warriors saw their 10-game winning streak snapped by a 2-0 loss to Pineville on Saturday.