Gold medals will be hard to come by

Seven athletes and one relay team from New Orleans Catholic schools won individual championships in the 2016 state track and field meet.
 
If the results of last week’s regional meets hold true for the May 4-6 championships at LSU’s Bernie Moore Stadium, that number will be reduced to three.
 
Three-time Class 5A distance champion Eric Coston of St. Paul’s returns as a senior to compete in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. His qualifying times of 4:17.91 and 9.21.85, respectively, are faster than his nearest competitors by several seconds.
 
A pair of athletes from the Academy of the Sacred Heart look to become first-time gold medalists in the girls’ Class 3A meet.
 
Like Coston, Mary Nusloch has the top qualifying time in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter events. Her time of 11:46.11 in the eight-lap event is 35 seconds faster than her nearest rival.
 
Teammate Claire Moreau has the longest throw of a javelin (123-2) in that field. The senior will also compete in the high jump, in which she finished second in 2016, and the discus throw.
 
Nusloch and Moreau could provide the Cardinals 41 or more team points.
 
Returning 400-meter champ, Jandon Briscoe of Jesuit, is the No. 3 qualifier in the boys’ Class 5A 200- and 400-meter dashes.

Another returning champion, Ursuline Academy’s Alysia Terry, is the No. 2 qualifier in the girls’ Class 4A triple jump. She will also compete in the 100-meter hurdles, an event she won last year, but had the sixth-fastest time in the regional meet.

Ursuline’s Kalee Jo Banks, (girls’ 4A pole vault) and Nadia Haik (1,600-meter run) will vie for spots on the medals’ podium in their specialties.

Holy Rosary’s Alex Lewis will resume his rivalry with Jehovah-Jireh’s Randy Carter in the Class C boys; 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. He upset Carter in the 2014 1,600-meter run as a sophomore.