Locals shine in Sugar Bowl track

Track and field athletes from the New Orleans area may have taken a back seat to schools from other southeast U.S. cities, but a few area stars rose to the occasion in the March 21-22 Allstate Sugar Bowl Classic meet at Tad Gormley Stadium.      

Oak Ridge High of Conroe, Texas, won the boys’ division, while Whitehaven, Tenn., was the highest-scoring girls’ team.

One of the top individual honors went to St. Paul’s senior distance specialist Zachary Albright, who set a record in the 1,600-meter run of 4:12.65.
Albright, who will take his talents to Princeton next fall, broke the 2001 record (4:14.77) set by another St. Paul’s miler, Pat Garin.

Albright’s victory was one of five gold medals won by athletes from Archdiocese of New Orleans schools.

Albright’s teammate, Don Lipani, won the 3,200-meter run in 9:37.15; St. Mary’s Academy senior Keterra Harris was victorious in the girls’ 400-meter dash, winning in 57.66, and improving upon a qualifying run of 1:00.01 in which she finished in fifth place. And local Catholic schools also captured gold in two relay events.

After finishing second to local rival Edna Karr in the 800-meter relay, St. Augustine blew past the Cougars’ exchange team to win the 400-meter relay in the time of 42.15. And St. Paul’s, which finished fourth overall in the boys’ standings, again won the 3,200-meter relay in 8:05.15.

The Wolves hold the meet record of 7:57.57, set in 2012 when Albright was a junior.

Fifteenth-place St. Scholastica had the best finish among local Catholic entries. The Doves had an outstanding performance from Samantha Zelden, whose javelin throw of 145-6 placed second to Ruston’s defending champion Kristen Clark (146-1).

Madison McDaniel of SSA placed third in the 800-meter run in 2:18.74.

Three of the city’s top female sprinters faced off in the marquee event, the 100-meter dash: the unbeaten McDonogh 35 senior Marcquita Stalbert; McMain’s Aleia Hobbs; and recent Ole Miss signee, Shannon Ray of St. Katharine Drexel Prep. As the three took their places among
the nine finalists, the crowd stood.

In a “photo finish,” Hobbs edged Stalbert and Ray with a finishing time of 11.58. Stalbert, who lost that event for the first time in four years, ran an 11.76, and Ray finished in 11.77. Hobbs was named the Outstanding Track Athlete for her sprint performances.

Ray also finished third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.64, then ran a leg on the Drexel’s 400-meter relay team, which scored one point.

Stalbert, whose streak of eight sprint victories at this meet since her freshman year came to an end, had a greater disappointment in the 400-meter dash when she pulled up with an injury in the final turn, which Harris then easily won.

Mount Carmel, which finished 19th among the select field, took third in the 1,600-meter relay. Pole vaulter Lauren Tosch got another third with an 11-foot vault.