Sacred Heart wins Divison II indoor title

By Ron Brocato, Sports, Clarion Herald

Spring is in the air for a pair of Academy of the Sacred Heart track and field standouts. And senior Claire Moreau and junior Mary Nusloch are already making their presence known in Baton Rouge.

The two accounted for the bulk of 53 points that enabled the Cardinals to win their first Division II LHSAA Indoor Track and Field Championship at LSU on Feb. 17.

Nusloch, the reigning Class 3A girls’ champion in the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs, added two more individual titles to her collection by finishing first in the 800- and 1,600-meter events at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse.

Nusloch’s times were 2:24.54 and 5:13.16, respectively.

As a sophomore last May, Nusloch scored 30 points in the state outdoor championship meet. Sacred Heart finished fifth in team points, and Nusloch was named the Class 3A Most Outstanding Athlete.

Teammate, Moreau, who bypassed her senior year as a center on the Cardinals’ basketball team to concentrate on track and field, outleaped fellow Cardinal Sara Spinosa to win the high jump competition with a winning height of 5-3.

Moreau, who scored points in three field events at the 2017 outdoor championships, is once again expected to compete in the javelin and discus throws. Those events were not part of the indoor schedule.

New Orleans Catholic schools produced another winner in Brother Martin’s distance specialist Hunter Applewhite.

The third-place finisher in the Class 5A state cross country championship meet came home first in the 3,200-meter run in the time of 9:40.67. Applewhite’s nearest competition, Will Dart of Airline, finished a distant 9:56.19.

The Louisiana High School Athletic Association does not sanction a 4-by-800-meter run in outdoor events, but if it did, St. Paul’s would be a dominating factor.

The Wolves won that event in the time of 8:24.31.

St. Katharine Drexel Prep won the girls’ Division II 4-by-400-meter relay in 4:15.67.

Cydni Samuel was another Yellowjacket to score points by finishing second in the girls’ Division II long jump. Drexel Prep finished fifth with 28 points.

Molly McHale’s third-place finish in the girls’ Division I 1,600-meter run was instrumental in St. Scholastica’s eight-point total. Archbishop Chapelle scored six points.

In team scoring, Brother Martin and St. Paul’s scored 12 points, St. Augustine totaled 10 points, Archbishop Rummel had four and Holy Cross 2 points in boys’ Division I events.