Ten local Catholic schools win class/division titles

By Ron Brocato
Clarion Herald



The 2021-22 school year was a banner nine months for 10 schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans and scores of their athletes.

Competing in 18 sports sanctioned by the Louisiana High School Athletic Association, schools within the archdiocese claimed 17 class or division championships and 14 runners-up trophies this year.

The most successful teams came from Archbishop Hannan, Jesuit and Pope John Paul II.

Hannan collected the Division III championships in volleyball, boys’ basketball and softball. And the Hawks added a runner-up trophy in girls’ soccer.

Hannan’s volleyball team, under coach Bekka Bonnaffee, completed a successful campaign by sweeping E.D. White in three sets.

The arrival of Errol Gauff as the head boys’ basketball coach signaled a new era in that sport for the Hawks. Playing a highly competitive schedule, Gauff’s boys’ squad surprised Liberty High of Baton Rouge, 81-60 in the D-II finals.

And the Lady Hawks’ softball team, coached by veteran Becky Lambert, defeated Haynes Academy, 3-0, for the  D-II title.

Jesuit gained championship hardware in boys’ swimming and cross country.

The 3-mile runners, most of whom are freshmen and sophomores, were especially impressive in routing a field of older opponents.

In addition to those championships, the Blue Jays were runners-up in Division I football and wrestling, barely losing to Catholic High, 14-10, at Yulman Stadium before finishing as the Division I runner-up to Catholic League  nemesis Brother Martin on the D-I wrestling mat.

Equally impressive was Pope John Paul II taking home the Division IV boys’ swimming and powerlifting championship hardware and runner-up plaques in boys’ soccer and girls’ powerlifting, a sport in which the Jaguars have dominated for more than a decade.

Dominican and St. Charles Catholic teams had successful seasons in three sports.

Dominican repeated as the Division I state volleyball champion and raised the championship trophy as the Division I girls’ soccer champion.

Coach Jessica Chatallier’s forces outgunned and outlasted St. Joseph’s Academy  in five grueling sets, 3-2.

Dominican was also the D-I runner-up at the state swimming meet.

St. Charles Catholic is the proud recipient of two championship trophies, won under the guidance of a young coach who took over the program from his retired uncle, the legendary Frank Monica.

Wayne Stein, a running back on the school’s 1997 football team, replaced Monica as the head football coach over the summer.

In his first season, Stein led the No. 3 seed Comets to the Division III state championship by beating No. 1 Lafayette Christian, 32-27.

As an encore, Stein coached the school’s baseball team to a  2-0 victory over another No. 1 seed, St. Thomas Aquinas, at Southeastern Louisiana University in May, giving him coach of the year honors in two sports.

St. Charles Catholic’s softball team, mentored by Ty Monica, was the Division III runner-up.

Also winning multiple state titles was Brother Martin, whose wrestlers continued their dominance in Division I. The Crusaders also repeated as the state bowling champiion by overcoming a nearly insurmountable deficit to defeat Catholic High. The championship marked the fourth consecutive for the Crusaders.

Also claiming state championships were Academy of the Sacred Heart’s soccer team, St.  Scholastica’s swimmers, Ursuline Academy’s golf team and Holy Cross’ swim team.

St. Paul’s added runners-up trophies during the school year in boys’ powerlifting and tennis.

De La Salle was runner-up in Division III wrestling, and Mount Carmel received the runner-up plaque in Division I tennis.

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2022 State champions/runners-up

BOYS’ CROSS COUNTRY
Jesuit, Class 5A champion

GIRLS’ CROSS COUNTRY
Sacred Heart Academy,
Class 3A runner-up

VOLLEYBALL
Dominican, Division I champion
Archbishop Hannan, Division III champion

BOYS’ SWIMMING
Jesuit, Division I champion
Holy Cross, Division II champion
Pope John Paul II, Division IV champion

GIRLS’ SWIMMING
Dominican, Division I runner-up
St. Scholastica, Division II champion

FOOTBALL
St. Charles Catholic, Division III champion
Jesuit, Division I runner-up

WRESTLING
Brother Martin, Division I champion
Jesuit, Division I runner-up
Archbishop Shaw, Division II runner-up
De La Salle, Division III runner-up

BOYS’ BASKETBALL
Archbishop Hannan, Division II champion

BOYS’ SOCCER
Pope John Paul II, Division IV runner-up

GIRLS’ SOCCER
Dominican, Division I champion
Archbishop Hannan, Division III runner-up
Sacred Heart Academy, Division IV champion

BOYS’ POWERLIFTING
St. Paul’s, Division I runner-up
Pope John Paul II, Division IV champion

GIRLS’ POWERLIFTING
Pope John Paul II, Division IV runner-up

BOYS’ BOWLING
Brother Martin, state champion

SOFTBALL
Archbishop Hannan, Division II champion
St. Charles Catholic, Division III runner-up

BASEBALL
St. Charles Catholic, Division III champion

GIRLS’ GOLF
Ursuline Academy, Division II champion

BOYS’ TENNIS
St. Paul’s, Division I runner-up

GIRLS’ TENNIS
Mount Carmel, Division I runner-up
Sacred Heart Academy, Division III runner-up