Oct 10, 2016
Ashley Martin ’17
Marking this weekend as cross country’s mid-season race, Woodlawn is pushing past their bounds for astounding times. Starting the morning strong, the girls set the bar high with four new personal records. Coming in first and second for Woodlawn with a close finish were Alexis Martin (22:37) and Melissa Grant (22:38; PR). Following were Aimee Martin (26:48; PR) and Kelli Oubre (27:15; PR), both of which are also competing in their first year of cross country. Finishing off the team’s female varsity race were Alexis Aucoin (30:41; PR) and Shelby Sanchez (31:16). These girls both exhibited the true meaning of teamwork with Shelby encouraging Alexis to meet a new personal record.
Woodlawn’s boys have also been working towards noteworthy finishes with two new personal records. Khidir Al-Mustafa (17:31), finished first for our team, steadily reaching for a new male personal record for the school, impressively motivating his peers to accomplish their goals. Soon after Khidir came Brandon Williams (18:52), portraying a fluidity that is seemingly natural which has furthered his abilities of strength and endurance. Finishing next were Marshall Bayles (19:15; PR) and Sauloman John (19:50) who are seen to be pushing each other in practices every day.
Rounding out the boys’ varsity race for Woodlawn were Joshua Stephens (20:22; PR) and Logan Fontenot (23:56). Joshua sprinted to the finish line with a smile on his face, as always, showing his inspiring motivation to continue to set new personal records.
Logan, bringing his heart into the race against all odds, finished with only 35 seconds separating him from a new personal record. Running for his late cousin Conner this season, Logan has dedicated himself and his season with cross country to Conner’s remembrance. Touching the hearts of all that watched this weekend, Logan has exhibited a strength that is admired and strived for by his teammates. From all of the cross country team and those that have continued to support Woodlawn as a whole, Logan has a strong family of people that will always have his back.
Bringing new talent onto the team this weekend was Itzel Vasquez (19:47; PR), Rayan Kaadan (22:19), and Carolyn Sprague (23:06; PR), competing in a two-mile open race. With continued hard work, these three girls show promising seasons. Running in the three-mile open race was Lillian Khemmanyvong (36:56), fighting the exhaustion of Woodlawn High School’s 2016/2017 Homecoming.
Next weekend, Woodlawn will be attending a meet in Walker, offering a much needed change in scenery.
Oct 3, 2016
It took until the fifth week of the season, but the Woodlawn cross country team finally got to run on a dry course, and the results were spectacular. Every Woodlawn competitor turned in their best time of the season. Twelve out of the eighteen that competed turned in career bests.
The boy’s squad turned in their best team performance of the year, averaging 19:04 over the three mile course as six runners went under 20 minutes. Khidhr Al-Mustafa turned in a season and team best 17:33. Brandon Williams finished in a time of 18:29. Junior Saulomon John was the third Panther across the line with a personal record of 19:34 and was closely followed by the trio of Coby Sanchez (19:34), Darmar Galvan (19:52) and Marshall Bayles (19:53), all of which were personal records.
The boys moved up ten places over their finish in the same meet last season and are really beginning to race and compete as a team.
Coach Wallace says the key to the team’s success is no secret. “It’s hard work, nothing but hard work. As the season has progressed the boys have really embraced our weekly workout plan and are competing with each other and pushing each other in practice. That makes us run faster in practice which makes us run faster in the meets. In other words, the faster you train, the faster you race.”
The girls’ team finished five places better than their finish in 2015. They were led by a season best 22:33 performance by junior Alexis Martin. Her time was the team’s best of the year and seemed to be just the motivation the rest of the squad needed as every girl on the team ran a season best at this meet.
Junior Melissa Grant was the second Lady Panther to finish in a personal record 23:51.
After the race Grant could not control her enthusiasm for the day and for the future as she echoed the sentiment of the entire team when she commented, “Coach, I want to work harder than I ever have this upcoming week and dominate the Highland Road course next Saturday.”
Grant’s excitement and work ethic, along with the leadership of Alexis Martin and team captain Shelby Sanchez, has been a great help to the girls’ team as they continue to improve from week to week.
Freshman Aimee Martin set another personal record of 28:10, as did sophomore Alexis Aucoin, who competed in her first varsity contest. Kelli Oubre and Rayan Kaadan both set personal records in the two mile JV race. Oubre is likely to see her first varsity action next Saturday.
In the boys JV race, freshman Tyler Lewis saw his first action of the season, finishing the two mile course in 16 minutes.
The boys and girls teams will return to Highland Road Park this Saturday for the Catholic High Invitational.
Sep 29, 2016
Yusra Chabayta ’18
The Lady Panthers volleyball team hosted “The Rumble in the Jungle” tournament on Friday, September 23rd at Woodlawn High School; matches started at 4:00pm, with new games beginning every 50 minutes until 8:10pm, when the last games of the night began. They continued playing matches on Saturday, September 24th, with games beginning at 8:00am. Bracket play began Saturday at 2:00 pm, with the Championship Game beginning at 7:20 pm. Games were played both days on three courts at Woodlawn High and another court at Woodlawn Middle.
Hannah Luker and Kennedi Barnes attempt a block during the Tara Tournament.
When asked before the tournament if the players were ready and excited about the tournament, Hannah Luker said, “Of course we are excited, but our tournaments are always a tough competition and allow us to challenge ourselves.”
Twenty-five teams from across Louisiana participated in the tournament. Each team was placed in a pool which contained five teams each. Teams played all of the teams in their pool and received points according to how many games they won. Once the pool games were over, the top fifteen teams from the five pools were seeded and bracket play began. The winner of The Rumble in the Jungle was determined by these games.
Woodlawn was placed in a pool with Byrd, Loranger, McDonogh 35, and St. James. The Lady Panthers finished their pool with a 3-1 record. Their first game versus Loranger was their only loss in pool play (23-25, 18-25). Woodlawn then defeated Byrd (25-22, 25-10), McDonogh 35 (25-3, 25-11), and St. James (25-18, 25-20). Winning three out of four games was enough to place Woodlawn High School as the second place team in their pool. The Lady Panthers were seeded seventh overall going into bracket play.
In bracket play, Woodlawn defeated West Feliciana in a hard fought contest by the score of 25-23 and 27-25, before falling in the second round to eventual tournament runner-up Ben Franklin. Fontainebleau High School finished the tournament with a perfect 7-0 record and walked away with the championship.
