Dec 15, 2020
Congratulations to Cadet Captain Idaneth Garcia-Rodriguez, who earned accolades as the Top Leadership, Education and Training Level III Cadet in East Baton Rouge Parish. Cadet Garcia competed against and was triumphant over five other Cadets from JROTC programs throughout the East Baton Rouge Parish School System. Even more exciting is that this is Cadet Garcia’s second consecutive year winning Cadet of the Year.
Cadet Captain Garcia and Col. (R) Keys.
Cadet Captain Garcia-Rodriguez is a junior at Woodlawn High School and in her third year in the Woodlawn JROTC Program. She has a cumulative 4.41 Grade Point Average, plays violin in the WHS Orchestra, and is a Company Commander in the JROTC program.
After high school, her plans are to attend Louisiana State University and either major in chemical engineering or pursue a law degree, with a minor in music. While her life’s goal is to become a chemist, working on alternative fuels, she has also been intrigued with law and may consider pursuing a law degree.
Col. (R) Keys, Woodlawn High’s JROTC III & IV instructor, has nothing but praise for Cadet Captain Garcia.
“What an awesome accomplishment by Cadet Captain Garcia, especially to win the Cadet of the Year, two years running. Cadet Garcia is the type Cadet that any program would be proud to have. She’s bright, energetic, and willing to put in the hard work to be successful. We are extremely proud of her.”
Dec 14, 2020
A year removed from a final regular season record of 15-5-1 and a semifinal berth, the Panther soccer team is looking to return to its perineal playoff contender status. The Panthers suffered through a 5-13-1 record during the 2019-2020 season, but look to bounce back during the 2020-2021 season.
Head Coach Orlando Cervantes may be new to high school soccer in Louisiana, but he is not new to the sport of soccer. Coach Cervantes is an experienced coach who has worked with youth, college and professional soccer players throughout his career. Throughout his career, he has coached multiple NCAA and NAIA All-Americans, MLS players, Women’s Professional Soccer players and United States National Team players.
“Because this is my first time coaching in Louisiana high school soccer, I am excited to get the season started and I am looking forward to all of our district games. This is a tremendous group of kids that are hard-working and willing to learn. We had a late start to the season so are behind all other schools. I feel this team is beginning to come together and will continue to as the season progresses.”
A solid core group of returning players leads the way for Woodlawn this year. Seniors Rui-James Pereira and Hamza Saad will team up with Sophomores Cody Stevens, Wilson Ventura Lopez, and Aiden Skillman to provide experience to the Panthers.
Mix that experience with Freshmen newcomers Nelson Reyes, Oscar Paloblanco, Santiago Garcia and Junior transfer Joao De Sousa Oliveira, and the Panthers plan to be a force to reckon with in 2020-2021.
Along with expected success in the varsity program, Coach Cervantes understands the importance of growing the JV program to build for the future.
“We would like to increase the number of athletes participating in soccer and create a strong JV program.”
Student-athletes interested in joining the soccer program can reach out to Coach Cervantes at [email protected].
Dec 14, 2020
Coach Tim Spruill is an optimistic guy. He likes to see the bright side of things, his glass is always half full, and good things happen to him because of his positivity.
However, going into his second year as the Head Coach of the Panther Cross Country team, he knew that the year would be difficult. That did not mean that he didn’t find positives to take away from the season.
Junior Carson Sprunk consistently led the Panthers in times this season.
“Because of restrictions due to COVID-19, we were forced to go to a bunch of meets we normally would not have considered. Instead of being a negative, it was a total win for the team. We got to compete against different schools than normal and got to see a lot of different courses instead of the same course over and over again. Next year, even if all the restrictions are lifted, we will probably do most of these meets again. If nothing else, they were fun and we were competitive. That is what it is all about!”
Spruill considered this season a complete success, despite missing the State Meet.
“We had a full schedule and despite losing members due to 2020 being weird, we competed just as hard and performed and placed consistently higher than the year before. Growth under such circumstances makes me wonder how much we could have achieved in a more normal year. This counts as a win for us!”
The Panthers were led by two student-athletes who will return in 2021. Junior Carson Sprunk was consistently the fastest boy runner for the Panthers. When Carson wasn’t busy hitting the running trails, he was busy maintaining his 4.1 GPA.
The Lady Panthers were paced by Junior Carolina Alvarado. Not to be outdone by Carson, Carolina carries a 4.4 GPA and is a returning All-District player for the Lady Panther Soccer team.
“Carson and Carolina are the epitome of student-athletes. They come to compete day in and day out, and do not let their grades fall at all in the process,” said Spruill. “Both of them will be in contention to break the school records next year, as they were within a minute this year.”
Coach Spruill and the Panthers are already looking forward to next season.
“We have already started conditioning for next season. Many of our veteran athletes are doing other sports at the moment, but at the same time we have a number of rookies who are getting their feet muddy for the first time. Despite the pandemic, we are looking to increase the size and speed of the team for next year. The team is preparing to break school and personal records in the first meet of the next season.”
“Our main goal for the coming season and all future seasons is to get back to the state meet. Class 4A does not require you to qualify for the state meet, however Class 5A requires qualification. We have not been to state since the school reclassified to 5A. But our growth and conditioning plan moves us closer to making it every week.”
As would be expected, Coach Spruill puts his positive spin on even the most grueling of sports.
“Cross country runners are a strange group of people. They consistently come out and dedicate themselves to the most miserable, painful, terrible sport our school has to offer. When they get good at it, somehow they enjoy it. Their strength of character sets a standard we should all strive for. Three miles at a time, they show us how to be the best we can be. I am proud to coach this team and hope I get the privilege to continue coaching them for many years to come.”
Dec 14, 2020
Carolina Alvarado returns as an All-District perfomer.
The Lady Panther Soccer team reached heights over the past two seasons that have not been seen in the program for many years. However, the Lady Panther knew that success would be difficult to duplicate after the losses the program has seen going into the 2020-2021 season. With half of their season behind them, the Lady Panthers are looking to find their stride in the second half of the season.
Gone from the past two seasons are Head Coach Chris Hampton. Scarlet Martinez, the two-time Division II, District IV MVP, has graduated. Five other All-District players are no longer with the Lady Panthers.
New Head Coach Luis Mendoza brings a wealth of coaching experience to the program. Coach Mendoza will look to Senior Goalkeeper Julyana Espinal to step up and replace graduating All-District Goalkeeper Tionna Hodges. Returning Juniors Seema Kawji and Carolina Alvarado were both All-District players last season. The three returning players will try to lead the Lady Panthers through their difficult schedule in the second half of the season.
Coach Mendoza will also look for three Sophomores to make significant improvements to their game in order to contribute to the Lady Panthers season. Emma Carter, Layla Shelton, and Marie Sierra will have to grow up quickly on the pitch this season.
All-District Goalkeeper Tionna Hodges is being replaced by Julyana Espinal.
The Lady Panthers have three home games left. Woodlawn is scheduled to host Brusly (December 18, 2020), De La Salle (January 11, 2021), and Livonia (January 25, 2021). The Lady Panthers will travel for both of their District matchups. They will travel to Plaquemine on January 19 for a rematch of their season opening match, in which the Lady Panthers defeated the Lady Green Devils by the score of 8-0.
The Lady Panthers will travel to Liberty on January 21. That match is set for a 3:30 pm kickoff and will likely determine the District Champion.
Dec 11, 2020
Football coaches know their teams will face adversity. They often stress that how players handle adversity on the field can be the deciding outcome in a contest. Second-year Head Coach Marcus Randall knew that this season would bring more off the field adversity to his program than normal.
Senior Lanard Harris breaks a tackle against Carroll.
After the LHSAA delayed the start of football season by over a month, the Panthers had a strong showing against Denham Springs High School in their fall scrimmage. However, the success was short lived, as their season was paused one day before their scheduled regular season opener.
“We received news on Thursday before we were set to play that we would be on a two week quarantine. The team stayed motivated, our coaches met with our players virtually, and the guys were eager to get the season started,” said Randall.
After the Panthers were shut down for that two week period, the coaching staff felt that they needed to play a game before entering play in District 5-5A. The Panthers were able to schedule Carroll High school, and had one day of practice before playing on Saturday afternoon.
This prepared the Panthers for their district opening contest against Dutchtown High, a team they had not beaten since 2005. Woodlawn was able to fight back from a half-time deficit, and rallied in the fourth quarter for a 26-24 victory.
The next week brought the St. Amant Gators to Baton Rouge. The Panthers hit their stride in the second half of the game, scoring 41 unanswered points. The final score, 48-13, put District 5-5A on notice.
Once again, the success was short lived. While preparing for East Ascension, Coach Randall and the Panthers were told on Wednesday that the season would be paused yet again. This meant that the games versus East Ascension and Catholic would be cancelled.
Sophomore Defensive Back Dawaun Harris.
“Wins over our first two district opponents were our biggest on the field achievements. Those wins were able to set us up for a big district championship showdown with Catholic High for the District Championship. We were in a great contest with the Bears, and we were edged out by a touchdown.”
The loss dropped the Panthers to the 15th seed in the LHSAA 5A playoffs. Woodlawn hosted 18th seeded East St. John on a rainy night on a terribly sloppy field. The Panthers lost a heart breaker in double overtime by the score of 35-28.
The 2020 shortened season ended with a 2-3 record for the Panthers. However, the groundwork for success was laid by the Panthers.
“Going into next season, we plan on using this off-season to get better all-around as a team. We are going to take the gains we got this season, along with the things we need to improve on, and come back next season bigger and better. We have 9 of the 11 starters on offense returning and 6 of 11 defensive players returning. We also have a lot of returning players that gained some valuable playing experience this season.”
The Panthers were led this season offensively by Sophomore Quarterback Rickie Collins, who threw for over 1400 yards in 5 games. Rickie broke the Woodlawn High record for passing yards in a single game with 465 yards. Wide Receivers Clayton Adams, Jaylen Henry, and Kyle Jones all caught multiple balls and multiple touchdowns this season. Running Back Amani Givens, along with Jayveon Haynes and Caleb Morgan, carried the load for us in the run game behind a strong Offensive Line that will return three starters.
Defensively, Woodlawn was led by a host of Panthers. Senior Linebackers Lanard Harris and Aaron Gooden, along with Junior Linebacker Mason Watson, stood out as production leaders for the Panthers defense this year.
Coach Randall summed up the Panther football season by saying, “Due to the loving brotherhood that is being formed with a great group of coaches and players, I would like to just express the love and joy I get when coming to school, practice, games, workouts, etc. We are building something special!”
