Ascension Athletics for March 23, 2017 – The Advocate

Ascension Catholic girls earn three-peat at LHSAA Powerlifting Meet

The Ascension Catholic girls powerlifting team came away with its third consecutive state title at the University of Louisiana at Monroe on Friday. The boys team performed its best since 1992 by taking third place and finishing in the top three in Division V.

The finish was great for the girls and satisfying for the boys. Obviously, we've built something special with our girls, winning our third in a row, and it made it even better since it was in a dominating fashion with us scoring 64 points and next closest being 37 points, head coach Joe Ryan said. Our boys finally got over the hump and we were able to place in the top three, which hasn't been done here since 1992.

Ascension Catholics winning total was 64.8 points. In second place was the team from Delhi with 37 points. The Ascension Christian girls competed, as well, and finished tied for eighth place with 5 points.

In the 105-pound class, Hannah Settoon, of Ascension Catholic, took first place with lifts of 220-95-240 for a 555-pound total. In the 114-pound class, Mallory Cavalier placed first for the Bulldogs with 195-75-275-545. Lauren Landry took second in that weight class for Ascension Catholic with 190-100-230-520.

In the 123-pound class, Micahlyn Daigle and Paige Joseph took first and second for Ascension Catholic. Daigle lifted 300-120-265 for 685 while Joseph lifted 255-105-270 for a 630-pound total. In the 132-pound class, Ceily Grisaffe took first place for Ascension Catholic and Jordan Bergeron finished third for the Ascension Christian Lions.

In the 148-pound class, Camille Lemann and Isabelle Abadie delivered another knockout punch with a one-two finish. Lemann lifted 265-110-275 for a 650-pound total and Abadie hoisted 225-130-270 for a 625-pound total. In the 165-pound class, Elizabeth Latino took yet another first for the Bulldogs with lifts of 300-150-300 for a 750-pound total and Kenshell Davis rounded out the first-place finishes in the 198-pound class with lifts of 315-165-315 and a 795-pound total.

The Most Outstanding Lifter in the competition in the 97-pound to 148-pound class was Daigle, of Ascension Catholic, and in the 165-pound to super heavyweight class was Latino, of Ascension Catholic.

The Ascension Catholic boys team finished third place with 30 points and the Ascension Christian boys finished 11th with 4 points. In the 132-pound class, Nick Milano took first place for the Bulldogs with lifts of 355-230-340 for a 925-pound total. In the 220-pound class, Ashton Bourgeois lifted for 415-295-465 and a 1,175-pound total for third place. John Broussard took second place for the Bulldogs in the 148-pound class with 350-210-445-1,005.

In the 198-pound division, Robert Lemann took first for Ascension Catholic with lifts of 390-210-460 for 1,060 pounds. In the 220-pound class, third place went to Bourgeois, of Ascension Catholic, with 415-295-465-1,175. In the 275-pound class, Jon Arceneaux, of the Ascension Christian Lions, finished third with lifts of 480-235-420 for a 1,135-pound total. Milano at 132 pounds broke his own meet record with a bench press of 230 pounds.

This was the crowning achievement in Ryans young coaching career as he left his assignment at Ascension Catholic for Denham Springs High but was allowed to finish coaching the Bulldog powerlifting team.

It was very bittersweet but also very hard when it was all over, Ryan said. One of the hardest things I had to do in my coaching career was talk to the kids after the meet and basically tell them goodbye as their coach. It was a solid 2 minutes just looking at them before I could even get my first word out, and I can't lie, I let some tears flow and saw some kids cry that I never thought would cry and that's what matters to me at the end of the day, that we all had such a good relationship and that I was blessed with the opportunity to coach them. They taught me as much as a coach and person that I taught them as student athlete.

The St. Amant Gator girls opened up District 5-5A play with a convincing win over St. Josephs with a 14-2 win. Head coach Amy Pitre is in her first year at the helm for St. Amant and her team is off to a great start with a 9-4, 1-0 record that includes winning seven of their last eight games.

The Lady Gators peppered the Patriots pitching staff for 15 hits in the 14-2 mercy-rule victory in five innings. Pitcher Alyssa Romano got the win for St. Amant allowing only four hits.

St. Amants left fielder Abby McKey led the hitting effort with a 4-for-4 night that included a home run and triple during the Gators fourth-inning barrage that led to eight runs coming across home place. Taylor Tidwell and McKey hit back-to-back home runs to ignite the fire in the Gator bats that inning. Tidwell went 2 for 3 on the night with 3 RBIs and a stolen base.

The Dutchtown girls track team dominated the competition, scoring 131 points for a first-place finish, in the Episcopal Relays last weekend. The Griffin boys took second place with 130 points. Finishes for Dutchtown were:

GIRLS TRACK: 200 meter, third, Brittany Lewis, 29.201; 600 meter, second, Tara Stuntz, 5:22.70; 3,200 meter, third, Tara Stuntz, 11:48; 100-meter hurdles, first, Nyah Williams, 16.48; 300-meter hurdles, second, Nyah Williams, 47.60; 4x100 relay, first, Dutchtown, 51.18; 4x200 relay, first, Dutchtown, 1:48.55; and 4x400 relay, first, Dutchtown, 4:18.21

GIRLS FIELD: pole vault, second, Carol Wells, 8-03; long jump, first, Leah Scott, 18-7.25; triple jump, first, Scott, 36-05.75; shot put, first, Victoria Irondi, 34-07; and discus, first, Mia Gaines, 108-02

BOYS TRACK: 100 meter, third, Charles Davis, 11.56; 200 meter, third, Leonard Smith, 23.70; 400 meter, first, Bryce Moore, 49.80; 800 meter, first, Parker McBride, 1:56.06; 110-meter hurdles, third, Noah Gray, 15.93; 300-meter hurdles, second, VanShon Grayson, 41.77; 4x100 relay, first, Dutchtown, 43.42; 4x200 relay, first, Dutchtown, 1:31.15; and 4x400 relay, second, Dutchtown, 3:32.91

BOYS FIELD: long jump, third, Jaylin Tran, 39-06; shot put, first, Kyle Sarrazin, 49-01.50; and discus, first, Jordan Zuppardo, 140-8

The East Ascension Spartan boys and girls teams competed at Zachary High in the Red Stick Classic. The boys finished in eighth place with 29 points. In the track events, LeShawn Simon finished third place in the 200 meters with a time of 23.13. In the 300-meter hurdles, third place went to Jalen Braggs with a time of 45.49.

The Spartan girls finished in ninth place with 15 points. In the field events, Ashlynn Donaldson took third place in the javelin with an 86-10 throw.

Last Sunday afternoon, my wife, Deborah, came out to the pier while I was cleaning catfish and suggested a quick jet ski ride. To be honest, that was the farthest thing from my mind and I wasnt really interested in making the ride. But this would be our first ride of the year, so off we went.

The weather was picture perfect except that the water is still really cold. Cruising the water is very relaxing for me and after a few minutes I was glad Deborah suggested the trip. Our first item on our menu was to look at Blind River Bar, as it was destroyed by fire and sure enough, nothing is left but metal that couldnt burn.

It was sunny and warm, so seeing a 10-foot alligator just down Blind River didnt surprise us too much. The water level was quite low after the north wind had been blowing which left lots of mud bank that would allow plenty of beach sunning for the gators, and they surely took advantage of their opportunity.

Not too much farther, we saw another 10-foot gator sunning itself, so we made looking for them a priority. We rode to out to Lake Maurepas before turning around and we saw more than 20 alligators sunning on the mud banks. It was a very pleasant surprise.

But alligators werent the only wildlife we got to view. On the way out to the lake, we spotted a pair of ospreys cruising the river looking for something to eat. On our way back, at the mouth of Little Chene Blanc there were two mature bald eagles flying around. One of them flew down and snatched a fish out of the water and landed in a big cypress tree to eat its lunch. What started out to be a trip that I wasnt too interested in turned out to be one of the best wildlife viewing adventures Ive ever experienced.

Im heading out for the Bassmaster Classic this weekend on Lake Conroe in Texas. Three Louisiana anglers will be fishing the event and two of them are from right here in Gonzales. Fourteen-year pro angler Greg Hackney and first-timer Ryan Lavigne will be competing to win the Super Bowl of bass fishing. Cliff Crochet, of Pierre Part, will be competing, as well.

Two other Ascension Angler high school anglers fished the High School Central Open on Toledo Bend on March 11 and qualified for the High School Bassmaster Championship. Dane Balfantz and Caleb Mayers, of St. Amant High School, weighed in five bass that hit the scales at 15 pounds, 13 ounces and finished in 15th place.

The pair will join Cade Fortenberry, of St. Amant High, and Brennan Edmond Paxton, of Dutchtown High, in the championship event.

Lyle Johnson covers sports for The Ascension Advocate. He can be contacted at reelman@eatel.net or ascension@theadvocate.com.

Originally posted here:

Ascension Athletics for March 23, 2017 - The Advocate