"They told us we were going to finish in the top 10, but then I saw our coach crying," sophomore Lauren Broussard said. "I asked her what was going on and she was like, ‘We finished fourth!’"

Fourth place out of 31 in Class 5A. Fourth place for a team that barely cracked the top 20 the year before at No. 17.

"It was a surprise, and exciting and amazing all at the same time," LHS coach Kelly LaMaison said. "I was hoping for the top eight, but top five is just so awesome."

The boys finished highest out of the Acadiana schools in seventh place, two spots above St. Thomas More, which finished ninth behind a top 10 performance from Adam Saloom.

"Our coach told us that our best bet would be to just keep passing," said LHS senior Jordan Levers, who finished 21st. "So that’s what we did. We just picked a person in front of us and kept after them. We weren’t worried about times, we just kept up with everyone else."

Levers said the weather was a little warm, but that overall, the course was a fast track.

"It was mostly flat and I finished with an average day," Levers said. "This was my last race so I just went out and gave it all I got."

For Broussard, strategy came into play.

"When the race started, there were 300 people all bunched together," Broussard said. "If you get stuck in the middle of that, you aren’t going to be able to do much. I moved to the outside and was able to avoid most of the clumps of people. Plus, this was the last race of the season, so I just left it all out there."

Other area teams fairing well were the Beau Chene boys, who finished second in their division. Teurlings girls finished eighth. Erath boys finished 10th.

AN Footnote:  Kelly LaMaison is a former UL track performer and her profile is posted on the AN.