By Patrick Dowd ’23, Sports Editor

After strong performances at their district and regional meets, the Jesuit cross country team looked to continue their success at the Division 5A State Meet, ultimately falling just short of a state title.

At the district 9-5A meet, the Jays came out victorious with an almost perfect score of 18. In a cross country meet, each runner scores based on their finishing position, and the team with the lowest total scores of their first runners wins (the lowest possible score being 15, with a team’s runners in places 1-5). Jack DesRoches ’23 finished first overall, followed closely behind by Jack Wallace ’21. The top five was rounded off by Morgan Hebert ’22, Lucas Sampedro ’24, and Michael Vocke ’24. The team was triumphant over city rivals Brother Martin, Holy Cross, and Rummel.

In the following week’s regional meet, the team placed third, just trailing behind both Brother Martin and Holy Cross. The team was led by Stephen Peterman ’21, with Patrick Dowd ’23 finishing second for the team. Also scoring were Donovan Musser ’21, Chris Dehart ’21, and Patrick Garvey ’24.

The team looked to win the state meet in Natchitoches on Tuesday, November 17, but finished as state runners-up.

At the Division 5A State Cross Country Meet, the Jays placed second only behind Catholic High School of Baton Rouge. The Jays fought hard, but fell slightly short at the end. The Jays were once again led by Jack DesRoches ’23, who had a season best at a very difficult state course. He placed fourth overall at the meet. Next for the Jays was Jack Wallace ’21 who placed sixth overall at the meet. Rounding out the scoring runners were Lucas Sampedro ’24, Stephen Peterman ’21, and Morgan Hebert ’22. The final runners for Jesuit were Michael Vocke ’24 and Patrick Dowd ’23. This ends the Jays cross country season, and they looked ahead toward a successful track season in the spring.