Garriet reaches 5 feet in high jump
Westlake’s Jordyn Garriet wins high jump during the Rotary Ram Relays at Westlake High School in Westlake, La., Thursday, April 12, 2018. (Rick Hickman/Lake Charles American Press)
WESTLAKE — Several impressive individual performances highlighted the Rotary Ram Relays on Thursday at Westlake High School.
Westlake sophomore Jordyn Garriet won the high jump by 6 inches with a state-leading jump of 5 feet, 8 inches.
She topped out at 5-0 last year and struggled early this season to clear 4-10 before hitting 5-8 for the first time three weeks ago at the St. Louis Taussig Relays.
“I have been working really hard and come out here every single day for about an hour and a half and even on weekends,” Garriet said. “I was very surprised because the first part of the year I was jumping 4-10 and 4-8 and just came out here and jumped. I feel a lot better after matching it again.”
Garriet entered the competition at 5 feet and didn’t miss through 5-8. She tried for a personal best, but missed three attempts at 5-10.
Garriet is one of four girls in the state to clear 5-8 this season, joining Edna Karr’s Alacia Myles, West St. John’s Jilynn Russell and Benton’s Taylor Davis.
Barbe’s Jordan McGee and Westlake Xavier Goodly moved the bar up in Southwest Louisiana in the long and triple jumps.
McGee’s winning jump of 21-11 ½ in the long jump moved him to the top of the area standings after improving by 6 inches over his previous best.
In the triple jump, Goodly, the area’s leader, broke 44 feet for the first time with a winning mark of 44-3. Goodly took second in the long jump to finish with 18 points and win outstanding field honors.
Sam Houston freshman Halyn Senegal continued her dominance in the 400-meter dash, winning with a time of 57.89 seconds, 2 seconds over the rest of the field. She also won the 200 (26.54) and led Sam Houston to a win in the 4×400 relay (4:13.13).
St. Louis Catholic senior Eli Gaughan, the area’s top javelin thrower, hit 185-9½ to win by more than 22 feet.
Barbe’s Gabe Socha nearly pulled another trifecta in the sprints. He won the 100 (11.24) and won 400 (50.58). He placed second in the 200 (23.10) behind St. Louis senior J’Kalo Bass (22.59), but led the Bucs to a win in the 4×400 to earn outstanding track honors with 30.5 points.
Barbe had the top three point earners — Socha (30.5), Jarden James (22) and Darris Wallace (22.5) — to run away with the boys team title with 173 points to Sulphur’s 112.
Breanna Verdine won the triple jump (34-4¼), was second in the high jump (5-2) to win outstanding field honors and led Sulphur to the girls team title with 149 points while Barbe was second with 111.5.
Sulphur’s Jalisa Bridges moved up to No. 2 in the area shot put standings with a winning throw of 36-6 ½, beating out area leader Elizabeth Rubino (36- 0½) of Barbe by 3 inches.