Scotlandville jumps standout Ferzell Shepard had quite a night for the Hornets, leaping a personal/national best in one event and posting a personal record in another on Friday.
Shepard not only reached his targeted goal, he surpassed it by leaping 51 feet, 5 inches on his first attempt in the triple jump at the Brother Martin Invitational at Tad Gormley Stadium.
“We projected this going back to the end of the last outdoor season,” Scotlandville coach Allen Whitaker said. “We knew he was capable of going 50 feet every time he stepped on the track. … He just had not done it until Friday.
“Ferzell has worked hard to improve his body positioning and overall technique and it has paid off.”
The triple jump was not Shepard’s only PR. He jumped 24-7 3/4 in the long jump. Whitaker said he fouled by a “toenail” on another good jump. Whitaker asked meet officials to measure it and was told it was 25-8. The state triple jump record 51-8 3/4 was set by Tara's Kenny Hall in 2004.
In addition to the jumps, Shepard also competed on the 4x200 and 4x100 relays. The plan this week is to have Shepard run those relays at Catholic’s Grizzly Relays on Wednesday. Whitaker said Shepard will do both jumps at Scotlandville’s final home meet on Friday.
Whitaker said Shepard remains unsigned after decommitting from Mississippi State in football earlier this year.
LHSAA pairings aplenty
If you love watching playoff brackets drop, this is your kind of week.
LHSAA baseball pairings are set to be announced Tuesday. Softball pairings will then be announced on Wednesday.
Live Oak (Division I nonselect), Brusly (Division II nonselect), Catholic (Division I select), Parkview Baptist (Division III select) and Family Christian (Class C) were seeded No. 1 before Monday’s final regular-season baseball games were factored in.
Grizzly Relays
Catholic High’s annual Grizzly Relays is set to feature 1,200 entries on Wednesday.
Field events begin at 3:30 p.m. The 4x800-meter relay is set for 4 p.m., followed by other running events at 5:30 p.m.
Warriors win title
St. Michael baseball edged Brusly 4-3 and then ousted West Feliciana 10-0 to win the District 6-4A title over the weekend.
Leadoff hitter John Martinez was 4 for 4 in the win over Brusly. Luke Averette pitched a five-inning shutout for the Warriors in the win over West Feliciana.
Tensas drops football
By a 3-2 vote, the Tensas Parish School Board voted to drop football at Tensas High, citing declining enrollment figures last week.
The northeast Louisiana Parish will become the only one that does not field a 11-man football high school team this fall. School officials said the Panthers will continue to play girls and boys basketball and announced plans to add track and field for the 2025-26 school year.
