Bob Garrett is well known as a former Louisiana Tech quarterback. In Jonesboro his exploits on the football field are legendary. As well as he is known If you were to run into him these days in Ruston where he has been a coach and teacher at the Ruston Junior High School for nearly two decades the question would be…….
“Are you Lily’s father?”
That is because Lily, who runs Cross Country for Ruston High has become quite a phenomenon and as one of the elite runners not only north Louisiana but the entire state. Only a sophomore at Ruston High and whose mother Karen was also a tremendous athlete exhibits the kind of dominance hardly ever seen in someone so youthful in a sport that requires incredible stamina and determination usually found in those much older.
Her time recently of 18.43.39 in the three mile run set a new course record at the prestigious Benton Invitational and was a full sixteen seconds better than the runner-up. This was against the best competition in north Louisiana that included such schools as West Monroe, C.E. Byrd and Airline High as well as many other smaller schools.
The mark ranks second in Ruston High School history in the three mile only behind the 18:41.12 ran by Adaiza Austin in 2012. This is now the second time that Garrett has entered the record books at RHS as she already has the best time in the girls 5,000 meters eclipsing the mark set by Marina Givens last year.
Garrett will next be in action at the NSU Pre-State Cross Country Meet on Saturday, October 24th before vying for the District 2-5A championship on Wednesday October 28th. From there she will compete in the LHSAA Regional 1-5A Qualifier on Thursday, November 5th.