Jonesboro-Hodge le…le… leaped to first and second place in the high jump, long jump and triple jump to pave the way to the championship of the Llewellyn Starks Invitational held at JHHS this past Thursday. The Tigers also grabbed an additonal second and three thirds in the field and four silver medals and three bronze in the track events to score 150 points to outdistance second place Natchitoches Central by a whopping 41.5 points. Grant High took third with 108 followed by Winnfield with 102 and Holy Savior Menard whose 71 points was good enough for fifth.
It was only fitting that the Tigers would leap their way to victory in the event that is named after the former JHHS and LSU great, who was a fixture on the professional track circuit before suffering a gruesome injury that ended his career. Starks owns JHHS, Jackson Parish and LSU records in the long jump and competed with the legendary Carl Lewis and Mike Powell on the international circuit.
It was Devonte Mozee and Detre’vien (Tre) Bowie that finished one-two in the high jump, Justin Calahan and Davion McGuire in the long jump and Bowie and Mozee in the triple jump. Chase Bryant and Skylar Levingston finished second and third in the shot put, Bryant and Quiynotae Henderson placed third and seventh in the discus and Kolby Mitchell grabbed third in the javelin as the Tigers scored 82 points in six events.
The Tiger relay teams placed second in three relay races and Bowie won silver in the 400 meters to highlight the Tiger track accomplishments. In the 4x100M and 4x200M it was LaJavion Nichols, Calahan, Jameon Tate and McGuire while the 4x400M team was comprised of Cameron (Chase) Leonard, Zion Gray, Kamerius Palmer and Bowie, who total 34 individual points in the four events he competed in to lead the Tiger thinclads in scoring.
Nichols and McGuire took third and fifth in the 200 meters as did Leonard and Cornelius (Rah Rah) Boston in the 110 Hurdles. Savantez Phillips also finished third in the 300 Hurdles. Leonard took 5th in the 800M, and the combination of David Johnson and LaTrevious Bradford finished seventh and eighth in the 3200M to round out the Tigers scoring.
Final results of the 2021 Llewellyn Starks Invitational (boys)
| School | Points |
| Jonesboro-Hodge | 150 |
| Natchitoches – Central | 109.5 |
| Grant | 108 |
| Winnfield | 102 |
| Holy Savior Menard | 71 |
| Lakeview | 56 |
| D’Arbonne Woods | 44 |
| Alexandria Sr. High JV | 32.5 |
| Pleasant Hill | 10 |
Lady Tigers take second
Xabrianna Jackson scored 38 individual points by winning the high jump and triple jump as well as running a leg with Anteriany Wilson, Laila Johnson and Zymea Hoggro on the gold medal winning 4×100 relay team and 4×200 relay silver medal winners to pace the Lady Tigers to a second place finish. Holy Savior Menard out of Alexandria won the meet with Natchitoches-Central coming in third. Hoggro also won the long jump and took fourth in the 100M while the 4x400M relay team of A’Joriana Hoggro, (who also won third in the high jump), Kaelin Palmer, Johnson and Yahmynne Andrews won the bronze medal. Johnson finished third in the 200M while A. Hoggro and Andrews finished third and fifth in the 300 Hurdles. Additional point earners were Andrews – fourth in the 100 Hurdles, Chamya Waters – sixth in the discus and tied for 7th in the shot put and Harmoni Glands who finished 7th in the long jump.
Final results of Llewellyn Starks Invitational (girls)
School | Points |
| Holy Savior Menard | 155 |
| JHHS | 93 |
| Natchitoches-Central | 88.5 |
| Lakeview | 84 |
| ASH Junior Varsity | 53.3 |
| D’Arbonne Woods | 51.5 |
| Winnfield | 41.5 |
| Grant | 29 |
| Pleasant Hill | 8 |
Quitman Junior High sweeps own meet
The Junior High boys and girls track team at Quitman won their own meet in impressive fashion over three other competitors. The junior Wolverines beat D’Arbonne Woods by a 82-56 margin in the boys events while the girls outpointed Choudrant by a 69-55 margin. Jonesboro-Hodge Middle School came in third in both with Choudrant bringing up the rear.
Brayden Smith won the 100M and 200M and ran a leg on the winning 4x100M and 4x200M relay teams to record a meet high four firsts. Ethan won the triple jump and Jayden Harts took gold in the long jump along with running legs on the winning relay squads for three first each. Landon Boston also ran a leg on the two winning relay teams. Jake Potts paced the Wolverine field event competitors with gold medals in the discus and shot put while finishing second to Hayden Davis in the javelin. Dakota Knox and Kedarrien Thompson won gold in the 110 hurdles and 400M respectively for Jonesboro-Hodge Middle School which also took first in the 4x400M relays.
In girls competition Kaleigh King showed her tremendous versatility by winning the high jump, pole vault and 110 hurdles for Quitman. Hallay Taylor also took first in the long jump and ran a leg on the winning 4×200 relays with Marlee Bedgood, Taylor Borland and Emma Harper. Morgan McGee won the discus and shot put to pace Jonesboro-Hodge Middle School who also saw LeRonda McGuire win the triple jump, Rickya Bryant take the 200M and Angel Moss earn being named fasted girl on the track by winning the 100M. Bryant, McGee, Cierra Gray and Realte Atkins won gold in the 4×100 relays as well.