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Fingers raised, the Eagles track team poses with the 1A, Region II championship trophy. VC earned 104 team points to win the meet.
VC third-year head coach George Veazey said he was proud of his squad.
“When (VC principal) Mike Guilbeau came on board, we decided we wanted to build a track program,” said Veazey. “We’re at three years now and the kids have bought into it. Things are starting to gel for us.”
Co-head coach Trev Faulk seconded Veazey’s sentiment.
“I’m excited for our kids. I’m extremely excited for coach Veazey; this is his baby,” said Faulk. “Our kids did a great job tonight.”
VC freshman TJ LaFrance earned Outstanding Overall Performer honors in the meet, as voted on by the coaches.
“Hard work pays off and that’s what it’s doing right now,” said LaFrance. “To tell the truth, I wasn’t expecting this (award). This is a shock... This is a good feeling.”
LaFrance won the 110 meter hurdles with a 16.26. He also placed third in the 300 meter hurdles (42.95) and the triple jump (41-09.5).
“He was impressive,” said Faulk of LaFrance. “This is maybe his fourth meet and for him to come out here and perform... was just tremendous.”
The top-three finishers in each event earned spots in the field at the 1A state meet at LSU next Thursday.
VC speedster Jacoby Davis earned a spot at LSU in the 100 meter dash with a 10.82.
Davis also helped the 4x200 relay team (Mike Campbell, Stephan Guidry, Ryan David) to a first place finish. Unfortunately, though, Davis re-injured a nagging hamstring as he passed the baton in the Eagles’ winning 4x200 relay performance (44.47).
Davis said he was disappointed by the turn of events, coming as it did before the running of the 200 meter dash, in which he was the favorite to win.
“It’s good that I got to run the 100, 4x100 and 4x200. But my main focus was the 200 and I can’t run that,” said Davis. “But, the last time I think was worse than this (injury). Last time I was hopping around; but, this time I can walk on it.”
Also earning a spot in next week’s state meet was VC thrower Trey Ryder, whose shot put of 41-02 was good for third place.
Kyle Zenon, who earned an alternate spot in the shot put with a throw of 41-00, got second place in the discus with a 125-07.
Veazey said those performances helped his team tremendously.
“We had some kids step up,” he said. “There were a few surprises that really helped us and Kyle and Trey helped a lot,” he said.
Another Eagle, Matt Wilson, earned a first place in the pole vault with a 15-06 effort, his second-best of the season.
Wilson was also a member of the VC 4x400 team (Campbell, Dustin Desormeaux, Nate Silar, John McClain and Joey Faulk) that took second place with a 3:41.04.
Interestingly, the state meet will mark Faulk’s first trip to his alma mater as a head coach.
“I went a couple years when I was at Northside,” he said. “But, this is different. So, we’re going to get the kids a tour of the stadium and facilities. It should be a really good experience for them. They deserve it.”
Field events at the state meet, held at LSU’s Bernie Moore Stadium, are set to begin at 1:30 p.m., with field events to follow at 5 p.m.
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