The Comets ran their 2A district meet Tuesday, November 5, 2019. After the meet was delayed due to weather, the Comets took the few extra days to train and prepare and the results are undeniable. The girls team took home a third place finish with sisters Juliana and Gabriella Portillo leading the pack. They were followed by Courtney Brouwer, Alyssa Hooge, Torie Joseph, Jessica Basilides, and Alani Dew, all of who qualified for the state meet later this month.

The boys team really brought home the bacon with a second place finish, bringing home a runner up trophy. Gregory Bergeron ran a blazing race finishing 7th place overall, earning him an all district honor. He was followed closely by Collin Cedotal, Dominic Bosen, Devon Rucker, Luke Ringe, Ishan Iyer, and Timmy Capdeboscq. We wish the Comets good luck at the state meet on November 18th way up in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

On Saturday, October 19, 2019, the SCC girls and boys cross country teams stayed afloat with average race times in the Allstate Sugar Bowl Cross Country Classic.  The team and Coach Adams believed that the rain and lightning cutting practice times short last week and the muggy weather on Saturday morning affected the race times for the team.  The varsity girls started their race at 9:00a.m.  Team captain Gabriella Portillo finished 71^st out of 142 runners with a time of 22:23.06.  Juliana Portillo finished 100^th out of 142 runners at 25:00.58.  Although these were not the girls’ best times, Coach is encouraging to keep things in perspective.  District is on October 31^st, and the state meet is on November 18^th.

 For the boys’ team, Gregory Bergeron, team captain, finished his 3-mile race at 19:11.92—108^th  out of 187 runners. Collin Cedotal and younger brother Aiden Cedotal were able to both compete on varsity together for the first time.  Collin finished at 19:11.92—100^th out of 187, and Aiden finished at 23:59.00 for his first varsity race of the season.  Devon Rucker also rocked the lower 19’s at 19:07.25 right behind Collin in 103^rd place.

For this meet, junior varsity had a upgrade and change of events.  Instead of running a 2-miler, JV ran the 3-mile course mimicking varsity.  Jaylen Sims finished 3-miles in 24:39.36.  Joshua Jenson, a cross-athlete who is also on the football team, joined the race and finished in 24:44.35.  Other cross-athletes Mark Lemmon and Alphonse Richards finished at 26:15.45 and 26:17.56, respectively.  All of the junior varisity athletes had an impressive performance.  Coach Brandi is looking forward to seeing them grow into mature, experienced varsity runners over the next few years.

Honorable mentions include Tori Joseph, Courtney Brouwer, Kevin Dauenhauer, Luke Ringe, and Dominic Boesen.  The next upcoming race is going to be on Saturday, October 26^th right here in our own Laplace, LA!  Girls’ varisty race begins at 8:30a.m., and the boys’ varsity race begins at 9:15a.m.  All runners will be running varsity this race.  The location of the race is at Thomas F. Daley Memorial Park next to the library on Hwy. 51 in Laplace.  Please come out and support the team if you can.  Hold a homemade poster or yell “Good job!  Way to go!” along the race route. We know that you would be impressed to see what we can do with the strength and gifts that God has given us! And we would love and appreciate you being there!  The team would also like to thank everyone that came out to the Raising Cane’s fundraiser on Thursday.  It was fun seeing so many of our Comet friends and family there.  Thank you for your continued support!  GO SCC CROSS COUNTRY COMETS!

On Saturday, October 12, 2019, the Comets cross country teams did it again! They competed in the Catholic High School Invitational Meet—breaking PR’s  (personal records) and taking names later.  The girls’ varsity team opened at 8:30a.m. with Gabriella Portillo, junior and girls team captain, breaking her last PR on this course by 9 seconds, finishing her 3 miles at 21:56.03.  Her younger sister, Juliana Portillo, also broke her PR by 47 seconds, finishing at 23:02.72.  Courtney Brouwer finished 3rd on our varsity team with a time of 23:14.92.  Honorable mentions include Jessica Basilides and Yvette Aguirre.

The boys’ varsity team, leading with upperclassmen, followed the girls’ race starting at 9:00a.m.  Gregory Bergeron, senior and boys team captain, broke his PR and reached his goal of under 19 minutes, finishing at 18:40.47.  Devon Rucker wasn’t far behind at 19:19.88.   Luke Ringe, also breaking his PR, at 19:50.53.  Junior Timmy Capdeboscq, shaving over 3 minutes off his usual time from last year, finishing at 21:02.50.  Senior Kevin Dauenhauer, also breaking his PR by over 30 seconds from last year, finishing at 21:32.91.

The boys had a full junior varsity team this meet that was mentored and cheered on by our experienced varsity runners.  Ben Brignac finished his second JV, 2-mile race on this course 10 seconds faster than last week at 13:50.34.  First time JV, 2-mile racers included Aidan Cedotal at 13:53.03, Mark Lemmon at 15:47.09, Jaylen Sims at 16:09.28, and Alphonse Richard V, at 18:18.06.

This was by far the most successful meet of the season!  We are looking forward to seeing more PR’s broken and race times reduced as we approach district on October 31st, Halloween Day, after school in Audobon Park.

The cross country team will also be having a fundraiser at Raising Cane’s this Thursday, October 17th, after exams, from noon until 4:00pm.  You MUST mention SCC Cross Country for the team to receive a percentage of your sales!  Come celebrate our victories with Raising Canes and us!

Congratulations to the girls and boys SCC cross country team who successfully completed several PR’s (personal records) at the St. Joseph Academy Invitational in Baton Rouge on Saturday, October 5th.  This was the first hilly course of the season.

In the 3 mile race,

Gabriella Portillo 22:10.66PR  78th out of 191

Julianna Portillo 23:51.47PR 121st out of 191

Torie Joseph 26:14.91PR 171st out of 191

Jessica Basilides 26:48.31 178th out of 191

Collin Cedotal 19:09.44PR 159th out of 294

Gregory Bergeron 19:13.44PR 162nd out of 294

Devon Rucker 20:26.47 214th out of 294

Luke Ringe 20:38.06PR 220th out of 294

Ishan Iyer 21:16.81 237th out of 294

Timmy Capdeboscq 22:07.09PR 252nd out of 294

Kevin Dauenhauer 23:56.47 273rd out of 294

In the 2 mile race,

Nicholas Lemoine 13:21.25PR 69th out of 132

Bryson Prater 13:39.22PR 80th out of 132

Ben Brignac 14:00.75PR 86th out of 132

Also, honorable mentions are Yvette Aguirre, Alani Dew, and Courtney Brouwer.

It takes a special Comet to get up out of bed on a Saturday morning and run 3 miles non-stop!  Coach Brandi Adams is was pleased with the results stating, "The team represents SCC well with their hard work, dedication, and sportsmanship!"  The Comets will compete on the same course this upcoming Saturday, October 12th in the Catholic High Invitational at Highland Park in Baton Rouge beginning at 8:00am.

The Comets ran their first meet this past weekend. “Our young team preformed well but there is still room for improvement,” states Gregory Bergeron. Though they were missing runners, the Comets still preformed well. Gregory Bergeron finished with a 20:29.16 and finished 108th overall for the boys team. The boys team finished with an average time of 21:44 and placed 18th in the meet. He states, “the young team did well for our first meet but there is lots of room for improvement.” The girls were unable to be scored due to a lack of runners but still set a blazing average of 27:63 with Gabriella Portillo coming in at 23:27.80 in 50th place overall.

As the SCC Cross Country team enters its fourth season since its revival in 2016, the team looks stronger than ever. With 14 powerhouse runners, the team is brewing a recipe for success. “I’m most exited to see where we place in the state competition.” Coach Brandi Adams is committed to pushing the team above and beyond their previous seasons and is optimistic for their first meet on Wednesday, September 11th.

Boys’ team runner Gregory Bergeron states, “I’m really excited for this season. We have six seniors coming back, and we are moving into a smaller division.  We have a real chance to place at district and state. Everyone is giving 100% and ready for the upcoming season.” We are exited to see how the boys will place this year. Courtney Brouwer believes that “Cross Country is a sport that takes a lot of mental toughness and I believe we all have that. We’re a very close team that’s constantly pushing each other to do our best and I trust that our work will pay off during the season.” We are expecting great things this season from our hard working Comets. The Comets are dedicated to this season with Rise and Shine practice at 5:50 every morning with Coach Adams running along side them. The team is optimistic about their upcoming season and expect great things from themselves.