Two champion track stars will miss key meets

By Ron Brocato, Sports
Clarion Herald

With an eye on the May 2-4 state track and field championships, the burning question is why do the names Catalina Reichard and Krosse Johnson not appear in bold letters on the heat sheets for the Class 5A regional meet?

Reichard, the twice-reigning state champion cross country and track champion from Mount Carmel, was a shoo-in to repeat for a third time as the queen of distance running.

Johnson, the anchor runner on Holy Cross’ champion 4x100-meter relay team and runner-up 4x200-meter exchange crew, has not appeared in a meet this spring. In 2023, Johnson, an Arkansas football signee, was clocked in 10.52 at 100 meters and in 21.07 for 200 meters and would have been one of the favorites to possibly sweep the state sprints.

But Johnson has forgone an opportunity to run this spring to concentrate on his impending college football career, according to Holy Cross’ head track coach Dexter Bass.

But there is still plenty of speed to go around in the sprints and relays.

Reichard, who ran 5:04.86 in winning the 1,600-meter run last year and reeled off a season-best 10:58.38 for 3,200 meters, lost the entire season to an injury she incurred during off-season training, reported Mount Carmel athletic director April Hagadone.

She, too, would have been a prime candidate for multiple gold medals in the Cubs’ quest for a state outdoor season championship. She will get another opportunity to shine in 2025 as a senior.

But there will be opportunities for teams and individuals from the Archdiocese of New Orleans schools, to bring home the gold from Baton Rouge next week.

For instance, Holy Cross’ Josh Brown, who would have joined Johnson, Ka’Rynn Smith and Kobi Young on the 4x100-meter relay team, is a prime candidate to win the 200-meter dash in which he finished first in the District 9-5A meet with a time of 21.23, a half-step ahead of John Curtis’ Michael Turner.        

Another returning star is distance champion Michael Vocke of Jesuit. Winner of the 1,600-meter run in the district meet by cruising the four laps at Tad Gormley Stadium in 4:23.51,Vocke is the choice to win at the regional and state levels since no competitor he will face in the final two meets has times comparable to his season-best 4:13.33 recorded in an earlier meet.

Jesuit won the 9-5A championship last week on the heels of its distance runners, including the 4x800-meter relay team that won the event in 8:10.3 in the district meet. That team of Alex Siguenza, Jack Flanagan, Michael Trepagnier and Finn Connolly may be tested by Alexandria High’s team that has recorded an 8:04.91.

But earlier in the season, Jesuit was clocked in 8:03.0 with Brandt Blanchard, Connor LaCour, Josh Quintana and Vocke as its foursome. Add Brady Mullen (9:15.48) and Brady Monahan (9:25.98) to the mix, and you have a formidable distance team. The two finished first and second, respectively, in the 9-5A 3,200-meter run, but Mullen is capable of running even faster. Last year he turned in a 9:10.29, his best ever.

That sums up the boys’ district champion Blue Jays’ talent in distance events.

Archbishop Rummel’s Caleb Curry has developed into a champion hurdler by winning the 110-meter event in 14.75, then doubling in the 300-meter hurdles in 38.23. But he has a 38.18, which is the fifth-fastest time run in the tri-parish area and a school record, topping the time of 38.28 set by Kristian Fulton in 2016.

With Reichard out of the quest for gold, local Catholic girls’ schools will hope for other individual stars to shine. The prime hopefuls include Dominican’s Olivia Bordes, who set a school record in winning the 400-meter dash in 59.24, and Mount Carmel’s distance and relay teams.

The Cubs won the district team title on April 18 by scoring 125 points, behind the durability of Stella Junius, Lucy Quintana and the 4x800-meter relay team, which also featured Quintana. Junius won the 1,600-meter run in 5:23.33, with Quintana on her heels at 2:24.72. But both have faster times set earlier in the season.

It was the same order of finish in the 3,200-meter event, with Junius reaching the finish in 11:55.82 and Quintana second in 12:06.12. Both are also capable of better times. Quintana has the fourth-best time run locally, an 11:23.04, and Junius the seventh-fastest at 11:25.45.

Two Cabrini stars will show their wares in the Class 4A meet. Madison Brown-Adams will be one of the top long jumpers entered. Her 2024 best leap of 17-5 1/2 was enough to win the district meet, but she has a longer jump of 17-6. And Bailee Villavaso has reached a summit of 13 feet in the pole vault, a height few have reached.

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