As I sit and write my first column for the month of May, reality slaps me on the forehead to the recognition that the prep sports year is going by so fast and is almost over. Soon many Zachary High athletes will be turning in cleats, tennis rackets and gloves for caps and gowns.
A recap for the last week of April (April 25 to be exact) when Landrie Barr came into the singles competition of the LHSAA Tennis State Championship held in Monroe at ULM as the 10 seed. She fell short to the 9 seed Morgan Duncan from Walker who advanced to the quarterfinals.
That leaves ZHS Track and Field as the only remaining active competitive sport for this school year.
At the Regional meet on April 25 at Denham Springs, the boys finished fourth overall. First place finishers included Vederek Matthews in the 300-meter hurdles (38.48) and the 4x800 relay team (8:05.04) of Noah McKneely, Marcus Coates, Damien Sprouse and Connor Conachen.
To qualify for the State Championship at LSU on May 4, a top-three finish is required during the regional meet. Other Broncos qualifiers for the state meet included Matthews (second in the 100-meter hurdles at 14.45) and sophomore Keidrick Bailey in the shot put (second place with a throw of 49-03).
The girls finished seventh overall girls at the regional meet and advanced the 4x100 relay team of Sabriah Bethley, Kelsy Jackson, Karli Hester and Mariah Myles to state. The relay team finished in second-place finish (48.29) behind Scotlandville.
As noted in an earlier article, the injury bug has been tough on the ZHS girls team this year but the performance by this young 4x100 relay team made up of three sophomores and one freshman shows that a bright future awaits, and these young ladies will be gaining valuable experience at the state meet on May 4 that should pay dividends in future seasons.
Out with the old, in with the new
The 2024 version of the ZHS football team will begin spring practice on Friday looking to get one more win than last year. The new-look Broncos will end spring practice with an intrasquad spring game on May 16 at 6 p.m.
The 2023 state finalists will need to fill some big holes on offense with the departure of lineman Kavion Broussard to Ole Miss and receiver Trey’Dez Green to LSU, and graduations on defense with Ethan Veal and Luke Wisham taking their talents to ULL and Louisiana Tech, respectively.
Soccer tryouts
The ZHS boys soccer team will be holding tryouts for next year’s campaign on June 3-4 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Zachary Community Park. Email john.nyman@zacharyschools.org for questions.
Summer camps
It's not too early to start thinking about summer camps. Zachary Community Schools has a plethora of summer camp opportunities including those for your favorite little future scholar athlete. A full listing of the camps can be accessed at Summer Camps — Zachary Community School District, zacharyschools.org.