Ruston, Cedar Creek close cross country season at state meet

Ruston High and Cedar Creek’s cross-country teams wrapped up the 2024 season with multiple top 10 team finishes at the LHSAA State Cross Country Championships on Monday on the campus of Northwestern State University in Natchitoches.

The Lady Bearcats finishing third as a team in Division I with 107 points, while the Bearcats took sixth with 202 points. Cedar Creek’s boys took 10th as a team in Division IV, while the Lady Cougars finished 13th.

The Lady Bearcats were led by junior Hallie Hebert with a 6th place individual finish in 18:55.84, while freshman Eden Dawsey finished 12th in 19:18.11 to round out Ruston’s top 15 finishers. Parker Nations, a senior, took 16th in 19:34.14, while fellow senior Sydney Owens finished 24th in 19:57.77. Junior Maddy Parkman finished 49th in 21:10.94 to round out the placement for the girls team.

Ruston’s boys were paced by junior Taylor Huddleston with a 32nd overall finish in 16:28.64, while fellow junior Joshua Daulton took 34th in 16:30.56. Luke Braswell took 39th in 16:35.97 and Al-Amin Wilson ran 16:39.66 for 42nd place. Wyatt Hancock finished 55th in 17:18.32 as well.

The Cougars were paced by Luke Alexander’s 7th place finish in 17:02.51 in the Division IV race. Joshua McCarthy rounded out the top 50 finishers in 22nd place in 18:04.87/ The Lady Cougars were led by Evelyn Mills in 44th place in 23:02.33, while Marley Jinks finished 50th in 23:14.21.