Pearce, Hodges Named LSWA Co-Freshmen Of The Year

[NewsCopy]

LAKE CHARLES – The freshman tandem of Claire Hodges and Logan Pearce earned postseason awards as the duo earned Co-Freshman of the Year honors on the 2013 Louisiana Sportswriters Association Cross Country team in a release on Sunday.

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UL-SI

[ulXrunner]

Great job. This tells of the young talent that Coach LaMaison has been able to get here in her short time. Boys and girls teams are almost all soph and freshman with many being state champions and all state runners who for years would not even seriously consider going to UL. I'm a very big supporter of her program and excited about the future.

[CajunRed]

X...how are their times in comparison to runners we had several years ago when we were consistently competing for the Belt title? I'm thinking back to guys like Kevin Castille...Tim Lemaire...Jonathan Granger...and others.

[ulXrunner]

IMO, as collegiates, they aren't there with the runners of those times yet. I'm basing that opinion on the fact that Tim Lemaire was my coach while I ran at UL from 2000-05, I also know Kevin, and Chad Callais is a very good friend of mine and was teammates of Timmy. They have all told stories and talked times. Cross country is hard to judge when comparing runners. In both Cross and track/field, I don't think they are running comparable times.

Remember, almost entire team on both sides are freshmans and sophomores. In comparison based off high schools, these kids are as good as we have seen since those years. Multiple state champions from 5A, 4A, 2A. On the mens side, one was under 9:20, several were in the 9:20's in 3200m. 1600m- one was 4:16ish, several under, at, or slightly above 4:20's.

Pierce was a top runner in 5A from West Monroe. He has came in a took off for cross country.
Hodges was one of the top 2000m steeplechases in the country her SR year. She is out of TX.

Hopefully these kids find a way to achieve the best. We all know the many variables and pitfalls that could keep them from sprouting into some top distance runners.

[ulXrunner]

I'd say they do remind me of a younger version of the conference championship team I was apart of in 2004. One reason I think I see some of us in them is the mens team is entirely made up of Louisiana. In 2004, we won the Belt with a team made up of runners that were from south of I-10 or I-12.

Now based off their high school times, this team is superior to our 2004 team.

I believe if things go fairly well, couple of strong recruiting classes and a conference championship isnt out the question. Things just have to fall right like they did in 2004.

[CajunRed]

Thanks for the assessment. As a close friend of Coaches Lancon and Badon, I was one of several area road runners that was active in the UL Track & Field Officials Assciation while they were coaches there. I had forgotten about Chad Callais. He was a very good one, too. Hopefully, this current group is establishing the foundation to accomplish what some of those guys did.

Btw...I'm old enough to remember greats from way back like Coach John McDonnell, Desmond O'Connor, Charles Derousselle, Tommy Hopkins...to name a few. Those were some GREAT times for Bulldog/Ragin Cajun track & field.

Keep us posted.

Thanks,

Red