The Hahnville Tigers have had a busy month, finishing the regular season as district champions for the third-straight year and coming in seventh place at the state meet.
Even though the Tigers were in a new district and faced a little tougher competition than the previous two years, they completely dominated the meet at Peltier Park in Thibodaux. Led by Seniors Bryce and Beau Robinson, the Tigers ran away with the district championship by finishing 59 points ahead of runner-up East St. John. South Lafourche finished tied with Thibodaux for third with 91 points. Destrehan finished the day in sixth with 169 points.
How dominating of a performance was it for the Tigers? Bryce and Beau Robinson finished in times of 15:30 and 16:05, respectively, and the next closest runner was junior Brandon McDonald of H.L. Bourgeois, who finished in 16:41. But the twins couldn’t win a championship on their own.
All five of the Tigers that counted for scoring finished in the top ten, and the next two, which count for scoring in the event of a tie, finished in 14th and 15th place.
All seven received All-District honors.
They were: Bryce Robinson – 1st place in district, 1st team All-DistrictBeau Robinson – 2nd place in district, 1st team All-DistrictNicholas Lirette – 6th place in district, first team All-DistrictShawn Maher – 7th place in district, first team All-DistrictBailey Breaux – 10th place in district, second team All-DistrictJose Portillo – 14th Place in district, second team All-DistrictPatrick Phelan – 15th place in district, honorable mention All-District
After winning their district, the Tigers had high hopes coming into the LHSAA State Cross Country championships last week, and they didn’t disappoint.
The Tigers as a team finished 7th in the state with 297 points, only two points behind sixth- place Mandeville. This marked the first time that the Tigers have ever placed in the top ten as a team in the state championships. The Tigers came in ahead of perennial cross country powerhouses such as West Monroe, Fontainebleau, Northshore, Parkway and Walker. Individually, the Tigers were led by senior Bryce Robinson, who earned the bronze medal by finishing third with a blazing time of 15:28. His brother, Beau, finished seventh in 15:53. Their times were good enough to garner All-State honors, which is given to the runners with the top 25 times in all classes combined.
All five of the Tigers that were scored finished in the top 130 with Nicholas Lirette in 70th, Shawn Maher in 91st and Bailey Breaux in 129th. Patrick Phelan and Jose Portillo also had great runs, finishing 153rd and 156th, respectively.
The Robinson brothers had a great start and were running stride for stride, leading the pack until just before the one-mile mark.
Beau began to fall back slightly, and Bryce continued to push the pace, leading a three-man pack with St. Paul’s runners Zachary Albright and Eric Coston. The runners stayed in the three-man formation until just after the two-mile mark, when Albright began to make his move.
Albright, a senior, has been Bryce Robinson’s nemesis all year long, beating Bryce in one race by a mere .88 seconds. This time, Albright made his move a little too early and it cost him a state championship. His teammate, freshman phenom Eric Coston, passed him up with less than 100 yards to go, taking home the gold with a time of 15:15. Albright finished in 15:20.
“I knew if I had any chance to win, I had to push the pace between the first and second mile and take Zach out of his comfort zone, which is to sit close until about the 2.7 mile mark. He has a huge kick and I had to try to take a little of that kick out of him,” Bryce Robinson said. “I went a little faster than Zach probably wanted to go, and I think passing me too soon cost him in the end.”
Beau Robinson came into the day a little under the weather, having run a 101 degree fever and coughing for a couple of days before.
“I tried staying with Bryce as long as I could, and I think that kept me in the top ten…. I just couldn’t stay with him the entire race,” Beau said. “My throat and my head were hurting bad, but I knew I had to just keep pushing”.
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