LaTech signees, 2025 speedster among notable 4A track performers

Westgate won its third straight outdoor track and field state championship Saturday — and with some familiar names to football coaches and fans helping headline the way.   College-bound prospects in both sports, from graduating seniors on down to current sophomore and from both the Tigers and several other programs were among the notable performers at LSU's Bernie Moore Stadium.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/embed/CYP-X3SUuho </div></figure>     [player_tooltip player_id='276326' first='Dedrick' last='Latulas'] — 5-7, 175 ATH — Westgate (2023)   The explosive and versatile Louisiana Tech signee was exceptional in his final high school meet on a particularly hectic evening as afternoon lightning storms condensed the schedule and pushed several field events into the indoor facility. Latulas ran back and forth between the long jump and triple jump inside and 110-meter hurdles and 4x200-meter relay outside and earning a podium position in every event, including three wins, a personal record and a seasonal best.   Latulas won the long jump (22-06.25) and triple jump (45-04.25), finished third in the hurdles with a personal-record 15.26-second time and ran the third leg of the seasonal-best 1:26.60 relay between Northwestern State football signee [player_tooltip player_id='276330' first='Amaaz' last='Eugene'] first, Louisiana (Lafayette) track signee [player_tooltip player_id='405740' first='Mekhi' last='Boutte'] second and sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1220977' first='Khylon' last='Antoine'] anchoring.   [player_tooltip player_id='145332' first='Jaylon' last='Coleman'] — 5-9, 160 ATH — Vandebilt Catholic (2025)   The electric member of Louisiana's impressive 2025 running back class earned a podium position with a 10.75-second, third-place 100-meter, then came back and won the 200-meter with a personal-record 21.48-second dash.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/embed/S5Mh0FFfhac </div></figure>     [player_tooltip player_id='275586' first='Mike' last='Williams'] Jr. — 5-11, 165 WR — Archbishop Shaw (2023)   The Southeastern Louisiana signee finished second to Coleman in the 200-meter with his own personal-record of 21.54 seconds and ran the third leg of a winning 41.35-second 4x100-meter relay led off by Kardell Allen, followed by [player_tooltip player_id='1211830' first='Dallas' last='Borne'].   David Kency Jr. — 5-9, 180 RB — Archbishop Shaw (2023)   The Penn State-bound running back followed Williams in the 200-meter, at third place at a personal-record 21.60 seconds, and in the 4x100-meter relay as the Eagles' anchor. Kency also earned points with a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter at 10.90 seconds.   [player_tooltip player_id='276217' first='Hayden' last='Christman'] — 6-6, 300 OL — Tioga (2023)   The Louisiana Tech-bound offensive lineman had hoped to push longer distances, but held serve with a successful title defense in the discus (165-10) and third place in the shot put with a seasonal-best 49-04.25.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/embed/PxdXyiOPf4Y </div></figure>     Maximus Kadrmas — 5-11, 175 DB — Tioga (2024)   The rising senior cornerback wrapped up track season with personal records in both the 110-meter (15.44 seconds) and 300-meter hurdles (39.91 seconds), finishing fourth in the former and winning the latter, and ran the second leg of scoring 4x200-meter and winning 4x400-meter relays, which both marked seasonal-best times at 1:29.99 and 3:25.27, respectively. Wyatt Smith started each relay, followed by Kadrmas, Gabe Vanderwater and Bradley Riccardi.   Kendrick Alexander Jr. — 5-11, 260 DL — Cecilia (2023)   The Coffeyville Community College signee wrapped his high school career with a championship shot put (52-11.00).   Ke'ain Shorts — 5-8, 150 WR — Helen Cox (2025)   The Cougars' leading performer on the boys' side netted second-place finishes in both the long jump (22-00.75) and triple jump (44-07.00), the latter of which marked a personal record, and led off a fifth-place and seasonal-best 4x100-meter relay (42.88) with teammates Gil Chapman, Jeremiah Hall and Marlon Turner.   [player_tooltip player_id='421653' first='Darnell' last='O'Quinn'] — 5-11, 150 WR — Helen Cox (2024)   After only recently picking up the high jump, O'Quinn earned fourth place in the state meet with a 6-01.50 mark and ran the second leg of the Cougars' sixth-place 4x800-meter relay, led off by Carlos Williams and finished off by Joshua Lacroix and anchor Lendell Walters, that posted a seasonal-best 8:31.29.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/embed/2u7ds7fb-s8 </div></figure>     Aiden Joseph — 6-2, 165 WR — Plaquemine (2024)   The versatile Grambling State and Central Arkansas target finished third place in the triple jump (43-04.50).   [player_tooltip player_id='912251' first='Sheldon' last='Green'] — 6-3, 200 LB — Archbishop Shaw (2025)   The long, lean edge rusher finished sixth place in the triple jump (42-00.00)   Samuel Kinnard — 6-2, 170 DB/LB — Vandebilt Catholic (2024)   Coleman's multisport Terriers teammate finished second in the javelin (169-02) to add eight points to the team's third-place total.   [player_tooltip player_id='912255' first='Kaleb' last='Vaughn'] — 5-9, 160 DB — Neville (2025)   The Tigers' young cornerback helped score points in the 100-meter (10.94) and 200-meter (22.37) dashes and as the anchor on the 4x100-meter relay (42.93) with sixth-place finishes in all three events. Frank Mansfield, Robert Tappin and standout running back [player_tooltip player_id='912258' first='Jaylon' last='Nichols'].   [player_tooltip player_id='276216' first='Kentrell' last='Prejean'] — 5-10, 155 WR — Teurlings Catholic (2023)   The South Dakota State commitment ran legs in a pair of fourth-place relay teams: second leg for the 4x100-meter (42.44) and anchor in the 4x200-meter (1:29.04). Nick Dellumo led off each, and Gylan Ford ran third. Peyton Jones anchored the 4x100 and ran second in the 4x200.   [player_tooltip player_id='421531' first='Tyreek' last='Robinson'] — 5-9, 150 ATH — Evangel Christian (2024)   Robinson earned points with a fifth-place finish in the long jump (21-04.75) and finished eighth in the 100-meter dash (11.15) with personal records in each event.   [player_tooltip player_id='678292' first='Thai' last='Brown'] — 5-10, 175 DB — McDonogh 35 (2024)   The ball-hawking all-state defensive back with seven interceptions this fall finished seventh in the 400-meter with a personal-record 53.97-second time.

Westgate won its third straight outdoor track and field state championship Saturday — and with some familiar names to football coaches and fans helping headline the way.