For many years, the Barbe High School girls track and field team has watched Lafayette spoil the party time and
time again at the District 3-5A championship meet.

They are looking to end the Lions’ streak of nine consecutive district titles.

The meet starts with the field events at 11 a.m. Thursday at Sam Houston High School in Moss Bluff followed by the running events at 2 p.m.

Barbe’s last district title was in 2014. The Bucs have been runner-up to Lafayette each year since — with the exceptions of 2019 when they placed third, and the 2020 season that was wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic. Lafayette won with 197 points, while Barbe had 171 last year.
“It’s always just been like us or (Lafayette) kind of just back and forth throughout the entire season,” Barbe girls track and field coach Priscilla Ibarra said. “We have strong runners, and I know they have strong runners, strong athletes also.

“They always just end up beating us at district. It’s been a really great lineup still. Some of the top athletes in the state are competing against each other there, so it makes for like a really great competition.”

The schools met twice in the regular season. Lafayette edged Barbe 133-124 for the title at the 64th annual Oil City Relays in Lafayette on March 21, and again on April 4 at the Tabasco Relays in New Iberia, 135-119.

“We’ve seen their lineup,” Ibarra said. “They’ve seen ours. It hasn’t really changed much throughout the year because we saw them also during the indoor season, so we kind of have known like who they have, and they know who we have and what to expect.”

In the running events, the schools have at least two top-10 ranked athletes in Class 5A in five events.

On the track, the Bucs are led by senior Kennedi Burks and junior Aniya Lavan. Burks leads the state in the 400-meter run (53.5 seconds). The pair anchor the Bucs’ Class 5A top-ranked 4×400 (3:47.45) relay team and the No. 2 4×200 team (1:40.36).

“(Lavan) is an incredible jumper and an incredible sprinter,” Ibarra said. “(Burks) always draws in points, whether she is running her open event or a relay.”

Lafayette will look to sprinter Khia Williams, who leads the district in the 100 (11.9) and 200 (24.62) and distance runner Addison Aucoin.

Ibarra said the key to the district title in the field events. The Bucs have the top two javelin throwers in the district in senior Morgan David (123-9) and freshman Maria Lafleur (120-7). Junior Kaci Fulton is the top shot put thrower (41-8) in the district and No. 2 in the discus (126-4). Lavan leads the district in the high jump (5-4) and long jump (18-6¾).
“I think more so probably in the field side,” Ibarra said. “I know running is always kind of a given that we get points and like the 400 is always a given.

“The relays are kind of always a given, but I know in the field we really need to be strong in our shot put and discus. Javelin is kind of set right now, but those are the events that can go either way.

“As long as our girls just keep their heads straight and do what they need to do, then it’s going to turn out to be a really good competition.”