Sports Report November 5, 2024

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Football

The Greenies marched into Old Metairie last week (11/1) for an afternoon showdown with district rival Metairie Park Country Day, at the newly turfed Freedom Field.

Junior running back and imminent Fox 8 Player of Week Jake Randle put on an All Star-worthy show against the Cajuns all game long. Randle started with a 80-yard run for his first of five total touchdowns in the game. His second touchdown was a pass from quarterback Eli Friend for a 10-yard touchdown reception. Randle capped off the next drive in the second quarter with a 3-yard touchdown run. After halftime, he powered in an 11-yard run for another touchdown, before closing out his epic performance with a 60-yard rushing touchdown. Randle ended the night with 194 yards rushing on 13 runs, for an average of almost 15 yards per carry and five touchdowns.

Friend also ran the ball well from the quarterback position, ending the night with seven scampers for 45 yards.

In the air, Friend completed 13 of 16 for 163 yards passing with a touchdown to receiver George Loop at the end of the third quarter. Sophomore receiver Hendrix Hill had a strong performance with 8 catches for 107 yards, and the longest reception of the night at 54 yards.

The Green Machine Defense dominated the Cajuns all game long with aggressive team defense and gang tackling. Archie Casbarian led the solo tackles category with four. Corbett “Corvette” Parrino and Henry Cook each had tackles for loss, with Cook also recording a sack. Atticus Lafleur pulled in an interception and Corvette Parrino locked down a fumble by the Cajuns. The final score was Greenies 42 - Cajuns 7.

Next up, is Senior Night! On Friday (11/8), at 6:30pm, the Greenies will host South Plaquemines High School at Michael Lupin Field at 7pm for the last regular season football game of the season. The Hurricanes currently rank second in the district, making this matchup a competition for the District 10-2A Championship. It also has potential ramifications on playoff seeding and a bye for the first week of the playoffs. In addition to honoring the seniors for football, cheerleading and the band, halftime will feature Middle School Fall Sports Appreciation Night and a presentation from NOLA Gymnastics. Come out and support the Greenies, especially the seniors, in their pursuit of the district championship!

Volleyball

Last week, the Greenies varsity volleyball team (22-10) started off the week against Dutchtown High School (D-I), the largest high school in Louisiana. Despite a strong performance with over 38 kills, the Griffins narrowly defeated the Greenies in five sets. Fortunately, JV Green came up with an impressive win over the Griffins in the undercard.

On Thursday (10/31), the pink-clad varsity team won its final regular-season game against Berwick High School at home and on VSN here, in three sets, improving to a 23-11 record. Senior setter Catherine Lapeyere played a key role against the Panthers, distributing the ball effectively to hitters LeiLani Reid, Caroline Beahm, Tatum Young, and Jessica Lambert. JV Green also ended their season with a big win against Berwick.

Now to the playoffs! With the win, the Greenies earned the fourth seed in the 32-team Division IV playoffs (bracket here). In the opening bi-district round, the squad will host the 29th seed, South Plaquemines High School, at home tomorrow afternoon (Wednesday, 11/6) in the Palaestra for Senior Day. Prior to the match, at 5:15pm, the school will honor seniors Lapeyere, Young, Kingsland LeBourgeois, and Sarah Gibbs Smallpage. Tickets are available here for $5. (Per LHSAA playoff rules, all attendees, including students and GNWC members will need to purchase tickets.)

Come out and support the Greenies and the seniors! If and when the Greenies win, they will quickly play a second round match on Thursday, so stay tuned!

Swimming

The swim team concluded its regular season last weekend with two important meets and a number of standout performances.

On Friday, Vivian Zhou ’26 and Morgan Breaux ’26 represented Newman at the preliminaries of the Greater New Orleans High School Swim League Metro Championships on the Northshore, a highly competitive open invitational meet where top swimmers from all four divisions in the New Orleans area compete. Then on Saturday, the team hosted the Last Chance Qualifying Meet at Newman, providing swimmers with one final opportunity to secure state-qualifying times.

The Last Chance Qualifying Meet was particularly successful for Newman, with an impressive 82% of individual races resulting in best times. Out of 17 individual races, the team saw personal bests in 13 of them! The team used the meet as a final chance to lock in event selections for the State Meet, helping them identify key areas for improvement in the coming weeks. Some key highlights:

• Nick Rezza ’25 won the 50 Free, dropping half a second, and qualified for state in the event. He has now achieved state qualifications for all eight events offered at state.

• Elias Hutchings ’25 dropped four seconds in the 200 IM, achieving a state-qualifying time.

• Drew Sonnier ’25 delivered a strong performance and achieved a personal best in the 200 Free.

• Turner Mazzanti ’26 broke 30 seconds in the 50 Free for the first time, with a time of 29.3, achieving a personal best.

• Zhou won the 100 Free, dropping a full second from her previous best.

• Breaux placed first in the 50 Free and achieved a personal best.

• Helen Gong ’26 dropped an impressive eight seconds in the 200 Free and achieved a personal best in the 100 Breast.

• Charlotte Norwood ’27 took 1st place in the 200 Free, dropping three seconds.

• Zoila Linares ’27 showed improvement in the 50 and 100 Free.

• Xanna Higgins ’27 dropped time in both the 50 Free and 100 Back.

• Quinn Ogg ’28 achieved best times in the 200 IM and 100 Breast.

After the Last Chance Qualifying Meet, Breaux traveled back to the Northshore to compete in the Metro Championships finals. Morgan placed 15th in the 100 Breast, performing well in a field of competitors from larger divisions and slightly improving on her season best in this challenging event.

With the regular season complete, the team now sets its sights on the LHSAA Division 3 State Championship Meet, scheduled for November 20-21 in Sulphur, Louisiana. Over the next two weeks, the team will be working hard to refine their skills to finish the season strong at State. Go Greenies!

Cross Country

On Saturday (11/2), the JV cross country team participated in the local JV Championship Race and the Boys and Girls Open Race at City Park. On a very humid morning, the JV Boys team placed third out of seven teams, led by Cordell Crawford’s time of 19:08. The JV Girls team placed fourth out of seven teams, led by Jadyn Schwartz and her time of 21:18 (second place overall). The top Newman finisher in the Open Race was Harrison Westerfield, with a time of 18:56.

This Friday (11/8), the varsity boys and girls will honor their seniors and compete in the Regional Cross Country meet at City Park, their last race before the Cross Country State Meet in Natchitoches on Monday, November 18. The girls race begins at 10am (team awards at 10:50am), and the boys race is set for 12:15pm (team awards at 1:05pm). Following the boys’ team awards will be a presentation for the Newman seniors. Come out and honor the seniors and support the varsity runners!

Upcoming Schedule

See the latest Newman sports schedule here. Thank you for supporting Newman athletics, its teams, players, coaches, and administration!