Distance runner Minton leads Central Catholic at state meet

Cade Minton led Central Catholic’s small contingent of runners at Friday’s portion of the 2016 Allstate Sugar Bowl/LHSAA Track & Field State Meet, competing in two events.
Minton recorded a seventh-place finish in the Class 1A 1,600-meter run, setting a personal record of 4:51.70.
Minton finished eighth in the Class 1A 3,200-meter run Friday with a time of 11:11.67 at LSU’s Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
In the 1,600-meter run, Minton’s seventh-place finish bettered his seed by one spot as he came in seeded eighth. His previous best in the event was 4:59, which he set at the District 7-1A meet this season.
“He just ran aggressive in the 1,600 meters, and it worked (because) he PR’d by eight seconds, and that’s what you want to do,” Central Catholic coach David Fuhrer said. “You want to do your best here at state.”
Scott Maggio of St. Mary’s won the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:30.69, while Antonio Imbornone of St. Martin’s Episcopal won the 3,200-meter run with a time of 10:20.28.
Minton came into the 3,200-meter dash seeded seventh but slipped a spot in the final standings at eighth.
“In the 3,200 meters, he just went out with the pack and went out early and was a little faster than he’s used to,” Fuhrer said. “He ran aggressive in the 3,200 meters and just didn’t have enough at the end.”
Fuhrer said Minton ran a good 3,200 meter race.
“It’s a great learning experience, and I know now he’s got a taste of being here, so looking forward to next year and him doing better things,” Fuhrer said.
In the Class 1A 100-meter dash, Central Catholic’s Samarick Paul had a rough day as he could not recover from a bad start for an eighth-place finish with a time of 11.52. Paul came into the event seeded sixth.
“He made it here, and I’m very proud of that accomplishment,” Fuhrer said of Paul. “Told him ‘you need to be proud of that,’ and, again, he’s got motivation now to come back and hopefully make it in a few more events.”
Paul, who won the long jump in 2015, did not participate in jumping events in 2016 after suffering a knee injury early in football season.
However, he found a different way to get to state meet this season using his talent as a sprinter.
Emile Trahan of Vermilion Catholic, a District 7-1A opponent of Central Catholic, won the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.84.
As a team, Central Catholic didn’t score any points. Southern Lab won the boy’s competition with 75 points.