Central Catholic to honor 5 grads

Five Central Catholic High graduates will be inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame during the homecoming game Oct. 31 against Country Day.
The ceremony will be held during halftime. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Hall of Fame inductees receiving the Central Catholic High School Lifetime Meritorious Service Award are Sister Madeleine Sophie Hebert and Jules Arceneaux.
Hall of Fame inductees receiving the Central Catholic High School Hall of Fame Athletic Achievement Award are Ronald J. Hebert, Grant H. Autrey, and Andrew “Andy” Gros.
Sister Madeleine Sophie Hebert
Hebert is awarded the Lifetime Meritorious Service award in recognition for outstanding contribution to mankind, and for outstanding achievement as an alumnus of Sacred Heart High School/Central Catholic High School, Principal Vic Bonnaffee said.
Born in Morgan City in 1912, Hebert was a member of the first graduating class of Sacred Heart High School (now CCHS) where she was educated by the Marianite Sisters of the Holy Cross. Following her graduation 84 years ago, she joined the Marianite order and went on to earn her undergraduate degree in English and history. She followed that with a master’s degrees in education and hospital administration.
Hebert is noted for many “firsts” in her life, Bonnaffee said. She was the first Marianite to earn a degree from St. Mary’s, Indiana; the first Marianite principal at St Mary’s Elementary School in New Orleans; first Marianite to speak at the National Catholic Educator’s Convention; first Marianite to earn a degree in hospital administration; first administrator of Opelousas General Hospital; first religious to be elected president of the Louisiana Hospital Association; and first Marianite to be re-elected to three terms (13 years) as Superior General of the Marianite for such an extended time since the original head of the order, he said.
Jules Arceneaux
Arceneaux graduated from Central Catholic High School in May 1978. Honored with the CCHS Hall of Fame Lifetime Meritorious Service Award, Arceneaux is recognized for more than 20 years of dedication to Central Catholic, Bonnaffee said.
He served as Eagle Club president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. Arceneaux served on the Advisory Council and has chaired multiple fundraisers.
Also, he served as a Capital Campaign Committee chair; and worked gates and concessions year after year for athletic events. Throughout his years of service, Arceneaux has overseen, and often secured funding for, a multitude of construction projects benefiting both the school and the school’s athletic programs and facilities.
Ronald Hebert
Hebert, honored with the Athletic Achievement Award, graduated from Sacred Heart Academy (now CCHS) in 1951. Hebert, along with a group of teammates, was instrumental in recruiting Andrew Daigle to coach the school’s first football team. As a member of this first team, Hebert scored the first touchdown recorded in school history, Bonnaffee said.
As a basketball player, he made significant contributions to the team, and was selected to eight different all-tournament teams during his basketball career at Sacred Heart.
Grant Autrey
As a high school student, Autrey, a 1999 graduate of Central Catholic, had an outstanding career as kicker and punter on the football team and received numerous awards throughout his high school athletic career, Bonnaffee said.
Among his awards, Grant was named First Team Coaches All-State Punter, First Team Sportswriters All-State Punter; First Team Academic All-State and All Quad Parish Team Kicker.
Autrey’s performance on the 1999 State Championship CCHS baseball squad was equally impressive, as he was named to First Team Coaches All-State, First Team Sportswriters All-State, First Team Academic All-State and received the Outstanding Hitter Award.
Autrey continued to perform at the college level as punter for University of Louisiana at Lafayette. While there, he was starting punter for four years, named Sun Belt Academic All-Conference four years and holds UL school records for most career punts, most season punts and most career punt yardage.
He is a licensed occupational therapist and a member of the Holy Cross Knights of Columbus.
Andrew Gros
Gros, also a 1999 graduate of Central Catholic, is recognized for his outstanding performance in baseball, according to the principal.
Gros is especially recognized for pitching Central Catholic to the school’s first state baseball championship in 1999. He was named to the All-District team each year 1996-1999 and was named All-State team twice. In 1999, Gros was named All-American, All-State, District Most Valuable Player and State Most Valuable Player.
After high school, Gros received a baseball scholarship with University of Louisiana at Lafayette where he continued to achieve.
Gros was the only true freshman. He pitched in the 2000 College World Series, was named Freshman All American in 2000 and in 2002 pitched a complete game shutout against LSU, Bonnaffee said.
Gros was ranked 15th in the country for having the lowest earned run average. In 2003, Gros went on to play independent professional baseball for the Selma Cloverleafs and then with the San Diego Padres organization where his career ended in 2004.