The Top 10 Sports Stories of 2015

No. 1 MCHS alum Norwood makes his mark on the track
The legs of Morgan City High alum and track star Vernon Norwood were very good to the sprinter in 2015.
The local standout used them to win three national titles on the collegiate level at LSU and also compete in the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China, as a member of Team USA.
He heads into the 2016 season with an eye toward qualifying to compete in the Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
Norwood, who had never won a high school, junior college or NCAA title prior to the 2015 season, began this year with an NCAA Division 1 championship in the 400-meter run during the indoor season with a time of 45.31.
He continued his success during the outdoor season when he took the NCAA Division 1 title in the 400-meter run in 45.10 seconds, sprinting past Florida’s Najee Glass for the title in Eugene, Oregon, in June.
In the 4 x 400 meter relay at the same meet, he overtook Glass again on the anchor leg to give the Tigers the crown. He ran a 44.97 split and teamed with senior Quincy Downing and juniors Fitzroy Dunkley and Cyril Grayson for the championship time of 3:01.96.
He also ran the second leg on the Tigers’ 4 x 100 meter relay, which placed third and posted a season-best of 38.62 at the outdoor national championships.
Norwood’s season continued later in the month as he qualified as a member of Team USA to compete in the IAAF World Championships following a third-place finish in the finals of the 400-meter run at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Norwood also was chosen to be in the field for Team USA’s 4 x 400 meter relay at the IAAF World Championships.
At the IAAF World Championships in August, Norwood was eliminated in the 400-meter run after he finished sixth in the first of three semifinal heats with a time of 45.07.
Norwood began his competition with a third-place finish in the fifth of six heats to qualify for the semifinals. In his initial race, he ran the 400-meter dash in 45.53.
Forty-four athletes ran in preliminary action, and 24 advanced to the semifinals.
The field then was pared to eight finalists.
Norwood also helped Team USA on its way to a gold-medal winning finish in the 4 x 400-meter relay at the IAAF World Championships.
While Norwood didn’t run in the finals, he ran the anchor leg in the preliminary round as Team USA advanced with a time of 2:58.13, winning the second of two heats. The time was the fastest among qualifiers.
Norwood was joined in the prelims by Kyle Clemons, Tony McQuay and Bryshon Nellum.

No. 2 CCHS softball team wins state
Central Catholic truly proved the cliché “the third time’s the charm” to be accurate as on the Lady Eagles’ third trip to the state tournament in three consecutive seasons, the team came home with a state title, knocking off defending state champion Cedar Creek, 6-4.
The Lady Eagles (26-3) entered the playoffs as the No. 4 seed and outscored playoff opponents 25-4 en route to the title. Central Catholic had four shutouts before surrendering four runs in the finals.
On the way to the title, the Lady Eagles edged No. 5 seed Ascension Catholic, 1-0, in eight innings in the quarterfinals and defeated the 2013 state champion and this year’s top seed, Catholic-Pointe Coupee, 1-0, in the semifinals.

No. 3 MCHS 4 x 100 meter relay is the state’s fastest in all classes
Morgan City High School’s boys’ 4 x 100-meter relay in 2015 owned the distinction of being not only the fastest in Class 4A at the Louisiana High School Athletic Association/Allstate Sugar Bowl Class 3A, 4A and 5A State Track and Field Meet in May, but the best in Louisiana’s seven classes this season.
Morgan City’s time of 41.42, run by the team of Keshawn Marshall, Kevon Marsh, Tierrell Jones and Jaylen Jones, beat McDonogh #35’s time of 41.82 for the 4A title.
It also set a new Morgan City High School record in the event.

No. 4 Ex-college coaches come to MCHS
Morgan City had head coaching vacancies in boys’ basketball and baseball heading into the 2015 season, and both were filled by coaches with Division 1 head coaching experience.
In less than a month in July, Morgan City announced the hiring of ex-UL-Lafayette basketball coach Robert Lee as its head basketball coach and ex-Alcorn State baseball coach Barret Rey to lead its baseball program.
Among his past experience, Lee was a member of the UL-Lafayette men’s basketball coaching staff, first as an assistant from 1996-2004 and then as head coach from 2004-10.
Since his tenure at UL-Lafayette, Rey’s stops have included the University of Louisiana at Monroe and the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, where he held assistant coaching positions.
The Tigers baseball program, which will begin its 2016 in a little less than two months, will be led by Rey. Rey was the head coach at Alcorn State until June. Rey had coached at Alcorn State for six seasons and also was head coach for three seasons at Grambling State.
He spent another eight seasons as an assistant coach under Roger Cador at Southern University.

No. 5 Burchfield retires from Berwick High School
It was the end of an era for the Berwick High School softball team in 2015 as longtime head coach Lloyd Burchfield announced he would be retiring at the end of the season.
Burchfield, who had been at Berwick since 1990 and coached the softball team since 1991, said it was time for him to step down.
The longtime coach led the Lady Panthers to the playoffs every year during his tenure, including four quarterfinal appearances, six semifinal trips, one state runner-up in 2001 and two state championships, in 1999 and 2003.
He was named Class 3A Louisiana State Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2003, and was a 2010 Louisiana Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee.
This past season, he celebrated another milestone as he won his 500th game in March. He finished his career with a record of 503-281-10. This past season, his team finished with a 13-18 mark, falling to E.D. White 10-0 in six innings in the bi-district round of the Class 3A playoffs.
Burchfield’s replacement will be Heather Templet.

No. 6 MCHS soccer advances to quarterfinals
The Morgan City High School soccer team had a postseason to remember as the squad, seeded No. 11 in the Division II bracket, advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in school history.
The Tigers achieved the feat by earning their first win in school history against district rival and No. 6 seed E.D. White in a marathon 2-1 victory in overtime.
The win came after the Tigers had fallen to the Cardinals twice during the regular season by scores of 3-0 and 1-0.
The Tigers would fall one game later, however, to No. 3 Bolton, 2-0.
Morgan City (12-9-3) began the postseason with an 8-0 victory against West Ouachita.

No. 7 Patterson 10U All-Stars nearly qualify for world series
It was a great run for the Patterson 10U Babe Ruth softball All-Star team this postseason as the squad nearly qualified for the Babe Ruth World Series.
Patterson fell to Magnolia, Arkansas, the Arkansas state champ and defending Southwest Regional Champion, 17-2 in four innings in the championship round.
With the win, Magnolia advanced to the world series in Florida.
The end of the run for the local squad marked an impressive comeback through the elimination bracket, however.
Patterson fell in its first game of bracket play with a 7-3 loss to Magnolia.
Patterson rebounded with three straight victories, a 19-7 win against Hamburg, Arkansas, an 18-7 victory against Broken Bow, Oklahoma, and a 14-10 win against Littlefield, Texas, the Texas state champions, to advance to the championship round against Magnolia, Arkansas.
Patterson was awarded the Mike Bertsch Memorial Sportsmanship Award at the tournament.
Patterson advanced to the Babe Ruth Southwest Regional after finishing as runner-up at the state tournament in Brusly in June.
Like at the southwest regional, the team had to fight its way through the elimination bracket at the state tournament.
After defeating Westside 19-0 to open the tournament, Patterson fell to St. Charles, 3-0.
However, the squad reeled off four consecutive wins — the last giving St. Charles their first loss of the tournament to force a winner-take-all contest.
In the final game of the tournament, Patterson fell 6-3 to St. Charles.
Members of the Patterson team were Addie Lovell, Bryleigh DeHart, Kamille Lightfoot, Rylie Chassion, Laila Dugar, Ana Vaccarella, Hilary Pillaro, Kaylee Vining, Hailey Skiles, Olivia Black, Maggie Lemoine, Mikah Ortiz, head coach Harris DeHart and assistant coaches Mike Ortiz and Patrick Skiles.

No. 8 Kenny Hilliard drafted by Houston Texans
Patterson High alum and former LSU football player Kenny Hilliard fulfilled a lifelong dream of playing professional football when he was drafted by the Houston Texans in the seventh round of the 2015 NFL Draft in May.
Hilliard, a 5-foot, 11-inch, 226-pound running back, was chosen with the No. 235 overall pick.
While Hilliard was waived in the preseason, he was brought back to the team as a member of the practice squad.

No. 9 CCHS baseball advances to semis
The Central Catholic High School baseball team made its fourth straight trip to at least the semifinal round of the Class 1A playoffs in 2015.
Unfortunately for the squad, their postseason run ended in the semifinals as the Eagles (23-5), the No. 6 seed, were upset by No. 7 St. Edmund.
Central Catholic’s playoff run included run-rule victories against No. 27 Delhi Charter (19-0 in five innings) in the bi-district round and district foe and No. 11 Ascension Episcopal (10-0 in six innings) in the regional round.
The Eagles edged No. 14 Ascension Catholic 2-1 in 10 innings in the quarterfinals to advance to the state tournament.

No. 10 Berwick girls basketball snaps two-year losing streak
The Berwick Lady Panthers earned not only their first win of the season but their first victory in two calendar years on Dec. 14 with a 47-43 win against Christian Life Academy in Berwick.
The win snapped a 42-game losing streak that began Dec. 6, 2013, with a 28-17 loss to Centerville.
Prior to the win earlier this month, the Lady Panthers’ last victory came Dec. 2, 2013, in a 33-8 victory against Covenant Christian.
Berwick has lost three games since their win and their record this season now stands at 1-8.
The Lady Panthers are led this season by first-year coach Wil Broussard.