Three teche-area athletes took over Boston last weekend at the New Balance Indoor Nationals.

Highland Baptist’s Tyler Blissett and Westgate’s Dedrick Latulas and Mekhi Boutte traveled to New England to take part in one of the most prestigious indoor track and field events in America.

All three athletes excelled in the prep indoor track and field season, earning an invitation to the exclusive event before turning their attention to putting in repeat performances at the LHSAA state outdoor meet in May.

Tyler Blissett

After placing third in the 1600-meters and bringing home the gold in the 3200-meters to end the prep indoor season, Blissett knew that he would be ready to make an impressive debut on the national high school ranks.

Blissett, who previously competed in national indoor events as a middle schooler, was the undisputed Louisiana champion in the two-mile event and hoped to come away with one final podium-worth performance before making the transition to the outdoor season.

Placing 10th in the nation in the 1500-meters with a time of 4:12.38 and 9th in the 1-mile event with a time of 4:29.06, Blissett set a great benchmark for himself moving forward.

“I feel good about my performance,” Blissett said. “Going in, I knew that it was going to be a new track and it was supposed to be a fast track. I knew that I was in better shape from my training.”

With solid performances in Boston, Blissett decided to make the trip to New York to compete in the Nike Indoor Nationals as well.

“After New Balance, my dad talked to me and said that I was signed up for the Nike event too,” Blissett explained. “He said that we could go if I wanted and I was like ‘yeah, let’s go get another race’ and we drove up the next morning.”

At the Nike Indoor Nationals, Blissett again improved on his previous times, shaving off around a second in each event.

Blissett placed 3rd in the Freshman 1-Mile with a time of 4:28.68 and took home a silver medal in the 1500-meter race in New York with a time of 4:11.04.

Dedrick Latulas

Westgate senior Dedrick Latulas earned his place at the New Balance Indoor Nationals with a silver medal performance at the LHSAA State Meet in the triple jump event.

In Boston, the LA Tech-commit placed 11th in the nation with a distance of 13.77 meters, but Latulas isn’t satisfied just yet.

“I feel like I did well but that ‘dog’ in me still says that I could’ve done better,” he said.

His performance earned him ALl-American honors, something Latulas said he never expected to earn off of the football field.

“I was a big football guy, so that was always the accomplishment that I wanted in football,” he explained. “Still, it’s a great feeling to know that I can do it in another sport and become an All-American.”

The trip to New England wasn’t just an excuse to add more honors to his name, however. Latulas said he was able to see more of the world and experience things he has ever had the opportunity to do before.

“It was definitely different because I had never flown before or ridden on a train, so there were things that I got to experience for the first time,” he said. “I’m glad that I got to experience that, I’m a down-south boy but to get out there and experience those things is definitely a great feeling.”

Now that the indoor track and field season is complete, Latulas is ready to chase a third consecutive 4A state title in the outdoor season. The senior said he is fully healed up from football and ready to do what it takes to earn another championship ring.

“I feel great. I did a little bit of basketball but Coach Guidry has given me the proper rest and emphasizes following the workout plan,” Latulas said. “I’m putting my trust in him, he’s a great coach and he got us to back-to-back (championships), so I’m going to follow him and just perform.”

In addition to his many fans at Westgate, Latulas said his coaches at LA Tech have also been loud supporters of his accomplishments on the track.

“They always retweet my posts and check on me and congratulate me,” he said. “Hopefully I can take it over there and do football and track.”

Mekhi Boutte

Traveling with Latulas and Guidry to Boston was Westgate record-holder Mekhi Boutte.

The senior, who competes in many relays and short-distance events for the Tigers, said that he struggled in Boston with an unusual track.

“Personally I don’t feel like my performance was the best,” he said. “I’m used to running in lane one on a flat track, so transitioning to a banked track in lane six wasn’t the easiest. I went from flat to steep and lane six is hard to run in, so I don’t feel like I did the best. Looking back at the video I can tell I didn’t get started that well.”

Even with his harsh self-criticism, Boutte can take his performance in stride. Placing 12th in the nation in the Boys 200-meter event with a time of 21.62, Boutte gained a better appreciation for the level of competition he will face next season at the collegiate level.

“I competed against greater competition and most of those guys are going to be competing in college, so it’s only going to better prepare me to know what I’m going to be running against next year,” he explained.

With an offer from UL Lafayette coming shortly after his return from Boston, Boutte said that he is still keeping his options open before making a decision.

“Of course I’m always open to other opportunities, but I’m very grateful to UL for believing in me,” he said. “I’m still keeping my options open right now.”

In addition to gaining a better understanding of his future competition, Boutte said he also gained a new appreciation for his coach and teammate during the trip.

“It was a fun trip overall,” he said. “It helped to bring us three closer, especially Dedrick and I. We got a chance to kind of see our future and what we can do to help the younger guys to set the tone for next year.”

With his focus already turned to the outdoor season, Boutte uncovered a good problem at Westgate’s opening track meet.

After shattering the Westgate record in the 100-meter event with a time of 10.63, Boutte said he is already setting his sights on an even faster time.

“I want to break 10.5 right now. In the 200-meters, I want to run in the low 21-seconds. That’s the ultimate goal,” he said.

Boutte isn’t just happy with his own performances early in the outdoor season, praising the hard work and discipline of Westgate’s younger runners.

“We had a lot of surprises this year, a lot of athletes have done better than we expected,” Boutte said. “It helps us a lot and allows us to come together well and have a lot of options for the state meet.”