While most of the Westgate High School track and field team competed in NISH’s Tabasco Relays last week, a select group of runners traveled to Alabama to compete in the Invitational Division of the Mobile Challenge of Champions event. The event featured over 100 teams from schools across the southeastern United States.

Camron Spencer and Mekhi Boutte placed third and fourth, respectively, in the 200-meter dash, earning the top two spots in Louisiana Class 4A.

Tray’Quan Francis came in fifth in the 800 with a time of 1:58.64.

The Tiger relay teams also performed well, earning second place in the 4×100 with a time of 41.60 seconds. The team consisted of Jordan Doucet, Camron Spencer, Amaaz Eugene, and Mekhi Boutte. The performance set a new school record and was the fastest time by a Louisiana school at the event.

Westgate also found success in the 4×400 event, finishing in third place with a time of 3:21.99. The team consisted of Camron Sencer, Davian Hill, Mekhi Boutte, and Tray’Quan Francis. This time was also a new school record, and was the third fastest time by a Louisiana school at the event.

Head coach Philip Guidry said that he enjoys taking his top runners to these kinds of events because they offer a different experience and level of competition.

“The Mobile Challenge of Champions has always been one of the top meets in the southern United States,” he said. “You have some of the best athletes come and compete. It’s a two day meet; Friday is the open division and Saturday is the invitational, so you have to be invited to that one. The kids have been performing at a high level and the kids have been wanting to go to some other meets but it just didn’t work out. This one was available, so we decided to go there.”

Guidry praised the performances of his athletes, explaining that their results set the new standard for Westgate runners.

“(High level meets) definitely bring out the best from them,” he said. “You can tell who is going to be there prior to the event, they put out the heat sheets so the kids know who the best competition is going to be. We were one of the better schools going into a few events and they performed. We brought them to high level meets in the past, so it’s not a ‘deer in the headlights’ type thing. They’re going to go in there and compete. Our practices are run at a pretty high level, so when you go to the meet it isn’t really anything different than what we are doing at practice.”

Guidry has been at Westgate for four years now, and said that the record breaking performances of his team this season is the result of hard work and the culture he has implemented in the program.

“This is my fourth year as the head coach of the program, so I’ve seen these kids develop over the past four years,” he said. “We have some underclassmen that are helping step up their game and seeing the example being set by the older guys and falling in. Even our guys that ran at the NISH meet on Friday, a lot of JV guys, they were guys that we wanted to get in and get some experience so that when it’s their turn to step up they’re ready. As a whole, (breaking records) is a culmination of what we’ve done over the years and why I feel like we’re ready to go to these bigger meets and compete at a high level.

The track team will be back in action on Friday as Westgate hosts its annual National Guard Tiger Relays.

Events will begin at 3:30 p.m. at Westgate High School.