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BERWICK _ Berwick High School Girls and Boys won the 2017 St. Mary Parish Championship Relays held here Friday at Geisler Stadium.
In the boys division, Berwick amassed 236 points to emerge victorious. Patterson finished in second place with 121 points while Central Catholic was third with 89 points. Morgan City collected 29 points for fourth place with West St. Mary finishing fifth with 27 points. Hanson Memorial was sixth with 13 points while Centerville was seventh with 5 points.
Berwick’s Lady Panthers claimed the girls title with 156 points while West St. Mary was the runners-up with 133 points. Morgan City’s Lady Tigers finished third with 104 points with Central Catholic placing fourth with 44 points. Hanson Memorial was fifth with 36 points while Patterson was sixth with 29 points.
Top finishers for the West St. Mary Lady Wolfpack were: Belle Louvier, first, 1600, 7:25.0; Brandy Washington, first, 100, 18.87; Brandy Washington, first, 300, 54.92; Bell Louvier, second, 3200, 16:57.0; Jade Druilhet, second, 100, 20.26; Jada Druilhet, second, 300, 57.13; 4x100 meter relay, Takylan Hamilton, Braesha Alexander, Keiontay Declouet, Adacea Mitchell, second, 54.25; 4x200 meter relay, Kiara Sampy, Braesha Alexander, Keiontay Declouet, Adacea Mitchell, second, 1:57.25; 4x400 meter relay, Kiara Sampy, Jasmin Boyd, Brandy Washington, Angela Rios, 5:02.00; Kiara Sampy, second, 400, 1:10.72; Diamond Frazier, second, shot put, 30-01.0; Takylan Hamilton, discus, second, 78-04; Kiara Sampy, third, 200, 28.82; Angela Rios, third, 800, 3:15.0; Jasmin Boyd, fourth, 200, 30.93; Takalyn Hamilton, fourth, javelin, 79-05; Diamond Frazier, fifth, javelin, 76-07; Jada Druilhet, fifth, long jump, 12-02.25.
Top finishers for the Hanson Memorial Lady Tigers were: Noel Baker, first, javelin, 104-09; Syndi Gaither, second, 800, 3:06.00; 4x100-meter relay, Camille Baker, Olivia Luke, Kodi Gaither, Lynden Verdin, third, 54.97; Kodi Gaither, third, 100, 14.11; Camille Baker, fourth, 100, 14.18; Emily Junca, sixth, discus, 68-02 and Camille Baker, sixth, javelin, 73-08.
West St. Mary’s top finishers included: 4x100 meter relay (Kharee Lockley, Desmon Washington, Roderick Hudson, Wayne Armelin), second, 46.85; Cordell Johnson, third, 200, 24.47; Azhylan Brown, fourth, 400, 56.98; 4x200 (Demondric Pierre, Richard Bob, James Robertson, Bryson Abraham), fourth, 1:41.16 and 4x400-meter relay (Demondric Pierre, James Robertson, Bryson Abraham, Richard Bob), fifth, 4:01.06.
Hanson Memorial’s top finishers included: Presly Drace, fourth, shot put, 35-11; Kameron Walden, fourth, discus, 104-04; Kane Boudreaux, fifth, discus, 100-07; O’Brien Verdin, fifth, 1600, 5:45.0 and Kane Boudreaux, sixth, javelin, 109-10.
Top finishers for Centerville were: Dylan Bergeron, fifth, 1600, 5:45.0 and David Nugent, sixth, discus, 95-11.

Sen. Perry, Rep. Landry talk criminal justice reform during One Acadiana event
As Louisiana officials have looked for cost-cutting measures amid budget issues, one option that has come up is reforming the criminal justice system.
Gov. John Bel Edwards received a plan from the Louisiana Justice Reinvestment Task Force two weeks ago. The plan covers a year of examination of sentencing and trends.
If the Legislature passes a criminal justice reform bill, experts say the plan could cut Louisiana’s prison population, one of the largest in the world, by 13 percent during the next decade. The plan would also cut the people supervised in the community by 16 percent. In all, the plan could save tax payers $305 million.
Speaking Thursday morning at a preview of the upcoming regular Legislative session conducted by One Acadiana, Sen. Jonathan Perry (R-Kaplan) said the criminal justice reform issue will receive a long look and much debate. With that, Perry said he does not feel the issue will be finalized by the end of the 60-day session, which begins on April 10.
“My involvement in the upcoming session will be more in the criminal justice reinvestment,” Perry said, “simply because of my background as a police officer and prosecutor.
“However, I don’t think we are even at first base.”
Perry explained that discussion last week in Baton Rouge indicated that the plan would be presented in one bill, by one author.
“In my opinion,” Perry said, “that wouldn’t even get out of committee. It’s too much to have in one bill.
“It needs to be broken down. To what degree? That is what we are going to talk about during the session.”
Terry Landry, who represents parts of Lafayette, Iberia and St. Martin parishes, has been a strong advocate for reform and served on the reinvestment task force. He said Thursday morning during the event that the issue has to be given an extensive look.
“I spent 30 years in law enforcement,” said Landry, who served as superintendent of Louisiana State Police. “I worked every facet from homicide to traffic. I am sensitive to a safe community. Incarceration should be a rehabilitation process, for those who can be rehabilitated. It shouldn’t be a money making process. Data shows that 52 percent of the people incarcerated in Louisiana are for non-violent and non-sexual crimes.”
Landry said the numbers are simply too high.
“No one can convince me that we have so many bad people that we have to incarcerate at the highest rate in the world,” Landry said. “We have 4,000 people in private prisons that are a business and provide no rehabilitation.”
Along with supporting serious prison reform, Landry also stated on Thursday that he plans to introduce a bill that would put a moratorium on the death penalty.
“If you believe in right to life,” Landry said, “it ought to be from the womb to the tomb. I am not suggesting there be no consequences. Life is life. There are people who should be locked up for the rest of their breathing days. We spend up to $10 million a year defending in the appeals process.
“We are getting a lot of support in and conversation about it.”
In terms of criminal justice reform, Perry said he is not against supporting some variation of it, but serious discussions, especially how reform affects victims, need to be had before anything takes place.
“My personal opinion,” Perry said, “is that I am not key on simply saying this is the most important area that we can save money. I told the governor’s staff last week that I will not try to just stand in the way. I will be open minded on every single thing. First and foremost, I am concerned how this will affect victims of crimes if this does move forward.
“If you are going to bring some reform and show us how we are saving money, I am good with that, but not at the expense of the victims.”