by Jerit Roser // Capital Area High School Correspondent

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Louisiana lost one of its high school football coaching legends Sunday morning.

Parkview Baptist coach Kenny Guillot passed away at 76 years old, leaving an impact and legacy that transcends well beyond his Hall-of-Fame on-field résumé.

The former Jesuit of Shreveport and Northwestern State player made his way to Baton Rouge more than 50 years ago to begin his coaching career as an assistant at Broadmoor in 1969.

He moved to nearby Tara three years later and helped the Trojans win their Class 4A state championship in 1974, still the only title in program history.

Guillot earned his first head coaching opportunity at Woodlawn in 1979 before moving to the college ranks at Nicholls State and McNeese State for nearly a decade.

But he will be remembered by most for the final decades of his career at Parkview Baptist, including 15 seasons as the head coach of the football program he helped build into a powerhouse.

The Eagles went 167-31 during Guillot’s tenure, including state championships in 2001, 2007, 2010 and 2012, before passing the reins to son-in-law Jay Mayet for another in 2015.

Former players, assistants and colleagues took to social media Sunday to express their appreciation not just for his coaching prowess, but more so for his character and personality as a whole.

“Words don’t do him justice,” wrote Catholic High offensive line coach Matt Shelton, a Parkview Baptist alumnus who began his coaching career on Guillot’s staff. “There are so many great stories. This man was a world changer. So glad to have learned from him. God doesn’t put anyone where they are by accident. So thankful that he brought KG to Parkview in 1999.”

Wrote former Archbishop Shaw, LSU and NFL safety Ryan Clark: “Coach Guillot was a great man. Was on staff when my pops was in college and was at PBS when we first enrolled my kids in school there. He left an amazing legacy. Rest Easy coach.”

St. Joseph’s wins second straight gymnastics crown

COVID-19 cost high school gymnasts across Louisiana the opportunity to compete for state championships in 2020.

But, in 2021, St. Joseph’s Academy wouldn’t be denied.

The Redstickers, who also won in 2019, edged Sulphur by a 231.100 to 227.20 margin for the title, led by Level 8 all-around champion Ava Riche’s 38.000 and teammate Isabelle McDermott’s 37.900.

Host Baton Rouge High finished third with 226.950 points with Peyton Dunn’s perfect 10.000 in the Level 3 vault marking the event’s highest individual score in any event.

St. Joseph’s also finished first in Level 4 and Level 3 team scores, respectively.

Julia Dwelle’s 38.850 total led the Level 4 individual all-around scores, and teammate Kristen Pulliam’s 38.800 led in Level 3.

Jackson Rimes, Clayton Simms set national-best outdoor marks

A pair of national bests helped headline Catholic High’s Grizzly Relays track and field meet last week.

Jackson Rimes, who recently committed to LSU, hurled the javelin 208 feet, 8 inches for his home-standing Bears to not only win the event, but take over as the top mark in the country this season.

Catholic High topped Scotlandville, Woodlawn and Brother Martin for the boys’ team victory.

Live Oak’s Clayton Simms also climbed to the top of the nation’s outdoor pole-vaulting lists with a 17-02.75 mark.

And Woodlawn football standout Lanard Harris won both the 110-meter hurdles (14.62 seconds) and 300-meter hurdles (37.83 seconds).

St. Joseph’s Academy won the girls’ team meet in dominant fashion, led by Ava Riche’s triple jump (37-01), and Haley Jones’ 400-meter (1:00.25), Madeline Gardner’s 1,600-meter (5:15.80) and Sophie Martin’s 3,200-meter (10:53.43) runs.

Parkview Baptist star Ariel Pedigo won her four events to highlight the girls’ individual performances.

Scotlandville’s Sade Gray won the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints with 12.34-second and 25.52-second marks.

St. Michael’s Heather Abadie took the pole vault (13-04.25) victory, and Baton Rouge High’s Laila Guy won the shot put (41-07).

College-bound Ariel Pedigo’s big week on and off the track

Pedigo’s victories in the long jump, high jump, javelin and 100-meter hurdles at the Grizzly Relays only continued an already exciting week.

Her high jump of 5-10 and  long jump of 19-09.75 set stadium records and moved her to No. 2 and No. 5 nationally on those lists.

Yet another big competitive performance for this year’s indoor national champion with the same high jump mark came just one day after solidifying her college decision.

Pedigo chose and signed with Oklahoma on Wednesday over a long list of options that included hometown LSU, home-state Louisiana Tech, Texas and Southern Miss.

Catholic High completes undefeated Metro golf season

Catholic High shot 6-under par last week to win the Baton Rouge Golf Tournament and complete their undefeated Metro regular season.

The Bears’ 282-stroke performance at nearby Beaver Creek in Zachary topped Dunham (303), Denham Springs (309), Zachary (336) and Episcopal (338) for the capital city title.

Dunham’s Ryan Dupuy finished with the event’s best individual score of a 63, followed by Kyle Bennett of Zachary at 68 and four-straight Catholic High golfers in Walter Anderson (69), Teagan Richards (70), Alston Manne (71) and Carter Scmitt (72).