The student-athletes at Westminster Christian Academy are making their mark with numerous accomplishments at the state and regional levels.
Seven Westminster students made all-state this year, including Abigail Cunningham and Caroline Lalonde in girls’ volleyball, Gabe Proffitt and Cohen Elliott in boys’ soccer, Abigail Lewis and Adam Stelly in swimming, and Owen Melancon in cross-country.
Westminster also enjoyed numerous team successes over the year. The boys’ cross-country team won the parish and regional meets, and the school was the state runner-up in cross-country. The volleyball team won the district title and finished as a state runner-up. Both the girls’ and boys’ basketball teams made the playoffs, as did the boys’ soccer team. Nine tennis players qualified for the state tournament. Cooper Manuel was a regional champion and Daniel Chautin was a regional runner-up. Owen-Scott Dupre and Luke Mayer were regional semifinalists in doubles, while Manuel and Gabby Scott were top 16 finishers in state singles competition.
In track and field, the Westminster girls team won the district and division regional title and finished third at the state meet, and the boys team won district and were runner up in regionals. Aalyia Arvie and Bethany Casey were individual state champions. Casey grew up watching Olympic high jumpers and making makeshift pits on her bed pretending she was one of those athletes. As a state champion in high jump this year she is already looking toward her future goals, “Next year as a senior I look forward to breaking my own records as well as the class 1A high jump record of 5’7.5”.”
The Crusaders’ girls team won the state 4 x 100 meet relay with members Caroline Lalonde, Casey, Carmen Janes and Arvie. Parker Janes finished third in the individual 100 meters while the girls 4 x 200 meter relay was third at the state meet with participants Lalonde, Janes, Arvie, and Laila Gauthier.
“It was a pretty amazing year for our school,” said WCA Athletic Director Keith Leon. “Our girls soccer team has only been around for about four years and they’ve already made it to the regional rounds of the playoffs. Three years ago, our girls basketball team went 0-10. This year, they made it to the second round of the playoffs. We had some great showings in track. It created a lot of excitement around campus. Everybody was going to the games and meets. Our athletic program is turning into something special.”
Now, thanks to generous donors, Westminster will enhance its athletic facility offerings with an eight-lane track surrounding the football and soccer field at the Opelousas campus. Construction on the track will take place over the summer and is expected to be complete by the time school starts in August. The track will provide a state-of-the-art training surface for Westminster student-athletes and also allow the school to host district and regional meets.
“We had no place to practice prior to this, so having a track right here is going to be a big plus,” Leon said. “Our kids will really have an opportunity to prepare even better for their competitions. Even our seniors were excited when it was announced. They’re excited for the younger kids who will be here to utilize it.”
The installation of the new track is just one major new project taking place to upgrade Westminster’s athletic facilities. Leon said the school’s weight room is being completely renovated and expanded into a state-of-the-art training center that will be accessible for all students.
“We already have a large fieldhouse at our football field and a clubhouse at the baseball field, and we just redid our gym floor last year,” Leon said. “We’re investing a lot into our athletic facilities because we want our kids to have the best. For a school of our size, we really do offer a lot.”
Leon noted that about 90% of Westminster high school students are on at least one school team and many play multiple sports. The school currently offers football, baseball, softball, basketball, swimming, tennis, track and field, cross-country, volleyball and soccer. By participating in sports, Westminster students also experience character growth as they learn how to work together, serve others, resolve conflicts and develop persistence.
“All of our coaches care tremendously about the kids,” Leon said. “If you love and care for the kids, they are going to produce results for you. I think the kids know that we have their well-being in mind and are going to do our best to help them succeed.”
As a smaller school with only 30 seniors in last month’s graduation ceremony, six of those graduates received official offers to continue their athletic careers in college. Abigail Cunningham and Caroline Lalonde signed to play volleyball for UL, Ada and Carlie Horton signed with Louisiana Christian University for volleyball, and Cam Randell will continue his football career at Louisiana Christian University while Blake Richardson heads to Arkansas to play baseball at Champion Christian College. Westminster Christian Academy is a small school with big opportunities. For more information, visit wcala.org.