Tom Dodge
Their high school careers will be remembered for their accomplishments as stellar athletes and quality individuals.
The Eunice News 2020 Athletes of the Year are Eunice High’s Leah Walker and Jordan Oglesby along with St. Edmund’s Kinsley Marcantel and Alex Dupre.
All four were nominated by their respective athletic directors as their school’s top senior athletes.
Leah DeNaye Walker
The school year didn’t end the way anyone wanted to, especially for Leah Walker.
Walker had been a part of the Eunice High track team that won eight straight St. Landry Parish championships and seemed poised to battle to keep that streak going before COVID-19 stopped them.
She had already missed most of the Lady Bobcats’ basketball season with health issues before being released to participate for the last few games.
“I will miss my teammates,” Walker said of her basketball career. “We became close over our time together on the court.”
Walker played volleyball and softball her freshman year, but basketball and track is where she shined the most.
“I was proud of defense,” she said. “I did what I needed to do to help the team – if I didn’t score a lot of points I could still help on defense.
“I will always remember when we won the first home playoff game in a long time,” Walker said of the Lady Cats’s 51-48 win over Avoyelles in 2018.
Walker earned All-Parish and All District honors in basketball during her time on the court.
Walker said she was sad this year’s track season was stopped after just one meet.
“I thought we could have done well,” she said. “It was very disappointing because we had put in the hard work to finish strong in the biggest year of my high school career.”
At last year’s Class 3-A state meet, Walker finished fourth in both the 100 meters (12.38) and the 200 meters (25.49).
Walker won both the 100 meters (12.71) and the 200 meters (26.21) and was named Most Outstanding Performer at the LHSAA Region II Class 3-A meet
“It was nerve racking,” she said of the competition. “But it was also a very fun experience.”
She is the daughter of Tawania Gallow and Roy Walker.
Through it all supporting her high school career has been her mother and her grandmother Dorothy Gallow.
Her mom was busy taking photos and cheering on the Lady Cats, while her grandmother calmly showed her support from the stands.
“They are the biggest support system that I have,’ she said of her family “It means a lot to know they are right there cheering me on.”
Walker said high school was a great experience but she is ready for college as she will attend the University of Louisiana at Monroe and major in radiological technology.
“I appreciate all the time my coaches put in with me to help make me who I am,” she said. “They really affected me as an athlete and a person.”
Kinsley Claire Marcantel
Marcantel stayed busy during her high school years at St. Edmund as she was a football athletic trainer and also played volleyball, basketball and softball.
“I was a trainer for three years,” she said. “I signed up for training my freshman year because all my friends were doing it, but I ended up loving it.
“I skipped my sophomore year of training to play volleyball because it was hard to do both.”
Marcantel was a standout player on both the basketball court and the softball field.
“Basketball was my favorite sport,” she said. “I got close with my teammates and I loved playing for coach Erica (Zaunbrecher) – she made it fun.”
She earned all-district honors three times including a first team selection her senior season.
The Lady Jays made the playoffs all four years with Marcantel including first round wins over St. Frederick (55-21) and Sacred Heart of Ville Platte (45-32).
Marcantel was the only senior on this year’s basketball team.
“It was kind of stressful a times, but I had a good team around me,” she said. “We played well together as a team.”
Marcantel averaged 11.3 points per game as a senior to go with four rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.4 steals and one blocked shot per contest.
Marcantel was part of the back-to-back district softball titles in 2018 and 2019 and the Lady Jays were 11-1 when her senior season was stopped.
Kinsley was able to play softball with her younger sister Ashlyn for one season together.
“It was nice to be together even if it as just for a little while,” she said. “I wish the season could have been longer together.”
Marcantel earned both first team all-district and all-parish honors during her four years as the Lady Jay catcher.
She hit three home runs as a freshman and two more during her junior season.
She hit .500 and had eight RBIs in her shortened senior season.
Her two most memorable games happened this season, she said.
The 12-10 win over South Beauregard was helped by Marcantel’s 3-for-4 performance including two RBIs and a run scored.
“It was a special win because South Beau is a big school with an amazing team,” she said. “I’m sure they thought they were going to blow us out but we had a different mindset going into the game.”
The 13-0 win over Welsh was the Lady Jays’s final game of the season and the parents quickly arranged for a Senior Day ceremony for Marcantel, Jaedyn Soileau and Katelyn LaCour.
“It meant a lot to me because it was my last game of high school and being with my team.”
Marcantel was honored by the LHSAA as she earned Academic All-State honors.
The daughter of Jeffrey Marcantel and Ashley Powell, Kinsley said she is grateful to have the support of her family.
“It means a lot because of all the things I have gone through,” she said. “They have always been there for me.
“Just to see them there made me want to play harder and make them proud,” Marcantel said.
Marcantel was diagnosed with an autoimmune deficiency her sophomore year and undergoes blood transfusions every three weeks – even during the sports schedule.
“I get tired and I can tell when it’s time,” she said. “Hopefully it will get better over time – but I was determined to fight through it all.”
She plans to attend LSU Eunice in the fall and major in general studies.
Jordan Oglesby
Oglesby was a stand-out football player for the Bobcats, earning All District, All St. Landry Parish, All Metro, All-Acadiana and Class 4-A All-State his senior season.
“I loved defense because I was able to tackle people,” he said.
Oglesby said he will always appreciate being able to play for Coach Paul Trosclair and the other coaches.
“He showed me how to become a leader,” Oglesby said. “He showed me how to overcome adversity and I am grateful that he believed in me.”
As a junior, Oglesby was a member of the 2018 Class 3-A state championship football team a 59-47 victory over Sterington.
Oglesby got his first chance to be a full time starter for Eunice as a junior and he finished with 71 tackles, 12 TFL and 7 sacks, on the way to first-team all-district and all-parish honors.
“My junior season was a good experience with getting the feel for starting the whole season,” he said. “People counted us out before the season could even start but we over came the adversity and the negativity and won a state title.
“It didn’t feel real and the game really moved slow for us,” Oglesby said of the championship game. “That helped us come out with the win.
“It felt really cool for us to win because people in our city didn’t experience that for awhile,” he said to the Bobcats’ first title since 1982.
His senior season at defensive end, Oglesby (6-1 220) finished with 43 solo tackles, 57 assists, 14 tackles for loss and 10 quarterback sacks
He also had two fumble recoveries and 15 quarterback hurries.
“Football taught me to depend on other people and not to play just for yourself,” he said. “People will have your back as a member of the team.”
Ogelsby is heading to Miami, Florida, to attend Asa Miami Community College and major in mechanical or electrical engineering
Oglesby played basketball as a sophomore and threw the shot put as a junior.
He is the son of Kayla Givs and William Oglesby.
Givs is the pastor of Restoring God’s Glory Ministries of Eunice.
“I learned from them to never give up on what I want to do with my life,” he said. “Whatever goals I have in life, set the bar high – strive and fight to achieve that goal.”
Ogelsby said he had Bobcats as his role models including Larry Rideau, Travis Godfrey and others.
He has spent the last couple of months working out in preparation for his junior college football season but he has also been involved in helping his Eunice community through a daily summer feeding program for the area children.
“I’m involved with the feeding program because I want to do my part in the community and give each kid a hot meal every day.
“It means a lot to me just to see the expression on a kid’s face when they get the plate,” he said. “I’m truly blessed to do what I do.”
Alex Dupre went to St. Edmund since Pre-K and was one of their top graduates of 2020.
Dupre is the son Mary and Dax Dupre.
“It meant a lot,” Dupre said of his parents’ support. “They were the ones who pushed me into sports when I was little.
“I wasn’t the most outgoing kid and they wanted me to play and it was one of the best decisions they could have made.”
Dupre was born deaf and had cochlear implant surgery after his first birthday.
“I never let it hold me back,” he said. “I wouldn’t let it be a negative.”
Alex Dupre began playing basketball in eighth grade and was a Blue Jay baseball player four years.
After being named to the all-district honorable mention list as a freshman and sophomore, Dupre was named to the third team as a junior.
Dupre earned second team All-District honors his senior season.
He averaged 15 points per game with six rebounds, six assists, 2.2 blocks and three steals per contest.
Dupre also earned All Academic honors for a 4.0 GPA.
As the only senior on the basketball team in 2019-20, Dupre said he wanted to be a leader on and off the court.
“I wanted to be an example and give them all the advice I could that I learned from playing al those years,” Dupre said. “I want them to be able to pass that to others as they become seniors.”
Dupre said he followed the example of former Blue Jays like Brent Swann, Drew Brown, Austin Gradney, Stone Lejeune and Cullen Brown.
Dupre said their double over time 56-50 win over Loreauville on Senior Night was memorable, but he will always remember his final basketball game in the playoffs against Opelousas Catholic as his teammates surrounded him on the court.
“Every one of them said how much they liked playing with me and congratulated me on my career,” he said. “I will remember that for the rest of my life.”
The COVID-19 pandemic stopped his high school baseball career.
“At the time we really thought we were going to be able to return by the middle of April and finish the season,” he said. “But that last game we went out to have fun and play for each other.”
While basketball and baseball were his major sports, Dupre joined the cross country team as a senior to run with one of his best friends.
“It was definitely an interesting experience,” he said. “But it was fun because I got to hang out with Jack Parks as we ran the varsity meets.”
Dupre said it was special to be able to play basketball and baseball with his younger brother Ian.
“We played travel ball together when we were younger,” Alex said. “I’m glad we could be together again as I finished high school. We are very close.”
Dupre will attend LSU Eunice and then transfer to LSU Baton Rouge to continue working through their pre-pharmacy track to get prepared for pharmacy school.
“I will miss the time together with my St. Ed’s friends,” he said. “But I had so many great memories and I am grateful for all I gained.”