The Episcopal boys and girls teams each closed out the LHSAA Class 2A track meet better than any of the contenders Friday night at LSU’s Bernie Moore track stadium, but the end result was the same for both — a third-place finish.

The two Episcopal squads used different routes to reach their final spots, and the placings were the top marks for Baton Rouge area schools.

Holy Savior Menard’s girls had 91 points before the last two events, and the total held up for the team title. Newman was next with 85, just enough to edge Episcopal’s total of 83.

The Knights had a chance to tie Newman with a win in the 4x400 meter relay, but came in second to reigning event champion Rosepine.

Episcopal’s highlight came in the 4x800, an event that saw the Knights set a Class 2A record. The team of Rebekah Reid, Ada Mere, Neva Lambert and Sarah Beth Cagley ran a time of 9 minutes, 45.18 seconds. It bettered the mark of 9 minutes, 54.57 seconds set last year by St. Thomas Aquinas.

Cagley, a freshman, also won the 800 taking the lead midway through the first lap and finishing with a time of 2:20.12.

“I went out very nervous. I just wanted to make my family proud,” said Cagley, who said she was more settled in the 800 after running the 4x800.

“Running the 4x8 helped a lot. It gave me a feel for how I wanted to run and plan the race.”

The Episcopal girls picked up points in distance running when Ada Mere and Neva Lambert finished 2-3 in both the 1,600 and 3,200.

The Knights boys final tally was highlighted by second place finishes in two relays, the 4x200 and the meet-finale 4x400. It wasn’t enough to catch Acadiana Renaissance Charter, which captured first with 64 points.

Northlake Christian was second with 49 points while Episcopal tallied 45. Coming in fourth, East Feliciana rode the all-around scoring of Southern signee Herman Batiste to finish at 44.

Batiste won three events and was second in another to run up a personal total of 38 points, and he was named the meet’s outstanding boys performer.

Batiste got started with a win in the long jump (23 feet, 3½ inches) before winning the 110 hurdles (14.31) and the 300 hurdles (37.90). With so many events to attend to, Batiste missed four of his high jump attempts but still placed second at 6-2.

“This is my senior year and I wanted to finish out with a bang,” said Batiste, who won three events despite missing the marks he was shooting for. “I didn’t hit everything but I’m still happy. It takes hard work. You can’t expect to get anything out of this unless you put some hard work into it.”