NEW ORLEANS (December 5, 2025) – Avery Daigle, a sophomore star for the Mandeville High School girls swimming team, has been selected as November's Allstate Sugar Bowl Athlete of the Month presented by LCMC Health. Athletes of the month have been selected by the New Orleans Sports Awards Committee since 1957. The athlete must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or must compete for a team in the metropolitan region to be eligible. According to available records, Daigle is the first female swimmer to earn the award since February of 1994 when future Olympic Gold Medalist Ashley Tappin was honored.
 
Allstate Sugar Bowl Athletes of the Month
 
Daigle had a pair of memorable performances in the pool in November as she was the Most Outstanding Female Swimmer at both the LHSAA Division I state championship meet and at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Metro Championships. The sophomore swimmer set two individual composite state records – both All-America times – while helping the Skippers' 200-yard medley relay set a composite state record at the Division I state meet on Nov. 22. She also won the 100 butterfly (54.02), the 100 backstroke (54.14) and swam on the state champion 200 medley relay, which finished with an All-America consideration time of 1:45.30.
 
"The main goal all season was to go to state, win and break the state records, so I was happy I was able to do that," Daigle said.
 
At the Sugar Bowl Metro Meet (Nov. 7-8), she repeated as the Outstanding Swimmer as she posted her personal-best times in three events, including posting an All-America qualifying time of 53.72 in the 100-yard butterfly. She also won the 100-backstroke with an All-America consideration time of 55.31, posted a meet record in the 50-freestyle at 23.14, and keyed the winning 200-freestyle relay team (1:39.06).
 
"Going into when I first started high school, I always thought the first event I would get an automatic All-American would be the 50 free or the 100 free because those are my main events. When it was in the 100 fly, I was like, 'Huh, maybe I should be doing that more,'" Daigle said.
 
Daigle was selected for the Sugar Bowl honor over two other high school stars and four standout collegiate athletes.

• Ava Barduca keyed Slidell's run to its second-straight LHSAA Division I volleyball state championship in November. In five state tournament matches, the senior recorded 89 kills, 25 blocks, 24 digs, and seven aces. She collected her kills in a very consistent manner as she had between 16 and 21 in every match. The 5-10 middle hitter saved her best for last as she was selected as the Most Outstanding Player of the championship match when she tallied 21 kills and six blocks as the third-seeded Tigers upset top-seeded Dominican in straight sets on Nov. 15. In the semifinals (Nov. 14), she had 18 kills, seven digs, and six blocks in a 3-1 win over No. 10 Chapelle; that followed a 16-kill, five-dig performance in a quarterfinal (Nov. 13) sweep of No. 6 Southside. For the season, Barduca had 593 kills (No. 2 in Louisiana) and a .491 hitting percentage (tops in Louisiana and No. 18 in the nation).
• Coleton Benson opened his UNO basketball career by averaging a team-best 16.9 points per game over the first seven games of the season for the Privateers. The senior, an Austin, Texas, product and a transfer from Texas State, erupted for a career-high 33 points in an 85-63 road win over Tulane (11/14) as he buried eight three-pointers. He also had 22 points in a thrilling 78-74 road upset of TCU (11/3). In a hard-fought overtime loss to Mississippi State (11/24), Benson connected on seven more three-pointers on route to 25 points.
• Vashaun Coulon had an exceptional month of November in leading third-seeded St. Augustine to a perfect 4-0 record and the Division I select football semifinals. In the four games, he completed 48-of-73 passes (65.8%) and had 1,132 total yards and 16 touchdowns (8 passing, 8 rushing). In his most recent performance, he posted 271 total yards and four touchdowns to lead the Purple Knights to a 35-10 win over Rummel in the state quarterfinals on Nov. 28. He also produced another big game with 360 yards of total offense and four TDs as the Purple Knights erased an early 14-0 deficit to defeat No. 14 Acadiana, 55-42, in a second-round playoff game on Nov. 21. On Nov. 6, in a 55-28 win over John Curtis, Coulon had 210 total yards and four more touchdowns. The Purple Knights have a rematch with Curtis tonight at Tad Gormley with a spot in the state championship game on the line.
• Kameron Johnson, a junior from Archbishop Shaw High School, averaged 19.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 2.4 steals in seven November games as the Loyola basketball team posted a 6-1 record. The 5-8 point guard also averaged 40.1 minutes per game. He opened the month with a memorable performance in a 110-102 quadruple overtime victory over Xavier as he scored a career-high 33 points to go with 12 assists and eight rebounds while playing 59 of the 60 minutes in the contest. He buried four straight free throws to force the first overtime, drilled a critical three to help them to a third overtime, and finished with 16 total points in the four overtime periods.
• Jake Retzlaff led the Green Wave football team to a perfect 4-0 month of November and a spot in the American Conference championship game tonight. In the four games, the 6-1, 205-pounder completed 79-of-116 (.681) of his passes for 1,095 yards and seven touchdowns. He also ran for five additional TDs. In a critical American Conference win over Memphis on the road, he threw for 332 yards and three TDs while also running for a score in a 38-32 victory. He also added three total TDs in a 37-13 win over Temple, another key conference road win.
• Nate Sheppard, the former Mandeville High star, has had a stellar true freshman campaign for the Duke football team. In a 3-2 month for the Blue Devils, who clinched a spot in the ACC Championship game (Saturday, 7 p.m.), he had 86 rushes for 368 yards (4.3 ypc) and five touchdowns to go with 12 catches for 103 yards. He had one of the best performances of his young career in a 49-32 victory over Wake Forest on Nov. 29 that clinched the ACC title game berth as he rushed for 75 yards and two scores to go with five catches for 60 yards. In the Nov. 1 win over Clemson, it was Sheppard's three-yard touchdown run with 40 seconds left that clinched the victory as he became just the sixth Blue Devil player to win a game in the final minute with a rushing TD. For the season, the 5-10, 200-pounder has set the Duke freshman record with 865 rushing yards (fourth-best in the nation among freshman) and nine rushing TDs.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 110 Hall of Fame players, 55 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 91-year history. The 92nd Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will serve as a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2026. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.5 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.