NEW ORLEANS (June 4, 2026) – Easton Royal, the state champion sprinter from Brother Martin High School, has been selected as May'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
. Royal was also the September Athlete of the Month as a football star, marking the first time in the 70-year history of the awards that an individual won for two different sports in the same academic year.
Royal, considered the No. 1 wide receiver in the nation in the Class of 2027, capped off his junior year by winning the state championship in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.17 seconds to break the composite state record that had stood since 1980. He also won the 200-meter dash and anchored the winning 4x100 relay team. Earlier in the month, Royal posted a 10.2 in the 100 meters and helped the Crusaders set a school record at 41.34 seconds in the 4x100 relay.
Only two other athletes in the history of the award have won the honor for multiple sports - Christian Westcott was selected for football for Lakeshore High School in September of 2019 and for baseball with the New Orleans Boosters in August of 2021; and Jesuit High School's Fabien Mang was selected for baseball in June of 1965 and for basketball in February of 1966 (Mang was also the March 1966 winner for basketball).
The track star was selected for the honor over eight other exceptional area athletes:
- Grace Keene, who established herself as the top distance runner in the state of Louisiana this year, capped her Louisiana career by setting composite state records in both the 800 and the 1,600 at the LHSAA Outdoor Track Championships for Northshore High School. She ran the 800 in 2:11.69 and the 1,600 in 4:54.48. She was the state cross country champion in the fall and won the 800 and 1,600 at the state indoor meet as well.
- Tulane track star Silas Kiptanui punched his ticket to the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in fashion on May 29, breaking multiple records with his mark in the 3,000m steeplechase at the UK Outdoor Track and Field Complex. He won his heat and topped the leaderboard for the event while breaking the school, conference, and facility records with his time of 8:18.09 in the NCAA Outdoor First Round. Kiptanui was also exceptional at the American Conference Championship as he won the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000-meter run – he was the only individual to take home gold medals for the Green Wave.
- A freshman and former Lutcher High standout, Marshall Louque batted .409 (18-44) with five home runs and 24 RBI in 11 games in May as LSU Eunice reached the NJCAA Division I World Series for the first time. Louque homered in three of four games in the Region XXIII tournament in Westwego, then drove in six runs in the NJCAA South District Championship series victory over Shelton State (Ala.) to push the Bengals to the World Series. He homered and had five RBI in LSUE's only win in Grand Junction over Wabash Valley. For the season, Louque hit .388 with 15 homers, 63 RBI and an OPS of 1.333.
- Kruise Newman finished the UNO baseball season on a tear by going 12-for-27 (.444) with 10 RBI and eight runs scored as the Privateers went 6-1 in seven May outings. The senior from Richmond, Kent., had hits in all seven games (10-game hitting streak overall) as well as runs scored in all seven May games. He homered in each of the Privateers' wins in a season-closing series against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, driving his season total to 14 home runs. He was named the Southland Conference Hitter of the Week for the final week of the season. Newman finished the year with a .295 average while leading the team in home runs and RBI (48).
- Chris Olivier, a Mandeville native who pitched at Lakeshore High, Delgado, and UNO, posted a 3-1 record in May with a 2.79 ERA in 29 innings pitched for the Lamar baseball team. He allowed just nine earned runs in five starts while striking out 23. The senior right-hander had his best performance for the month in the Southland Championship game as he tossed eight innings, allowing just four hits and one earned run as the Cardinals won the title with a 2-1 triumph over McNeese State. He became just the third LU pitcher since 2010 to record 100 or more strikeouts in a season. He closed the season with six strong innings of work against No. 12 Texas A&M in an NCAA Regional; he allowed just four hits and left the game with the lead, but the Aggies battled back to win.
- Dax Prejeant was the leader of a St. Charles Catholic baseball team that captured the LHSAA Division II select state championship. For the month of May (seven games: quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship), the senior hit .476 (10-of-21) with eight RBI, four runs, two triples, one home run, and four stolen bases. He also had three walks and was hit by pitch twice giving him a .577 on-base percentage. In game one of the state championship series against No. 3 Teurlings Catholic, Prejeant's two-run homer tied the game in the seventh inning to set up a victory in extra innings. The shortstop added a triple and two runs scored in the game three victory to wrap up the championship. He has signed to play football at Murray State.
- Matthew Russo, a native of Madisonville and a Saint Paul's graduate, had an exceptional May as he keyed Southern Miss baseball's run to the NCAA Regionals. In 16 May outings (13 wins for Southern Miss, which was ranked as high as No. 8 in the country), the 6-2, 255-pound first baseman hit .403 (25-of-62) with 19 runs scored, 19 RBI, nine doubles and two home runs. He had 10 multiple-hit games during the month, including a 3-for-5 performance with a career-high six RBI and two runs scored in a regular-season ending victory over Georgia Southern. He had a pair of hits including a first-inning two-run homer to set the tone in the Sun Belt Championship game on May 24. He was also named to the Sun Belt All-Tournament team and was selected First Team All-Sun Belt in May. Southern Miss closed the year with a 44-17 record.
- Christian Sauska was a star for the Newman baseball team that captured the LHSAA Division III select state championship – its first baseball state championship since 2003. The senior won all three of his May starts to key the Newman championship. The right-hander set the tone in Game 1 of a semifinal series against Dunham, pitching a complete game while allowing five hits and one walk to go with eight strikeouts in a 4-1 win. He also tossed six innings with no earned runs allowed in a 2-1 win over Notre Dame in the state quarterfinals. In game two of the state championship series, he allowed four runs but earned the victory as Newman rolled 13-6, to finish his senior season with a 10-1 record. For the month of May, Sauska was 3-0 with a 1.07 ERA while striking out 27 batters in 20 innings. He had a 1.154 WHIP and hitters managed just a .223 average against him.
Recent Allstate Sugar Bowl Athletes of the Month:
The
Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 114 Hall of Fame players, 55 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 92-year history. The 93rd Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will serve as a College Football Playoff Semifinal, will be played on January 15, 2027. 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.
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