Claney Duplechin

Sport: CoachTrack and Field

Induction Year: 2022

A track and field/cross country coach at Episcopal in Baton Rouge, Duplechin just finished his 46th year in coaching and 43rd year at the Class 2A school. He ended the 2021-22 school year with 64 LHSAA state titles in track and cross country and 15 runner-up finishes — adding two cross country titles, one indoor track title and one outdoor track title in 2020-21.

The total number of titles ranks sixth nationally in all sports, according to MaxPreps, and is two spots ahead of 2016 LSHOF inductee Pete Boudreaux on the list. His boys cross country team had a streak of 25 consecutive LHSAA title ended by four points in November 2021, a string ranking second all-time in the USA. Episcopal has won 33 of the past 36 Class 2A boys cross country titles and has been voted the top team in all classes six times.

Duplechin added girls cross country duties in 2018 and has won four straight titles. His boys teams have won 17 outdoor track titles and nine indoor track titles and swept Class 2A boys cross country, Division II indoor track (Classes 3A and below) and Class 2A outdoor track for five years, a streak halted by the pandemic.

He’s been recognized as a national coach of the year three times: the Gill National Track Coach of the Year in 2012, National Federation of High Schools Coaches Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2013 and National High School Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year for cross country in 2018. Duplechin was inducted into the Louisiana High School Sports Hall of Fame in April 2019. In 2020, MaxPreps rated Duplechin as one of the nation’s top 100 coaches in all sports. … Born 10-24-1953 in Mamou.