A day that started out cool and overcast ended up warm and humid, but it didn’t stop scores of athletes who participated in the AHSAA Cross-Country Championships held at the Oakville Indian Mounds Park on Saturday.
Several teams successfully defended their titles while several individuals managed to extend their streaks and there were some impressive times.
Here’s a recap of the meet by each class.
Class 7A: Auburn’s Sarah Tole won her third consecutive individual state title, but it didn’t come easy as she was in a battle with Hoover’s Ava Sparks for most of the race.
Tole won in 18:13.06 with Sparks four seconds behind (18:17.11). Her win was important because it helped the Tigers defeat Hoover by one point, 57-58 (despite the Bucs placing three runners in the top five) for their eighth title in the last nine years. Huntsville was third (65).
“The first mile, I wanted to just settle (into a pace),” Tole said. “The second mile, I just wanted to remain steady then use whatever I had left. We’ve worked very hard this season to keep the title.”
Huntsville broke Vestavia Hills’ two-year boys title streak, defeating the Rebels 48-57. Hewitt-Trussville was third with 107 points. The Class 7A boys race provided the most excitement of the day as Huntsville’s Eric Moore (14:52.81) defeated James Clemens’ Luke Alverson (14:54.58) in a virtual photo finish.
Class 6A: Perennial power Mountain Brook showed why it has established itself as a cross-country power. The boys placed five runners in the top 20 to defeat Cullman 62-126 while Homewood was third (134). The girls were even more dominant, using a 3-4 finish by Amelia Erdberg (18:24.47) and Emelia White (18:26.83) to defeat Homewood 44-99 with Bayside Academy third (124).
Mountain Brook extended its state title streak to four for the boys, three for the girls.
Spartans head coach Mike McGovern said the success was a matter of teamwork.
“Our attitude is that we run as a team and every week, our order was different,” he said. “I sold them on the idea that as long as we ran tight (as a group) we would be a strong team and today, it worked out for us. With the girls, we had to overcome a lot today. We had one young lady with the flu and we had a couple of injuries so it changed our order today.”
Individually, Homewood’s Emma Brooke Levering won the girls race, clocking an impressive 17:46.94, while in the boys competition, Hazel Green’s Bryce McCleary was the individual winner in 14:55.11.
Class 5A:
Scottsboro’s hopes of winning a fourth straight title were dashed as the Wildcats narrowly lost to upstart Providence Christian, which moved up to Class 5A.
Providence Christian won 38-42 despite Scottsboro’s Ryan Linville winning the race in 16:01.50. The Eagles, led by Cole Smith (third, 16:17.21) placed all five of their scorers in the top 15
Scottsboro narrowly defeated Lawrence County 42-44 to win the girls competition. The Wildcats packed four runners to get the win. Westminster-Oak Mountain and Providence Christian each had 79 points, but Westminster got third based on a tiebreaker by virtue of having a higher-placed number six runner.
Individually in the girls competition, Brewer’s Rose Betts had a solid race, battling with Lawrence County’s Katie Mae Coan for most of the competition. Betts pulled away and won with a solid 17:54.60.
“I was planning to stay with Katie Mae for most of the race,” Betts said. “The last mile, I felt her catching me and I just had to save something for that last kick.”
Class 4A: For Caden Phillppi and Maddyn Conn, streaks were the order of the day.
Phillippi, the Bayshore Christian senior, won his second consecutive state individual title, fighting off an early challenge from Bailey Kendrick to win with a personal best time of 15:33.72. Kendrick ran 15:49.61 while Isaiah Crosslin was third (16:33.32).
“The goal was to go through the first mile between 4:50 and 5:00 because I wanted to control the pace,” Phillippi said. “The first mile, I went through in exactly 4:50, and it left me with enough energy to push the pace. He (Kendrick) passed me at the 1-and-a-half mile mark, but at the 2-mile mark, I passed him and never looked back. With 1K to go, I let it rip.”
Conn, who signed with Jacksonville State, easily bested the competition, winning in 18:15.48 and securing her third straight individual title. She said she tried to break 18 minutes, but a fast early pace prevented her from doing that.
“I got a little tied up with the hills and that third mile got a little tough,” she said. “But I feel fantastic winning my third race in a row and the hard work paid off. I’m proud of the other members of our team.”
Hamilton won the boys team title, scoring 58 points to White Plains’ 75, while Bayshore Christian was third with 104. On the girls side, Whitesburg Christian defeated Altamont 48-95 with Bayshore Christian third (119).
Class 3A: J.B. Pennington used a solid performance by placing four finishers in the top 15 to win the boys title, defeating Montgomery Academy 47-54. St. Luke’s was third with 98 points.
On the girls side, Montgomery Academy placed four runners in the top 15 to defeat Cottage Hill 42-77 while St. James was third with 80 points.
Individually, Holly Pond’s Travis Barnett won the boys race in 16:18.68 ahead of Trinity’s John Thomas Mathison (16:39.83) and Vinemont’s Brady Johnson (16:49.01).
Olivia Khan of Lee-Scott won the girls race in 19:22.25 ahead of Elley Goff of St. James (19:37.32) and Montgomery Academy’s Elle Ingram (19:54.06)
Class 1A-2A: In one of the narrowest team competitions of the day, Mars Hill Bible edged Sand Rock 100-101 with defending champion Cold Springs third with 105.
Sand Rock’s Caleb Yoder (16:08.92) was the individual winner, and though Mars Hill Bible failed to place runners n the top 15, had enough runners bunched close enough in a pack and was able to place higher than the remainder of Sand Rock and Cold Springs’ top five.
In Class 1A-2A girls, Cold Springs routed Athens Bible School 34-82 with Sand Rock third (95). Athens Bible’s Kaylie Key was the individual girls winner (20:01.69), but Cold Springs placed four runners in the top 15 to secure the win.
Performances of the meet: The individual wins by Betts, Tole, Levering, and Conn on the girls side. On the boys side, it was Phillippi, McCleary, Moore and Alverson.
Coachspeak: “This was a team effort. We ran seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and we had a girl in the 11th grade run for us today. They really got after it today. It’s really a community effort. Our whole town takes track and cross country very seriously. Everybody gets behind us.” Mountain Brook coach Mike McGovern.
They said it: “I felt like I really earned this one. To go back-to-back is awesome. A lot of the races I ran in were either rainy or too hot, but this was good weather to get a second title.” Phillippi
“I couldn’t have done it without my friends and Jesus.” Betts on her win in the Class 5A girls’ race.