Fast times, close races, broken streaks in Alabama

 

By ARTHUR L. MACK

OAKVILLE, Alabama—A blazing time by Catholic-Montgomery's Amaris Tyynismaa and a furious finish in the Class 7A boys' race were among the major highlights in the 2014 Alabama High School Athletic Assocation's Cross Country Championships.

Some teams and individuals repeated as champions, but there were also some broken streaks—as well as some broken hearts.

But this year's meet was memorable for a lot of reasons, as you will see below:

CLASS 7A: By far, the most exciting race of the day was in the Class 7A boys division, where the top three finishers engaged in a mad dash to the finish.

In the end, it was Auburn's Paul Barlow, who outran Grissom's Cameron Thomas and meet race favorite Cole Stidfole of Oak Mountain to get the individual win. Barlow won in 15:51.03, while Thomas ran 15:52.82 and Stidfole, who led for most of the race, ran 15:57.97.

Barlow was happy for another reason—he and his Auburn teammates won their second straight team title—their first in the newly created class 7A, by defeating Hoover 25-56, with Mountain Brook third (104). All five of Auburn's scorers were in the top 10, and the Tigers' sixth and seventh runners finished 13th and 14th, earning all-State honors.

"Our coach told us to stay packed in," Barlow said. "We do that daily in practice."

Running in a pack continues to be a habit with Mountain Brook's girls, who won their 12th straight title with 41 points. The Spartans placed all five of their scorers in the top 15.

Huntsville, led by Abbey Weitenbeck—the 7A girls' race winner—was second with 59 points while Hoover was third with 79.

Weitenbeck, who ran 18:41.66 to win her first state individual title, was in a big battle with Buckhorn's Amelia Harrison, who finished second in 18:49.09, and Mobile McGill-Toolen Catholic's Grace Jensen (third, 18:58.13). Weitenbeck said that the race was very competitive.

"It was like that (between me and Harrison) in sectionals," Weitenbeck said. "She kept staying with me until the very end, and it was like that in our sectional race. It was a hard-fought race."

CLASS 6A: One streak was established, while another streak bit the dust.

Homewood added a 6A boys' title to go with the 5A title it won last year, beating back a impressive win by Opelika's Ben Bryant (15:34.76) to narrowly beat the Bulldogs 40-41.

The Patriots put three runners in the top five (Alex Ngei, 2nd, 16:01.42; Logan Sadler, 4th, 16:13.65, and Alex Smith, 5th, 16:16.30 to secure the win, although Opelika had four runners in the top 15 as well.

As for Bryant, who made it a point to congratulate other runners after the race, said he wanted to establish a lead early.

"I wanted to take the first mile out and push through it and see who would keep up with me," he said. "I felt pretty confident going into the race that I would be able to hold a fast pace, but I didn't expect to win by such as large margin."

Meanwhile, one of the state's more impressive streaks—Scottsboro's streak of 13 straight girls' championships—came to a crashing end as the Wildcats had to settle for third behind Birmingham's John Carroll Catholic (68) and Homewood (79). All three teams, which were previously 5A before being reclassified, had solid performances, but John Carroll Catholic used solid pack runnning to secure the win.

Pelham's Mary Grace Strozier capped off a solid season, winning the race in 18:07.24—more than a minute better than the second place finisher. Afterwards, she said that she was hoping for a personal best.

"I wanted to keep the same pace through the race, but I didn't expect to win by such a big margin," she said.

CLASS 5A: It was a day for sweeps in Class 5A, and Lawrence County—the host team for the state championships—was the recipient of not one, but two state titles...albeit by slim margins.

Lawrence County's boys had enough in the tank to hold off Huntsville Randolph—which was 4A last season—56-59, while third-place St. Paul's, led by race winner Reece Stevens (16:28.57), scored 63.

Four finishers in the top 15 proved to be the difference for Lawrence County. As for Stephens, a senior who defeated Madison County's Jared Melton by 24 seconds, he was surprised by the relative ease of his win.

"I didn't think I would win by that big of a margin," he said. "I thought I would have to fight for it. The strategy was to stay comfortable in the first mile, and then make a big surge after that. It feels good to be a state champ—I couldn't have done it without by team, my coach, and God.

The 5A girls' division was even tighter—Lawrence County defeated Randolph by a mere two points, 65-67. Third-place St. Paul's (97) was led by winner Isabel Valenzuela, a seventh-grader who ran 18:51.37.

Lexie Sport was Lawrence County's leading finisher (6th, 20:25.80), while Zoe Evans was the top finisher for Randolph (7th, 20:26.74) in a race that was hotly contested from beginning to end.

As for Valenzuela, who won by 34 seconds over Alexandria's Abby Nunnelly (19:26.16), it was the second time going under 19 minutes this season.

"My coach told me to just try to win," said Valenzuela, who went through the first mile in 5:48. "I wanted to get out a little fast, and winning makes me feel really good."

CLASS 4A: By far the best performance of the day came from eighth-grader Amaris Tyynismaa of Catholic-Montgomery.

Tyynismaa not only won the 4A girls' race, she did it in unbelievable fashion—she ran a course-record 17:03.04, defeating Wilson's Cele Moon, an excellent runner in her own right, by one minute, 20 seconds.

"I didn't think I would run in the 17s," Tyynismaa said. "I felt pretty strong, and there was lots of encouragement. It feels wonderful because I worked really hard."

Tyynismaa, who suffers from Tourette Syndrome, has made great strides in her running.

"She's a great natural talent," said her coach, John Terino. "She's focused, and very driven.

But it was Wilson High that had the last word, dethroning five-time champion UMS-Wright in the Class 4A girls division, defeating the Bulldogs 51-69, while Rogers had 73.

On the 4A boys side, Northside defeated LAMP (Loveless) 76-77, while Sipsey Valley won out over Westminister Christian on a tie breaker for third

UMS-Wright's Robert Hope won his second straight individual 4A race in 16:04.02, defeating Westminister Christian's Ryan Ford (16:22.63.).

"It was really nice to finish the season nice like that," he said. "The credit goes to my coach (Pat Galle), my parents, and team. I felt that if I could keep the pace up on the S hills, I had a shot to win."

CLASS 3A: Not even an untied shoelace could stop American Christian's Kaitlin York from putting an end to Daphne's Bayside Academy's streak of two girls' championships.

York, a senior, ran to victory in 18:45.63 and led American Christian to a 51-60 win over Montgomery Academy, while Bayside, despite getting third and fourth pace finishes from Mary Catherine Branyon (19:10.03) and Abigail Warner (19:15.33), had to settle for third (102).

York's untied shoelace was more of an aggravation instead of an impediment.

"I felt good during the first mile, but my shoelace came untied a little bit later," she said. "It kept flapping, and I started to kick it off. I wanted to finish the race strong, and it was a normal day at the office."

At least York was lucky—she didn't have the issues that Winfield City's Nick Klein had a year ago. Last year, Klein missed the entire cross country season because he suffered heat stroke in the first race. This year, though, he finished the season with an impressive 16:50.46 to win the 3A boys' race.

"This summer, I worked hard and gave it my best shot," he said. "It's surreal, and what a big difference a year makes."

Montgomery Academy, led by Jack Bargainer's second-place finish (16:55;57), defeated Mobile's Cottage Hill Christian 40-72 to win the 3A boys' title, while American Christian was third with 73.

CLASS 1A-2A: Close team finishes were the order of the day in the state's smallest divisions.

In the 1A-2A girls, St. Bernard placed three runners—led by Ivy Edge's winning time of 19:27.00—to defeat Westminster of Oak Mountain 48-54. Hatton was a distant third with 93.

Fourth and fifth place finishes by Jaden Edge (20:05.60) and Leahrose Mami (20:09.00) secured the win for St. Bernard.

The 1A-2A boys contest was even closer, with Cold Springs edging Westminster of Oak Mountain 45-47. Cold Springs placed four runners, led by Jared Stanley's second-place finish (17:08.84), in the top 15 to secure the win.

Shades Mountain Christian's Dylan Pausic was the boys' individual winner, running an impressive 16:22.81. He said after the race that all the elements were there for a good performance.

"It was just like a normal day," he said. "There was good weather, and there was good scenery. The first mile was faster than I expected, but I tried to stay relaxed the whole time."