ALABAMA STATE MEET

Huntsville Boys, Auburn Girls Continue Winning Streaks; Presley Miles (4A) WinsThird Individual Title

By Arthur L. Mack for DyeStat

OAKVILLE, Ala. --  The COVID-19 crisis did little to diminish the enthusiam of the 65th Alabama High School Athletic Assocaition Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Indian Mounds Park.

Huntsville and Auburn reigned supreme in the Class 7A ranks, Montgomery St. James’ Presley Miles established herself as one of the dominant female runners in the state, and several other schools survived changes in classification and continued to have strong performances.

Class 7A — Really, there were no surprises in the team competitiion. Huntsville’s boys, who had a strong performance in last year’s state championships, picked up where they left off and rolled to a resounding victory, defeating Auburn 36-76. Mobile’s St. Paul’s Episcopal, which competed in Class 6A last season but was bumped up in classification because of the competitive rule regarding private schools having 1.5 students count toward enrollment, was third with 100 points.

The Panthers had five runners in the top 15 — Jackson Danner (third, 15 minutes, 46.33 seconds), Jackson Harris (fifth, 15:56.72), Matthew Cobb (sixth, 15:56.77), Will Pinson (ninth, 16:01.00) and Gabe Scales (13th, 16:10.68).

“This is our third championship in the five seasons I’ve been here,” Huntsville head coach Blake Borden said. “The message we wanted to give to the team was that nothing comes easy. We’ve been undefeated over the last couple of years, and our guy who was our No. 6 runner (Harris), was our No. 2 runner today. It was also his first time going under 16 minutes, so this wasn’t a bad day to pick to have that kind of performance.”

It was a disappointing day for Vestavia Hills senior Ethan Strand, the two-time reigning champion, who came into the meet with an eye on the course record held by Ben Hubers of McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) at the 2006 Jesse Owens Classic. Strand started out strong, battling with several runners including eventual winner Walker Cole of Oak Mountain (15:13.66), but faded to 12th (16:06.92).

Meanwhile, Auburn High was making waves in the Class 7A girls race. Thanks to a 1-3 finish by Sangie Lincoln-Velez (18:29.97) and seventh-grader Abby Merner (18:36.45), the Tigers rolled to their fourth straight title, defeating Hoover (118) and Hewitt-Trussville (128). Four of the top five runners for the Tigers were sophomores or younger. 

Class 6A — Scottsboro moved up in classification from 5A and some believed the Wildcats would not be as dominant. Well, guess what? A veteran group, led by second-and third-place finishers Cooper Atkins (15:43.45) and Hayden Judge (16:01.05) got rid of that notion in a hurry as Scottsboro routed Mountain Brook 31-73. Homewood, a perinnial powerhouse, was third with 86 points. Individually, Chelsea’s Miles Brush won with a time of 15:21.41.

Homewood won its third straight Class 6A girls title, edging Mountain Brook 59-68 despite Mountain Brook’s Elizabeth Robertson claiming individual honors (18:43.15). Eighth-grader Emma Brooke Levering (seventh, 19:27.84), was Homewood’s highest finisher.

Mobile’s McGill-Toolen Catholic was a distant third with 170 points.

Class 5A — Huntsville’s St. John Paul II Catholic had its hands full with Mobile’s UMS-Wright, which competed in Class 4A last season. But the Falcons had just enough to eke out a win over the Bulldogs, 61-69. Catholic-Montgomery was third with 113 points.

St. John Paul II was led by fifth-place finisher Adam Gautreaux (16:38.45), while UMS-Wright was led by second-place finisher Joseph Perry (16:20.43) — last year’s Class 4A individual winner.

Tallassee’s Woodrow Dean was the individual winner, running 15:33.83. Afterwards, he thanked God for everything he had done during his racing career, and said his plan was to go out as quickly as possible.

“I went through the first mile in around 4:52,” Dean said. “Everything really went well. The weather was awesome. I’ve been waiting so long to get a state title, and to finally get it is amazing.”

Lawrence County won its first Class 5A girls title since 2015. Despite Mobile’s Faith Academy’s Emily Shumock taking top individual honors (19:24.89), Lawrence County’s Katie Mae Coan and Taylor Williams finished 2-3 (19:28.27/19:43.99), and added a seventh-place finish from Savannah Williams (20:17.75) for good measure to defeat UMS-Wright 36-70, with Faith Academy third (97). 

Class 4A — It was a special day for Tuscaloosa’s American Christian Academy for two reasons — its boys and girls won team titles.

ACA’s boys defeated White Plains 87-100 despite White Plains’ Jake Moore being the individual winner (16:38.60). Eighth-grader Cole Beyers was American Christian’s top finisher (eighth, 17:33.32).

Westminster of Oak Mountain was third with 134 points.

On the girls side, a change in classification did not stop Presley Miles of Montgomery St. James from winning races. The Duke University signee, who won back-to-back Class 3A titles in 2018 and 2019, won the Class 4A girls race with a convincing 16-second win over Westminster-Oak Mountain’s Hallie Porterfield (19:11.75 to 19:27.77).

But it was American Christian coming out on top in the team standings, defeating Westminster-Oak Mountain 39-66, with Daphne’s Bayside Academy third (71). Third, fourth, and fifth-place individual finishes by freshman Karis Kelley (19:55.88), eighth-grader Lucy Guthrie (20:04.00), and freshman Dani Blakley (20:07.96) boosted ACA to the team title. 

Class 3A — St. Bernard of Cullman withstood a tough challenge from J.B. Pennington of Blountsville to win the boys title, 92-97. Providence Christian of Dothan was third with 111 points despite junior Conner Patterson defeating last year’s individual champion Collin Mayfield of Geraldine for individual honors, 16:28.63 to 16:33.18.

J.B. Pennington put two runners, Paul Gonzalez (fifth overall, 16:53.63) and Jaxon Branham (11th overall, 17:30.04) in the top 15, but St. Bernard’s No. 5 runner placed 29 spots higher than J.B. Pennington’s No. 5, ensuring the win.

Providence Christian won the girls title, defeating Whitesburg Christian Academy 46-79, with J.B. Pennington third (126). Third, fourth, and six place finishes by Grace Crim (19:42.30), Millicent Talmadge (19:44.98), and Madelyn Patterson (20:16.59) secured Providence Christian’s team win.

Glencoe’s Katie Giles was the individual winner, running 18:57.09. 

Class 1A-2A — Youth ruled in the individual races as a pair of upperclassmen — freshman Ethan Edgeworth of Cold Springs and seventh-grader Makinley Traylor of Ider — won the boys and girls races,  respectively. Evans won with a time of 16:41.94, while Traylor won in 20:43.16.

Hatton High of Town Creek won the boys team title, defeating Bayshore Christian of Fairhope 67-81, while Cold Springs was third (95). A fifth-place finish by Jairo Lopez (17:55.01) helped the Hornets secure the team win.

Cold Springs won the girls title with 33 points, easily defeating Hatton (91) and Ider (110). A 2-3-4 finish by freshman Reagan Parris (20:55.40) senior Brooke Crider (21:22.98), and seventh-grader Macie Huffstutler (21:27.29) boosted Cold Springs to the team title.

Team Champions - 

Class 7A - Huntsville boys 36 points, Auburn girls 62 points - RESULTS

Class 6A - Scottsboro boys 31 points, Homewood girls 59 points - RESULTS

Class 5A - St. John Paul II boys 61 ponts, Lawrence County girls 36 points - RESULTS

Class 4A - American Christian boys 87 points, American Christan girls 39 points - RESULTS

Class 3A - St. Bernard Prep boys 92 points, Providence Christian girls 46 points - RESULTS

Class 2A/1A - Hatton boys 67 points, Cold Springs girls 33 points - RESULTS