Not even a weather delay could slow down fast performances at the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Class 7A-4A outdoor track & field championships held at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex in Gulf Shores, Ala., May 5-7.

 

Numerous records were broken during the three-day meet, with several athletes winning three or more individual events. 

 

CLASS 7A: Hoover’s boys and girls continued their state championship winning ways. The boys won their fourth title in five years, while the girls won their ninth title in 10 tries. Hoover’s boys scored 124 points, defeating Vestavia Hills (114). Auburn was third with 104. On the girls’ side, the Bucs defeated Vestavia 120-85, with Hewitt-Trussville third (74).

 

In the boys competition, Hoover got wins from Collin Pate in the pole vault (16-0), Jay Avery in the triple jump (49-1.50) and Bradley Shaw in the discus (152-6). That, along with scoring balance in numerous other events, was enough to hold off Vestavia Hills, which got a 1-2-3 finish in the 800 from Alex Leath (1:53.96), Max Armstrong (1:54.88) and Henry Strand (1:55.96). The Rebels also got first place from John Stephens in the 400 (48.55).

 

Auburn’s Charlie Sexton (pictured) broke the state meet record in the 100 meters, running 10.49. That race came on the heels of his qualifying time, a wind-aided 10.15. Sexton also won the 200 in 21.05, after a meet-record of 20.93 in the prelims.

 

“It came out of nowhere,” Sexton said about his performance. “Last year was my first year running, and I was doing okay. This year, I started out slow, and something kind of clicked. I just started running faster meet after meet, and the season was just like a dream — it could not have gone better. Coming out of the blocks (in the 100) I felt good, and I didn’t panic. I stayed patient and let my drive phase carry me.”

 

Another record came in the shot, where Hewitt-Trussville’s Tanveer Raza won throwing 59-4.75, eclipsing the old record of 59-0.50 set by Walter Thomas of Vestavia Hills in 2016.

 

While Hoover’s girls did not win any individual events, they had enough seconds and thirds to cruise to victory. The Bucs did get impressive wins in the 4x100 (47.17) and 4x400 (3:53.24). By contrast, Vestavia had wins from Crawford West in the 1,600 (4:56.56) and 3,200 (10:43.66), Abbie Richenderfer in the pole vault (11-6), and Angelica Vines in the long jump (17-11).

 

There were several double winners. Mobile Davidson’s Iyana Johnson won the shot put (40-4.50) and the triple jump (41-1.25), Enterprise’s Aniyah Kitt won the 100 (12.03) and the 200 (24.26); and Spain Park’s Mackenzie Culpepper won the 400 (56.68) and the 800 (2:12.21).

 

 

CLASS 6A:

Paced by two high-profile state meet records, Scottsboro overcame an early deficit and edged Mobile’s McGill-Toolen Catholic 79-76 to win the boys title, with another Mobile school, St. Paul’s Episcopal, third with 53 points.

 

Scottsboro’s Maddox Hamm broke his own meet record in the pole vault, clearing 17-10 and breaking the old record of 17-0.25 he set last year. He raised the bar to 18-4.75 but missed on all three attempts.

 

“I wish I could have made that 18-4 and three-quarters because I was feeling good when I broke the record,” he said. “I’ve been jumping pretty good just under 18, and I’ve been really trying to get back into the 18s since indoor nationals, but I had a really good try at it.”

 

The other record was by Evan Hill, who won the 3,200 in 9:01.74. The old record of 9:01.75 was set last year by another Wildcat runner, Cooper Atkins. Hill was also part of the 4x800 relay team, which won going away in 7:48.90, and won the 4x400 in 3:21.86 to seal the win.

 

Scottsboro’s performance overcame a brilliant effort from McGill-Toolen Catholic’s Anthony Eager, who won the triple jump (46-11.50), the 110-meter high hurdles (14.52) and the 300-meter hurdles (39.30).

 

Birmingham Jackson-Olin’s Christian Louis was a double winner in the 100 (10.73) and 200 (21.58), while Mountain Brook’s Davis Plowden won the 800 (1:52.20),and St. Paul’s Episcopal’s Mac Conwell won the 1,600 (4:09.76), finished second in the 3,200 (9:07.52) and fourth in the 800 (1:55.62).

 

Mountain Brook’s girls held on to defeat Tuscaloosa Northridge 116-111.50, with Mobile St. Paul’s Episcopal third with 52 points. The Spartans were paced by a 1-2-3 finish in the 800 by Lucy Benton, who set a new state meet record of 2:10.90, Reagan Riley (2:12.82) and Hunter Anderson (2:14.06). The trio also finished 1-2-3 in the 1,600, with Riley finishing first in 4:51.82, Benton second in 4:56.62, and Anderson third in 4:57.94. Riley also won the 3,200 (10:55.04).

 

Northridge’s Rashni Walker won four events — the javelin (141-3), shot put (40-7.50) and the 100-meter hurdles (14.47) and 300-meter hurdles (43.54). Saraland’s Morgan Davis won the 100 (12.07), 200 (24.80), and long jump (19-5). She also anchored the victorious 4x100 relay team (48.09).

 

Other notable performances came from St. Paul’s Episcopal freshman Janie Ford, who won the triple jump (39-7.75), finished second to Davis in the long jump (18-3.25), second to Walker in the 100-meter hurdles (15.00) and third in the 300-meter hurdles (44.79); Fort Payne’s Lennon Ibsen, who won the pole vault (12-6), and Ella Keaton of Mobile McGill-Toolen Catholic, who won the high jump (5-6).

 

To almost no one’s surprise, Mobile’s UMS-Wright repeated as boys and girls champions.Next year the Bulldogs will be reclassified as Class 6A because of the state’s competitive balance rule regarding private schools.

 

But UMS-Wright made sure to end the season with a bang, as the boys ran away with the meet, routing second-place Pike Road 177-53, with Demopolis third with 44 points. The girls competition was a little bit closer, with UMS-Wright defeating Opelika Beauregard 112-90.50. Lawrence County was third with 74.

 

UMS-Wright’s boys had 10 individual winners. Joseph Perry won the 3,200-meter run in a meet record  9:16.18, while his younger brother Charles Perry won the 1,600 (4:16.58) and the 800 (1:54.38). Jaiden Rollins won the long jump (21-11) the triple jump (46-2.25), and the 200 (21.90); Luke Stringer won the shot (49-8.75) and javelin (179-1); Arthur Chitty won the high jump (6-6) and Joshua Holston won the pole vault (13-6).

 

Birmingham Parker’s William Shelton won the 400 (47.90).

 

By contrast, UMS-Wright’s girls had only one first-place — Hannah McConnell won the pole vault (11-0 ) —but the Bulldogs more than made up for it with plenty of top-five finishes. Other schools, however, had athletes who won three or more events. One of them was Lawrence County’s Savannah Williams, who won the 800 (2:18.84), the 1,600 (5:09.86) and the 3,200 (11:08.04).

 

Demopolis star Shonedra Richardson, though, won the 100 (12.16), the 200 (24.51), and broke the meet record in the long jump, jumping 19-2.50 to break by one-quarter inch a recofrd held by Mobile Williamson’s Petrina Lacey since in 1991. Richardson also won the triple jump (36-11).

 

 

Anniston won a spirited battle with Bibb County in the boys division, 75-67. Haleyville was third with 47 points. The Bulldogs had only one individual first place, which came from Christian Myles in the 800 (1:57.30), but made the most of its depth to secure the win. Myles also finished second in the 1,600 (4:28.01).

 

Notable individual performances came from Tommy Rodriguez of Oneonta, who won the 200 (21.77) and the 300-meter hurdles (38.52), Jackson’s Tylen Campbell, who won the 100 (10.88), and Haleyville’s Matthew Coleman, who won the javelin (189-2).

 

The most impressive individual performance in Class 4A girls came from Fairhope St. Michael Catholic’s Tia Acker, who won the 100 (12.19), the 200 in a meet record 24.56, and the 400 (55.65).

 

Brooks scored 90 points to win the girls title, with Huntsville Randolph and White Plains tied for second with 60. Brooks was led by Mallory Cole, who had second-place finishes in the 800 (2:21.86), 100-meter hurdles (16.58) and 300-meter hurdles (47.22), and Ellie Patrick, who along with Katie Spurgeon, finished 1-2 in the discus (110-9 and 105-10).

 

Randolph was led by Kylie Meyer, who won the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles (16.52/46.66), while victories by Anna Strickland in the 800 (2:20.02) and Maddyn Conn in the 1,600 (5:18.77) and 3,200 (11:36.29) paced White Plains.

 

Team Champions - 

Class 7A: Hoover boys 126 points, Hoover girls 120 points - RESULTS

Class 6A: Scottsboro boys 79 points, Mountain Brook girls 116 points - RESULTS

Class 5A: UMS-Wright  boys 177 points, UMS-Wright girls 112 points - RESULTS

Class 4A: Anniston boys 75 points, Brooks girls 90 points - RESULTS