The Alabama High School Athletic Association cross country season came to a conclusion last weekend with the the 38th annual AHSAA State Cross Country Championships at the Jesse Owens Course at Oakville Indian Mounds and Museum State Park.
And it was no surprise that
Mountain Brook (Birmingham),
Scottsboro and
UMS-Wright Prep (Mobile) swept the boys and girls team competition over the 3.1-mile course in Classes 6A, 5A and 4A, respectively.
Mountain Brook's girls, coached by Greg Echols, placed five runners in the Top 10 en route to their eighth straight Class 6A state championship. It was their 10th state crown in the last 11 years. Mountain Brook's 30 points easily beat runner-up McGill-Toolen by 58 points.
Sophomore Carmen Carlos of
McGill-Toolen (Mobile) clocked 17 minutes, 49.7 seconds to win the individual title for the second straight year. She was six seconds off her 2009 winning time but won over the runner-up, Mountain Brook eighth grader Caroline Kennedy, by 1:15.
Spain Park (Hoover) junior Brandon Hazouri traversed the course in 15:45.12 to capture first place in Class 6A. Senior Jack Morgan of Mountain Brook was second at 16:02.96 to help Echols' boys win their third straight 6A team title and 11th overall with a 52-point total.
Coach John Esslinger's Scottsboro boys scored a winning 36-point total with four runners in the top seven finishers in the Class 5A boys competition. The title was their ninth state championship since 1991.
Senior Stuart Graham of runner-up
St. Paul's Episcopal (Mobile) won the individual 5A title with a winning time of 16:05.75. Sophomore Griffin Lee of John Carroll was second at 16:31 and Briarwood freshman Ramsay Ritchie third at 16:32.53.
Scottsboro junior Evan McGee led the Wildcats with a fourth-place finish at 16:35.06. Teammates Andrew Green, Daniel Pearce and 2008 and 2009 individual champion Lucas Sieb were bunched right behind at fifth, sixth and seventh place. Only 15 seconds separated all four.
Scottsboro and St. Paul's finished 1-2 in the girls 5A competition too with the Lady Wildcats out-pointing Coach Jim Tate's Saints 30-62. The state title was the 10th in a row for Scottsboro and the 15th in 16 seasons.
Carroll (Ozark) junior Rachel Roberts ran an 18:32 to claim her second consecutive Class 5A individual title. Margaret Harkness of St. Paul's was second at 18:58 and sophomore Jamie Delay was third for Scottsboro. Teammates Olivia Thompson and Maggie Thompson were right behind in fourth and fifth place.
UMS-Wright totaled a state meet-low 18 points to capture the 4A girls crown. Sophomore Claire Kennedy won the individual championship with a winning time of 19:08.74. St. James junior Taylor Duncan was second at 20:00.57, followed by UMS-Wright runners Ellie Carter and Clair Speegle. Kristen Lazarchick rounded out the Bulldogs' top four with a sixth-place finish.
Haleyville senior Fabian Cortez won the Class 4A individual title for the second year in a row with a winning time of 17:08. UMS won the boys team title with 62 points. Sophomore Chase Tan, a sophomore, finished second at 17:23 to lead the Bulldogs, who won for the third straight year.
Winning the boys Class 3A championship was
Randolph (Huntsville).
Hatton (Town Creek) captured the 1A-2A state title.
American Christian Academy (Tuscaloosa) won the girls 1A-2A crown for the fourth straight year, and
Rogers (Florence) won the 3A title.
American Christian junior Analisa Patrick was the individual medalist in the 1A-2A race at 18:50.94.
T.R. Miller (Brewton) freshman Karisa Nelson clocked 18:41.54 to claim top 3A honors for the second year in a row.
American Christian senior Conor Rector was the top finisher in the 1A-2A boys competition at 16:56.78. Feras Awad of Altamont was second at 16:58 in the closest race of the day.
Three Randolph runners crossed the finish line 1-2-3 as the Raiders won their sixth straight championship. Senior Hudson Robb was the individual winner at 16:29.20.
