Contributed photo.
Sarah Sims McGrath
Sarah Sims McGrath of Spain Park High School competes in the 3,200-meter run during the Ice Breaker Invitational track meet at the Birmingham Crossplex on Jan. 9.
The indoor track and field season is racing toward a close, culminating with the Alabama High School Athletic Association state championships Feb. 5-6 at the Birmingham Crossplex.
Spain Park’s indoor team will look to improve upon last year’s results at the state meet, where the boys placed 11th overall and girls finished 14th, and will look to a few individuals to help in that process.
Zoe Shore, who earned all-state cross-country honors in the fall, and Sarah Sims McGrath are the top two ladies for the Jags. In the championship last season, McGrath finished eighth and Shore right behind her in ninth in the 1,600-meter run.
They both eclipsed the top 10 in the 3,200-meter run as well, as Shore came home with a fourth-place honor and McGrath finishing ninth.
The duo competed in the Ice Breaker Invitational on Jan. 9. McGrath placed sixth in the 1,600-meter run and ninth in the 3,200-meter run. Shore ran only in the 1,600-meter race and finished eighth.
Teams from across the state used the Icebreaker Invitational, another meet held at the Birmingham Crossplex, as a tune-up for the championships.
The Jags’ Kaleigh Carney is coming off a 13th place finish in the long jump at the state meet a year ago. She improved upon that last month, tying for ninth in the high jump at the Ice Breaker meet.
On the boys side, Daniel Nixon and Christian Strong will look to carry the banner.
At the Ice Breaker Invitational, Nixon won the 800-meter run, the event in which he placed third in last year’s state meet. He picked up another top 10 result at last year’s final event, coming in seventh in the 400-meter dash. His most impressive performance came in the Magic City Invitational on Dec. 5, when he won both the 400-meter and 800-meter events.
Strong placed sixth in the 60-meter hurdles at state last year, and came home ninth in the same event at this season’s Ice Breaker.
Damon Wright placed 10th in the shot put at state a year ago but impressively won the event at the Ice Breaker Invitational and will look to reach the podium at the state championship meet.
Jerome Kirkland will look to improve his standing in the long jump, as he came home 11th last season.
Perry Young, a productive linebacker for the Spain Park football team who will play college football at the University of Cincinnati, posted a 17th-place finish in the 60-meter dash. Chase Young came home 21st, and both participated in the same event at the Ice Breaker meet.