Bucs clinch top 4 finishes

Devon Hind’s cross-country teams entered the Nov. 11 AHSAA state meet with different expectations. 

The Hoover High School girls, who had asserted their local superiority for much of the season, arrived at Oakville Indian Mounds Park with their sights set on a trophy. The Hoover boys, on the other hand, were simply glad to be there.

The boys team had experienced its share of growing pains throughout the fall, but it had risen to the occasion at the 7A, Section 3 meet on Nov. 2. The Bucs were projected to finish sixth. Instead, they placed third and nabbed the final state bid. 

That’s why Hind, Hoover’s 15th-year head coach, reached separate conclusions once the dust settled in Oakville, where both teams notched fourth-place showings. 

The Hoover girls totaled 89 points, finishing behind Auburn (40), Huntsville (57) and Mountain Brook (62). Hind knew coming in that those three schools would pose the greatest challenge. 

“It’s not what we came for,” he said. “As far as we’re concerned we got last, because it was a four-team race.”

The Hoover boys’ 110 points, which placed them behind Mountain Brook (74), Huntsville (78) and Vestavia Hills (97), left their coach with a little more optimism. 

“Three months ago we didn’t think we’d be here, and here we are fourth place,” Hind said. “We were a blue-collar team that ran really well.”

The outcomes underscore the unpredictable nature of high school cross-country, in which anything can happen on a given day. Sometimes that’s a good thing, other times not so much. 

John McCrackin offers a positive example. At state, the Hoover senior stuck to his plan in the 7A boys race, pacing himself in the beginning before increasing his tempo. He completed the 5K in a personal-best 15 minutes, 58 seconds to finish sixth and secure All-State honors. He had never previously broken 16 minutes. 

“I gave it everything, man,” McCrackin said afterward, a grin on his face. 

McCrackin paced a group of three Hoover runners who finished in the top 25. Senior Alex Leary, who posted a pivotal performance at the section meet, crossed the line in 23rd with a time of 16:30. Junior Will Couch followed two places behind in 16:31. Senior David Ash (35th, 16:45) and freshman Kyle Epperson (38th, 16:45) rounded out the team score. 

Each of the Bucs’ top five finishers recorded personal-best times. Epperson’s mark was nearly two minutes faster than what he ran on the same Oakville course in September. 

“He’s going to be somebody to watch in the future,” Hind said. 

The Hoover girls, meanwhile, were led by the senior tandem of Sydney Steely and Ava Hayes Weems. The pair ran together for much of the race before Steely pulled away in the closing stretch. She finished 13th in 19:07, sealing All-State honors for the fifth consecutive season. Weems placed 16th in 19:12. 

Both have been longtime contributors to the Hoover distance program. 

“It’s been wonderful to have them here,” Hind said. “They’ve been great mentors for a lot of girls and examples of how to train and how to do things the right way.”

Notably, Steely and Weems will continue racing cross-country together even though their high school campaigns have come to a close. Both have committed to run collegiately at Mississippi State. 

“We’ve got a couple more seasons with them, so we’re going to enjoy it while they’re here,” Hind said of the upcoming indoor and outdoor track and field slates.  

Caroline Sall, Lauren Wallace and Emma Langley grouped together at state behind the Bucs’ front-runners. They finished successively in the 24th, 25th and 26th positions. Sall ran 19:29, Wallace ran 19:34 and Langley ran 19:41. 

“It’s not like we ran horrible,” Hind said. “We just didn’t run great, and at state you have to run great.” 

Spain Park did not advance a team past sectionals, but it did qualify four individuals. Mackenzie Culpepper and Holland Lidikay represented the girls squad, while Jacob Warner and Morgan Becker represented the boys squad. Two Jaguars garnered All-State recognition. Culpepper, a Berry Middle School eighth-grader, clocked a 5K personal-best 18:51 to place 10th in the 7A girls division. Warner, a junior, ran a personal-best 16:11 to place 11th in the boys division. 

“I knew what she had,” Spain Park head coach Michael Zelwak said of Culpepper. “It was just a matter of putting it all together.”

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Heritage Christian Academy freshman Hannah Vandiver earned All-State honors in the small school division. She placed ninthin 20:53.