Crisp performances abound at Chickasaw Trails
OAKVILLE — The Hoover High School cross-country team wasn't originally scheduled to compete at Saturday’s Chickasaw Trails Invitational. In the months leading up to the season, plans were in place for the Buccaneers to travel to a race in Ocala, Florida.
But the threat of Hurricane Irma, currently brewing off the Gulf coast, nixed that itinerary. Hoover head coach Devon Hind determined last week his team would opt to run at Chickasaw.
It proved a smart – and rewarding – decision.
On a crisp, sunny morning at Oakville Indian Mounds Park, the Hoover girls showcased their might as they stormed to the team title in the large school girls race. Hind said his team’s 77-96 win over runner-up Mountain Brook was the best season-opening performance he’s witnessed in his 15 years at Hoover.
“I’m real happy with where we are,” Hind said. “As long as we keep improving, we’re going to be in good shape. Now, it looks like the target may be on our back.”
Hoover placed four runners in the top 20, and all of them dipped under 20 minutes for the 5K distance. Sydney Steely paced the team with a seventh-place finish in 19:13. Her fellow seniors, Ava Weems (10th, 19:21) and Caroline Sall (14th, 19:40), finished second and third on the team. Haley Stallworth, a junior, rounded out the Bucs who placed among the top 20. She finished 17th in 19:50.
“I’m just real encouraged,” Hind said. “It was a good opener for us.”
Anna Balzli paved the way for Mountain Brook, placing ninth in 19:20, while Homewood’s Celie Jackson emerged as the top local finisher. She crossed the line a step ahead of Steely to place sixth in a personal-best time of 19:13.
The Homewood girls finished as the top Class 6A team and placed seventh overall.
“Our team has been really fun, and we’ve been working super hard,” said Jackson, a sophomore. “When we work all together on a great day like this, it goes really well.”
Mountain Brook's Elizabeth Robertson (11th, 19:35) and Lily Hulsey (16th,19:43), along with Oak Mountain sophomore Evie Bell (18th,19:51), also notched individual top 20 finishes. Florence freshman Mary Claire Ridgeway won the girls large school race in 18:04.
Boys race
Will Stone and James Sweeney are good friends and occasional training partners. But at Oakville Indian Mounds Park, they became dueling competitors.
It paid off for both in the end.
Stone, a Homewood junior, and Sweeney, a Vestavia Hills senior, turned a 300-person race into a two-man battle by the time they reached the halfway point in the large school boys 5K. The fleet-footed runners owned about a 30-meter gap on the chase pack as they sped past the 1.5-mile mark.
“In the middle of the race, I was like, ‘Let’s get it, Will,’” Sweeney recalled telling Stone. “We were just kind of pushing along together.”
Sweeney ran behind Stone until the final quarter mile, when Homewood’s harrier pulled away gradually for the victory. He crossed the finish line in 15:36, four seconds ahead of Sweeney’s 15:40.
Both times were personal bests. Sweeney, notably, had never previously broken 16 minutes for 5K.
“When it’s just two people and you’re really just racing one other person, you have to be really mentally tough,” said Stone, the 2016 Gatorade Alabama Runner of the Year. “Your one goal is just to stay with them or stay in front of them. I think that, today, pushed us both to run really fast times.”
Sweeney’s runner-up performance propelled his Rebel team to a fourth-place finish, which was the best of any Birmingham-area school. The Rebels totaled 176 points and posted a 16:40 5K team average. Mountain Brook placed fifth with 189 points.
John Ingram (24th, 16:35), Joseph Gilroy (35th, 16:48), Grayson Holbert (54th, 17:05) and Mitchell Lee (61st, 17:11) all turned in strong performances for Vestavia Hills. Ingram and Lee are only sophomores.
“This is, by far, the best and deepest training group we’ve ever had,” Vestavia Hills head coach Brett Huber said. “They’re just doing the work the right way. We’re not surprised today with how they did.”
Hoover senior John McCrackin was the top local finisher behind Stone and Sweeney. He placed sixth in 16:03. Mountain Brook’s Hunter Harwell (10th, 16:11) and Spain Park’s Jacob Warner (15th, 16:18) also finished in the top 20.
Huntsville won the team title with 90 points. Most local teams will return to action next Saturday at the Spain Park Invitational, which will be held at Veterans Park.
Local team scores
Girls
1. Hoover: 77
2. Mountain Brook: 96
7. Homewood: 265
9. Oak Mountain: 274
11. Vestavia Hills: 358
15. Hewitt-Trussville: 457
Boys
4. Vestavia Hills: 176
5. Mountain Brook: 189
7. Spain Park: 236
9. Homewood: 264
10. Hoover: 272
11. Hewitt-Trussville: 301
14. Oak Mountain: 387