Dominance continues

The Hoover High School girls track and field team had won four consecutive state outdoor track and field championships entering the AHSAA Class 4A-7A meet.

On May 7 in sunny Gulf Shores, the Bucs pushed that tally to five — with ease.

Paced by record-setting performances from seniors Presley Weems and Brittley Humphrey, the Hoover girls breezed to the 7A title by scoring 171 points. They finished 87 points ahead of runner-up Mountain Brook High School.

“We were a dominant team all year, and the girls just came and did what they do every week,” Bucs head track and field coach Devon Hind said. “It’s just an incredible team.”

Refusing to leave without a bang, Weems and Humphrey put on a show in the final state meet of their illustrious prep careers.

Weems, a Samford signee, bolted to a pair of individual victories in the 800 meter and 1,600-meter runs. Her blistering 800 time of 2 minutes, 8.99 seconds set a new all-time state record by nearly three seconds.  She also set a 7A state-meet record in the 1,600, lowering her previous personal best by 14 ticks to cross the line in 4:52.35.

“They don’t get much better than that,” Hind said. “You just cannot...I mean that’s just superhuman. Nobody does that.”

As if it wasn’t enough, she also secured a runner-up finish in the 400 meters with a personal-best 55.92

In addition to her individual triumphs, Weems ran a leg on the gold medal 4x800-meter relay. Along with Erin Cannon, Sydney Steely and her younger sister, sophomore Ava Weems, she helped the team register a state-meet record in 9:16.77.

Humphrey added to the Bucs’ barrage.

Running four races within a span of 90 minutes, the LSU signee lowered her all-time state record in the 100-meter hurdles and tied her all-time state record in the 300-meter hurdles. With marks of 13.49 and 42.46, she secured the 12th and 13th individual state titles of her career.

Humphrey also placed second in the 100 meters (12.24) and 200 meters (24.33).

“Brittley’s been doing that for four straight years, and she’s just flawless when it comes to the hurdles. She ran excellent. She ran some really good times, had some great performances in the 100 and 200, which is an unbelievably difficult quadruple,” Hind said. “That’s just an unheard of thing to even try, and then she medaled in all of them.”

Teammate Caitlyn Little closely trailed Humphrey in the 100 hurdles, 100 and 200, placing second, third and fourth, respectively.

Little also ran a leg on the team’s championship-winning 4x100-meter relay team. Along with Camiya Knight, Jairyn Russell and Michelle Nkoudou, the Bucs blazed a state-meet record in 47.23.

In the field, Genesis Jones leaped 18 feet, 4 inches to capture a first-place finish in the long jump. She also placed second in the high jump (5-4) and third in the triple jump (37-6).

Led by Tommy McDonough and Marion Humphrey, the Hoover boys totaled 95 points to secure a runner-up team finish. They outgained Hewitt-Trussville High School by one point, but fell short of Auburn High School’s 130.

McDonough placed second in the 800 and 1,600 while finishing third in the 3,200. He also anchored the Bucs’ runner-up 4x800 team consisting of Trent Hamner, Joe Leventry and Codey Martin.

Marion secured a quartet of third-place finishes in the triple jump, 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and 4x400-meter relay.

“The amazing thing about our boys team is we have 91 points returning,” Hind said. “Our seniors scored four points, so we have 91 points returning. That’s pretty amazing in itself right there.”

Prior to the meet, the Hoover boys had won of the past seven state outdoor championships.

With their resounding triumph, the Hoover girls have now won nine combined indoor and outdoor titles since 2012.

“It was a great weekend. The kids did great, so Hoover can be proud,” Hind said. “The whole city of Hoover can be proud of them.”

Shades Mountain Christian 

Dylan Pausic and Walker Long capped their stellar prep careers with a trio of state championships at the 1A-3A meet in Cullman. 

Pausic won the 1,600 and 3,200 in landslide fashion, clocking times of 4:28.56 and 9:39.79. He bested his closest competitor by 12 seconds in the 1,600 and 34 seconds in the 3,200. 

His 3,200 mark broke the 1A state-meet record that had stood since 1985. 

Pausic, a South Alabama signee, leaves Shades Mountain with four 1A state-meet records in cross-country, indoor track and outdoor track. He won five individual state titles his senior year. 

Similarly, Long clinched his fourth consecutive state championship in the discus. His throw of 161-9 outdistanced the second-place finisher by over 17 feet. 

Two weeks prior—at the Hewitt-Trussville Invitational on April 22-23—Long registered the farthest throw (171-10) of the outdoor season regardless of classification. 

Spain Park

Spain Park High School senior Daniel Nixon entered the 4A-7A meet favored to defend his state title in the 800 meters. 

He did not disappoint. 

Nixon, a Mississippi State signee, rolled to a first-place finish in 1:53.11, lowering his own 7A state-meet record. He also placed second in the 400 meters (48.52) and ran a leg on the Jags’ fourth-place 4x400-meter  relay. 

All in all, Nixon played a key role in helping the Spain Park boys seal a fifth-place finish with 49 points. 

Christian Strong, Damon Wright and Jerome Kirkland supplemented Nixon’s performance with strong showings of their own. 

Strong finished fourth in the 110-meter hurdles (14.80) and fifth in the 300 hurdles (39.82); Wright placed second in the shot put with a heave of 54-8; and Kirkland notched a third-place finish in the long jump with a leap of 23-4.