Sweet sweep for Bucs
BIRMINGHAM – Chalk it up as another sweep for the Hoover High School indoor track and field programs.
The boys and girls teams from Hoover showed out and dominated the AHSAA State Indoor Track and Field Championships, held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 2-3, at the Birmingham CrossPlex. The Bucs claimed a pair of Class 7A state championships to add to their trophy case.
“It’s quite an accomplishment,” said Hoover coach Devon Hind. “We had our work cut out for us.”
The Hoover boys totaled 135 points on the weekend, well clear of the 62.5 points tallied by runner-up Vestavia Hills. The girls expected somewhat of a tight battle with McGill-Toolen, but the Lady Bucs racked up 113 points to McGill’s 78 to win comfortably.
The Bucs nearly won half of the meet’s competitions at the 7A level, a remarkable thought that Hind was unable to find an answer for.
“Just like every other group, they know how to win,” he said. “I don’t know what it is, they know how to win. When it’s on the line, they know how to step up.”
In all, 14 individuals found their way to the podium for Hoover.
On the track, Sydney Steely won the 800-meters in 2:13.93, and placed second in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:03.97. In the 60-meter hurdles, Michelle Nkoudou (8.81) and Chakiya Plummer (8.91) swept the top two spots for Hoover.
Hakim Ruffin won the 60-meter dash with a quick time of 6.91 seconds. RJ Nelson finished right behind Ruffin in the 60, running it in 6.98 seconds to finish second. Noah Williams (second, 8.45) and Kennon Johnson (third, 8.60) also found their way to the podium in the 60-meter hurdles. Alex Leary placed second in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:57.08.
Out of six relays, Hoover won five of them. The girls won all three, the 4x200, 4x400 and 4x800 races. The girls completed the 4x200 in 1:43.12, finished the 4x400 in a 7A state meet record time of 3:55.24 and won the 4x800 in a site record time of 9:19.70.
The boys won two of the relays and finished second in the other one. They won the 4x200 in 1:29.36. They were awarded the win in the 4x400 after Smiths Station was disqualified, finishing in 3:24.01, and finished second to Smiths Station in the 4x800 with a time of 8:02.94.
In the field events, James Courson won the boys pole vault event by clearing the bar at 16 feet, 1 inch. He cleared over 18 inches more than his nearest competitor. Also winning an event was Genesis Jones, who won the girls high jump with a state meet record jump of 5-6. Jones also finished third in the long jump (17-4). Kyle Smith also won the boys triple jump, reaching 45 feet, 7 inches. He also placed second in the high jump (6-6).
J’Marri McCall was second in the long jump, reaching 22 feet, 1 inch. John Watkins was second in the triple jump at 43-5, and Riley White finished third in the pole vault, clearing 11 feet.