Hoover girls track and field team wins fifth straight outdoor title

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

On Saturday afternoon 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 six 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.”