State track and field: Bucs look for big Saturday
GULF SHORES -- The Hoover High School boys track and field team is in second place after two days of competition at the Class 4A-7A state meet. The Bucs trail Auburn, 50-44. The Hoover girls are in fifth, trailing first-place Mountain Brook, 63.16-37.5.
Both Buccaneer squads will look to move up the 7A team leaderboard on Saturday -- the state meet's third and final day.
The Hoover girls are chasing their sixth straight state title. The Hoover boys are after their third in four years.
On Friday, a number of Bucs stepped up and contributed points for their teams.
Genesis Jones won the girls high jump, clearing the bar at 5 feet, 4 inches. She was the only competitor in the field to soar over that height. Jones also finished fourth in the long jump. Adetola Koiki placed sixth.
"I knew what I came for and what I had to do," Jones said, "and I came out here and executed."
The boys 4x800-meter relay did too.
Joe Leventry, Alex Leary, Tommy McDonough and Trent Hamner narrowly edged teams from Smiths Station and Mountain Brook to seal the victory in 8 minutes, 3.8 seconds.
Hamner ran a sensational anchor leg. He made up about 25 meters on Smiths Station, which held a comfortable lead entering the final two laps. Hamner passed his opponent in the race's closing meters.
"I think we just all knew we were the best team out here, especially PR-wise for all of us. We had the deepest team," Hamner said. "We knew that we deserved this, because we definitely worked for it."
McDonough also posted a standout performance in the boys 3,200-meter run. He placed second in 9:28.51, crossing the line less than a second behind Vestavia Hills' James Sweeney.
The Hoover girls 4x800-meter relay notched a third-place finish in 9:26.62.
In the sprints and hurdles, Caitlyn Little paced a group of Bucs who qualified for Saturday's finals. Little and Jairyn Russell advanced in the 200-meter dash, finishing third and fourth in the prelims.
Little clocked the fastest qualifying time in the 100-meter hurdles, running 13.74 seconds. Michelle Nkoudou and Chakiya Plummer also punched their tickets to Saturday's final.
Hoover's Hakim Ruffin and R.J. Nelson advanced to the final of the 200-meter dash. They will be joined by Spain Park's Kameron McDaniel.
The Jags' Christian Strong and Thomas Jordan registered two of the three fastest prelim times in the 110-meter hurdles. Strong ran 14.97 seconds, and Jordan ran 15.57. Both will contend for titles in the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles on Saturday.
Hoover's Kyle Smith placed fourth in the boys triple jump, leaping 45-7.
The Hoover Sun is in Gulf Shores for this week's Class 4A-7A state meet to bring you up-to-the minute coverage of the Hoover and Spain Park track and field teams. For live updates, follow @sam5k on Twitter and visit hooversun.com