The Reset: Bucs sweep outdoor state meet, Jags win area tournament
Over the course of the year, the Hoover Sun will keep you up to date on the various Hoover and Spain Park high school athletic teams. For previous weekly updates, click here.
GOLF
The Hoover and Spain Park girls golf teams finished first and second, respectively, at the Class 7A, Section 3 golf tournament on Tuesday at the Highland Golf Course in Birmingham. Hoover edged Spain Park, 221-228, and Hoover’s Carson McKie earned low medalist honors by shooting a 71. Spain Park’s Caroline Waldrop led the Jags with a 72.
For the Lady Bucs, Danielle Buompastore (72), Neysa Dechachutinan (78) and Emily Baker (84) also registered scores. Marilyn Steed (76), Caroline McCabe (80) and Taylor Trible (83) also played for Spain Park.
The Spain Park and Hoover boys played in the Section 3 tournament on Tuesday as well, at Oxmoor Valley. Spain Park finished second in a playoff after tying Mountain Brook with a 296 on the afternoon. Nick Dunlap paced the Jags with a 70, followed by Ethan Hagood (72), Landon Carner (76), Matt Stuart (78) and Reed Hereford (91).
Both Spain Park teams and the Hoover girls advanced to the sub-state tournament, which will be held Monday, May 7, at Timberline Golf Club in Calera. The top two teams in each tournament will advance to state the following week.
SOCCER
Hoover
The Hoover boys soccer team fell to Mountain Brook, 2-1, in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs on Tuesday. Sam Bauder tied the game at 1-1 with a goal just before halftime, but Patrick Neil’s goal with 14 minutes remaining in the game proved the winner for Mountain Brook.
To purchase photos from Hoover's game against Mountain Brook, click here.
Spain Park
The Spain Park girls soccer team finished the season a game shy of returning to Huntsville.
On Tuesday, the Lady Jags dominated Thompson, 6-1, in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs. Haley Greene scored five goals (four in the first half) and Jasmine Greene notched the other one. But the Lady Jags fell to James Clemens, 8-2, on Friday in the quarterfinals, ending their season.
To purchase photos from Spain Park's game against Thompson, click here.
SOFTBALL
Hoover
The Hoover softball team saw its season come to a close on Wednesday, as the Bucs lost twice in the Class 7A, Area 5 tournament. In the first game, Hoover fell to Thompson, 5-1. Paige Williamson knocked in the lone run for the Bucs and picked up two hits, along with Hannah Presley. Pepper Nichols was 3-for-3 with a walk as well.
In an elimination game, Hoover gave up six runs over the fourth and fifth innings to fall to Vestavia Hills, 7-3. Sydney Chandler finished the game 3-for-4 with an RBI. Jordan Moore and Brookelyn Cannon each registered two hits, with Moore driving in a run.
Nichols, Williamson, Mallory Mus, Hannah Minor and Fran Fernandez were the Bucs’ five seniors this season.
To purchase photos from Hoover's softball season, click here.
Spain Park
The Spain Park softball team put together an impressive run to win the Class 7A, Area 6 tournament on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the Jags began the tournament with a 14-2 win over Mountain Brook. Maddie Majors led the way offensively, going 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs. Alexis Anderson, Kate Campbell, Caroline Kendrick and Taylor Harrington all knocked in two runs each, and Lindsay Parker notched three hits. Campbell allowed two runs on six hits in five innings of work.
In the following game, the Jags fell to Oak Mountain, 4-3. Anderson went 3-for-3 with a home run in the game, while Parker and Campbell drove in the other two runs. Majors and Parker had multi-hit efforts.
On Wednesday, the Jags dominated Mountain Brook, 10-0, in an elimination game. Widra and Campbell combined for a no-hitter in the circle. Parker went 2-for-3 with a home run and five RBIs to lead the way at the plate. Majors racked up three hits and an RBI, and Anderson and Wooley drove in runs as well.
The Jags managed a 7-6 win over Oak Mountain in the next game, needing to defeat the Eagles twice for the area tournament crown. Spain Park jumped out to a 6-1 lead after four innings, but Oak Mountain tied the game with five runs in the sixth. But Anderson’s home run leading off the bottom of the sixth proved the game-winner. Anderson finished with three hits and two RBIs in the contest. Parker had another big game, going 2-for-4 with a double and four RBIs. Campbell drove in a run to go along with a three-hit performance. Widra went the distance in the circle, striking out 10.
Spain Park jumped out to an even bigger lead in the second game, but held on for an 11-9 victory. The Jags scored 11 runs in the first two innings and withstood an Oak Mountain rally in the late innings. Wooley homered and drove in three runs, Harrington picked up four hits and an RBI, and Majors went 3-for-4 with three doubles and three RBIs. Campbell went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs and Bailey Bowers notched two hits and drove in a run.
With the win, Spain Park qualified for the Class 7A North Central Regional in Tuscaloosa later this week. The Jags’ first game is against Thompson on Friday at 9 a.m. at Bowers Park.
To purchase photos from Spain Park's softball season, click here.
TRACK AND FIELD
Hoover cruised to the Class 7A AHSAA State Outdoor Track and Field Championships victory Saturday in Gulf Shores, as the boys and girls teams won the state title.
The Lady Bucs scored 125 points to claim their seventh title in a row and 10th overall. Auburn was second with 94.5. Spain Park’s girls finished 12th. Hoover’s boys won their ninth state title since 2005, outscoring runner-up Smiths Station 138-83. Vestavia Hills’ boys finished fourth, Mountain Brook took seventh, Oak Mountain was 13th and Spain Park tied for 14th.
For Hoover, Marion Humphrey set a new Class 7A record in the 400-meter dash with a winning time of 47.43 seconds. Humphrey also won the 300-meter intermediate hurdles, clocking 36.00 seconds to break the previous mark (37.90) set by Emanuel Taite of Thompson in 2016. For Humphrey, the record took on even more significance as the overall best 300-meter intermediate hurdles time in AHSAA state meet history, erasing the 36.33 time clocked by his older brother Marlon Humphrey for Hoover in the 2013 Class 6A state meet.
Humphrey won the 110 hurdles as well, clocking a 14-second flat time, followed by Noah Williams (14.42).
R.J. Nelson finished second in the 100-meter dash for Hoover, while teammate Alex Leary finished third in the 800-meter run.
Hoover also won the 4x400 relay with a record time of 3:15.49 in perhaps the fastest overall 4x400 relay race in AHSAA history. Central-Phenix City set the previous record (3:19.94) in 2017. The Bucs also clocked the fastest time in the 4x100-meter relay.
James Courson won the pole vault by clearing 16 feet, 9 inches, three inches shy of the state record set by Sean Collins of McGill-Toolen in 2015. Courson defeated the second-place finisher by more than two feet.
In the long jump, Hoover’s Kyle Smith finished second with a length of 22-7.5. Smith finished second as well in the triple jump, followed by teammate John Watkins. Sam Fort finished second in the javelin throw.
The Hoover girls won the 4x800-meter relay in 9:17.54 and finished second in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:52.78. Michelle Nkoudou won the 100 hurdles, finishing just ahead of teammate Chakiya Plummer. Plummer won the 300-meter hurdles and Nkoudou finished third.
Anna Kay Clark of Hoover finished second in the javelin throw.
In the high jump, Mountain Brook’s Grayson Scott took top honors, followed by Hoover’s Genesis Jones and Mountain Brook’s Ella Cobbs.
Riley White of Hoover won the pole vault competition by clearing 12 feet.
Spain Park’s MacKenzie Culpepper finished third in the girls 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:20.1. Matthew Gray finished second in the boys shot put with a distance of 50-7.75.
Other athletes participating in individual events for Hoover were Melanie Hall, Reagan Hendricks, Sydney Steely, Emma Langley, Ava Weems, Caroline Sall, Haley Stallworth, Adetola Koiki, Alexandria Stone, Amanda Jones, Jordan Logan, Natalie Tashman, Alex Inglis, Amber Bury, Erin Williams, Deja Washington, Rosalind Staie, Zach Elam, Jonathan Martin, Joe Leventry, John McCrackin, Kennon Johnson, Julian Fore, Anthony Davis, Justin Toth, Jonathan Snell and Ryan Lee.
From Spain Park, Sydney Taylor, Holland Lidikay, Makenna Kuhn, Anna Collins, Katelyn McClure, Cole Dillard, Jacob Warner, Will McCrite, Steven Pate, Jake Pughsley, Josh Wallace and Zac Shaw participated in individual events.
To purchase photos from the section meet, click here for Hoover and here for Spain Park shots.
— What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnespublishing.com.