Photo by Richard Force.
Hewitt-Trussville's Brianna Beckham and Hoover’s Gabrielle Washington cross the finish line in the girls 100-meter dash final during the AHSAA Class 7A Section 3 track and field sectionals at Hewitt-Trussville Stadium on Saturday, April 29, 2023.
The Hoover High School outdoor track and field teams made the rest of the competition look inferior at the Class 7A state meet, held May 4-6 in Gulf Shores.
The Bucs dominated the boys and girls meets, sweeping the state outdoor titles for the second straight year.
Hoover has now won all the boys and girls state indoor and outdoor track titles over the last two years.
Hoover’s boys amassed 146.5 points, well clear of runner-up Vestavia Hills, which finished at 89.5 points. Hewitt-Trussville, Huntsville and Auburn rounded out the top five.
The girls competition was also a dominant victory for the Bucs, as they piled up 125 points. Chelsea was second with 79 points, with Hewitt-Trussville, Auburn and Foley also finishing in the top five.
Spain Park’s boys finished 13th, accumulating 14 points. The girls team notched 2 points in the meet.
Hoover had several individual state champions across the boys and girls competitions. DeMarion Gardner won the 400-meter run, George Mann took home top prize in the javelin throw, Jay Avery was the best in long jump and triple jump, and Collin Pate was the top pole vaulter on the boys side.
The boys 4x400-meter relay team also claimed the top prize.
For the girls, Gabrielle Washington put forth a tremendous meet, winning the 400. She also finished second in the 100 and second in the 200. The girls 4x400 team also posted the fastest time to win.
Daisy Luna finished third in the 400, Amyah Ellington was second in 300-meter hurdles, McKenzie Blackledge was second in the 800, Nyel Settles finished second in high jump, Sydney Durban was third in javelin and Isabella Maple finished third in pole vault to also reach the podium.
Other boys to reach the podium were Jordan Woolen in the 100, Gardner and Woolen in the 200, Bradley Shaw in discus and shot put, Avery in high jump, Connor White in pole vault, Charles Crowder in triple jump and the 4x100 relay team.
RJ Torbor finished fourth in the 110-meter hurdles, Zachary King was sixth in the 400, Cannon Peters placed eighth in the 800, Woolen was eighth in high jump, Jack Lamey was fourth and Jeffrey Lopez was seventh in javelin, Norman Settles finished seventh in pole vault, Michael Nixon was fourth in shot put, Torbor was eighth in triple jump and the boys 4x800 team was fourth, as all added to the point tally for the Hoover boys.
Also scoring points for the girls team were Taylor Canada (seventh in the 100 and sixth in 200), Amyah Ellington (sixth in 100-meter hurdles), Luna (seventh in 200), Blackledge (fourth in 400), Langley Jung (fifth in high jump), Laurin Mack (fifth in long jump and fourth in triple jump), Lucy Benoit (seventh in pole vault), Becca Guerard (eighth in pole vault), Jamiyah Hill (sixth in shot put), Nicolette Lewis (eighth in shot put) and Dasya Harold (seventh in triple jump).
Denver Cash, Sam Kilgore, Charles Crowder, Zachary Cooper, Matthew Harden, Zander Dakis, Owen Jung, Jebreiya Chapman, Paige Momern, Catherine Wallace, Lila Hunter, Kaitlyn Cox and Layla Wilson were among the Hoover athletes to compete at state as well.
For Spain Park, Keith Warner finished sixth in the 3,200 and eighth in the 1,600 to earn points. Zachary Erickson finished fifth in discus as well. Loren Jackson, Jonathan Graham, Delaney Vickers, Kenneth Bishop, Madison Harvey, Laila Sibley, Elizabeth Baty, Indiana Gannett, Christian Johnson, LaCoria Nelson and Rayshod Burts also competed for the Jags.
