Photo by Erin Nelson.
Vestavia’s Alex Leath and Hoover’s Owen Marquardt run head-to-head in the final stretch of the Class 7A boys race during the AHSAA State Cross Country meet held at Oakville Indian Mounds Park in November 2019.
The 2019 cross-country season will not go down in the annals as one of the best in Hoover High School program history. The boys finished sixth in the Class 7A state meet, while the girls failed to qualify for state.
But it wasn’t a total lost cause for the Bucs. The boys team was young and ran well down the stretch, while the girls were likely the sixth or seventh best team in the state, but only the top four advanced out of a section in which they placed fifth.
Hoover coach Devon Hind believes both teams have much higher ceilings this year. The boys are still relatively young, but the squad now features runners with the requisite experience needed to perform well in big moments. The girls have the potential to run with the best teams in the state if they perform at their peak.
On the boys’ side, Hind pegs Huntsville to be the clear-cut favorite in 7A this fall, with teams such as Hoover, Vestavia Hills, Oak Mountain and Auburn all teams with potential to claim a trophy at the state meet.
Hind is excited about the return of senior Kyle Epperson to the squad, who returns after missing two seasons due to various injuries.
“Now, he’s himself and is going to surprise a lot of people,” Hind said. “Our top six can run with most anybody. It’s an exciting year.”
Owen Marquardt, who was an all-state performer last fall, is also back for the Bucs. Charlie Morris is a junior who was Hoover’s second-best runner at state last fall. A trio of sophomores made up the second half of the Bucs’ top six early in the season, as Matthew Harden, Elijah Joseph and Sam Kilgore are all expected to have big seasons.
“People are going to hear a lot about them over the next three years,” Hind said.
The girls underperformed to expectation in the first two meets of the season, at Oxford and at Oakville Indian Mounds Park — site of the state meet in November. But the team has the ability to make up ground as the season progresses, as they are led by Lauren Wallace, one of the state’stop runners. Hind believes Wallace can be a top five performer at state this fall.
Seven of the Lady Bucs’ top eight runners at the beginning of the season were seniors. Abigail Batchelor has established herself as the No. 2 on the squad, despite not running competitively until her junior year.
“She has trained hard for the last year because she wants to be good,” Hind said.
Ashley Girouard is Hoover’s top underclassman, as the sophomore set the 2-mile freshman school record last fall, beating program legend Sydney Steely’s best mark. Alyssa Halcomb, Reagan Hendricks and Anna Caroline Knight are also among the top Lady Bucs runners.
If Hoover’s girls can decrease the 2:41 split they had from positions one through five in their season-opening meet, they have the chance to be in contention come the end of the season.
“Cross-country is one of the best team sports there is,” Hind said. “You’re counting on your teammates. If you think of it as an individual sport as a runner, you’re not going to do well.”
