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Alabama State Meet Recap 2015 Track and Field - Arthur Mack - DyeStatPublished by
Hoover sweeps the 7A team titles; big triple for Huggins
By Arthur L. Mack for DyeStat
GULF SHORES — For Hoover High coach Devon Hind, it was the end to an almost perfect day.
His boys and girls dominated the Class 7A competition in the Alabama High School Athletic Association State Track and Field Championships at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Gulf Shores on Saturday, sweeping large-school titles for the second year in a row.
The Bucs used balanced scoring throughout the meet, as the boys defeated Auburn 131.33 to 121.50, with Hewitt-Trussville third with 54. The Bucs' strong second-place finish in the 4x400 relay (3:22.73), behind winner James Clemens (3:21.31), sealed the win.
Hoover's girls, led by Brittley Humphrey's wins in the 100-meter hurdles (13.97) and 300-meter hurdles (42.46), and a sprint double by Caitlyn Little in the 100 (11.97) and 200 (24.85), helped the Bucs rout Mountain Brook 166.75 to 69.75, while McGill-Toolen was third with 67.75.
“That's two years in a row,” said Hind. “That's quite a feeling.”
Auburn got things going with Paul Barlow winning the 1,600 in an impressive 4:20.24. But Hoover countered with Christian Bell's win in the shot (52-10). It would be a battle for the rest of the meet before the Bucs could finally get some breathing room and hang on for the win.
“Auburn gave us a battle all weekend long, and for three days in a row it was nerve-racking, it was fun, and it was exciting for us,” Hind said. “We knew it was a battle, and it was that way all the way to the end. It was a complete team effort for the guys all weekend, and it was awesome.”
Hind said while Humphrey had a great meet, starting with a second-place finish in the 400 behind Oak Mountain's Nicole Payne, there were others who contributed to the win.
“I can't single out just Brittley,” he said. “Brittley ran incredible, but Caitlyn won the 100 and 200 and was second in the 100-hurdles, and she was on our winning 4x100. We had Presley Weems run 2:12 (in the 800). We won eight events out of 18, and that's amazing.”
For Humphrey, it was a perfect end to a season that started out slowly, but picked up as the season progressed. Her 13.97 in the 100-meter hurdles was a goal she had been shooting for during the year.
“It kind of was a goal for the season,” she said. “I kind of had a rough beginning of the season, and I was just trying to win today, and I came up with a PR. Caitlyn's been pushing me all season, and in some meets she would beat me, so it motivated both of us to work hard and run faster. In the prelims, she beat me, so it gave me a drive to win today.”
McGill-Toolen's Margaret Ollinger continued her domination of the pole vault, winning with a clearance of 12 feet, 6 inches. In fact, McGill-Toolen athletes took three of the top four places. In the boys' pole vault, McGill-Toolen's Sean Collins set an all-classes state meet record, clearing 17-0 to handily win the event.
Other notable performances included Mobile Davidson's Kameron Cass — a surprise winner in the girls discus, throwing a personal best 117-9 — while another Mobile athlete, Baker's Melvin Hill, won the high jump (6-6). Thompson's Emmanuel Tait was a double winner in the 110 and 300-meter hurdles running 14.12 and 38.83, respectively.
Huntsville's Abbey Weintenbeck and Mountain Brook's Frances Patrick finished 1-2 in a stirring duel in the 1,600, with Weitenbeck winning in 4:59.76 and Patrick just a blink behind in 4:59.79. In the 3,200, the two switched places, as Patrick won in 10:56.28 and Weitenbeck was second in 10:58.26.
James Clemens' Joshua Burks edged out Central-Phenix City's Karon Delince in the 100 (10.69 to 10.82), but Delince returned the favor, beating Burks in the 200 (21.55 to 21.78).
Class 6A: Opelika's boys were on a mission to take the Class 6A boys' title from Homewood. The Bulldogs' Nathaniel Huggins saw to it they succeeded.
Huggins won three events — setting personal bests in two of them — as Opelika overcame the depth of last year's Class 5A state champs, winning 121-106. Tuscaloosa-Northridge, which got a big double win in the shot and discus from Daniel Herrod (53-10.25/161-7) was third with 65.
Opelika and Homewood were locked in a tough battle for most of the meet, but Huggins — who won the 400 on Friday in a personal best US#11 47.02 — came back with a big double win on Saturday in the 100 (US#6 10.49) and 200 (US#20 21.34), and his strong leg on the 4x400 sealed the deal for the Bulldogs.
“I expected to have a good performance this meet,” said Huggins after his win in the 200. “I trained real hard for the 400. I was so close to getting 46, but I'm happy with that. In the 100, I'm real satisfied. It's really taxing (running all three events) because you have to prepare your mindset and elevate your legs for the next race.”
Homewood started the competition with a 1-3-6 finish from Andy Smith (4:17.93), Logan Sadler (4;22.52), and Hunter Poole (4::28.09) in the 1,600 on Day 1. But Opelika came back on Day 2 scoring 19 points in the 3,200-meter run, getting a first from Ben Bryant (9:24.26) and fourth and fifth from Kane Garrett (9:44.16) and Ben Garner(9:55.78).
From then on, it was a battle, as both team exchanged points before Huggins' incredible sprint double win sparked the big Day 3 surge.
Other notable performances in Class 6A boys included Blount winning the 4x100 in 42.08, Tuscaloosa-Paul Bryant's Nigel Durant winning the high jump (6-6), Muscle Shoals' Nick South winning the pole vault (14-6), Spanish Fort's Javon Brown winning the triple jump (47-6.25) and Decatur Austin's Eric Washington winning the long jump (23-11.50) .
Homewood's girls didn't miss a beat with the upgrade in classification as, Kiera Williams'performances helped the Patriots to a 122.50 to 79.50 win over Pelham, with Opelika third with 57. Williams won the 100-meter hurdles in 14.29 and the 300-meter hurdles (43.94) on Saturday after starting the meet with a win in the triple jump (39-9.50) on Thursday, followed by a meet-record 20-5.25 in the long jump on Friday.
The Patriots started things off with a big win in the javelin from Sarah Blake (136-5).
Pelham was paced by Mary Grace Strozier, who won the 1,600 (5:11.00), finished fourth in the 3,200 (11:39.03) and third in the 800 (2:17.69).
One of the more remarkable performances in Class 6A girls came from Birmingham Woodlawn's Jayla Kirkland, who won the 400 on Friday in 57.21, and then followed it up by winning the 100 (11.71) and 200 (24.20). All this was done despite a right quad injury.
“I'm excited, especially knowing that I'm injury, but I ran through the injury,” she said. “I was satisfied with the results. My coach just told me to stay in my race and don't let my injury get the best of me. She said she would be proud of me whatever the outcome.”
Other notable Class 6A girls performances came from Spanish Fort's Olivia Swan, who won the high jump (5-6), Bessemer City's Autavia Fluker, who won the shot (43-3.25); Jasper-Walker's Savanah McMillon, who won the 800 in 2:16.95, and Lee-Huntsville's girls winning the 4x100-meter relay in 47.72.
Class 5A: St. Paul's boys — using a big win in the pole vault from William Foster and strong hurdle races from Zackery Carmichael on Saturday — defeated St. Clair County 90-66, with Columbia third (53.50). Foster won with a clearance of 12-0, while Carmichael won the 110-meter high hurdles (14.98) and was second in the 300-meter hurdles (41.56).
Second and fourth place finishes in the 1,600 meters by Brett Erickson (4:36.90) and Reece Stevens (4:43.33), behind winner Sheldon Britton of Alabama Christian (4:27.53), got things started for St. Paul's, but St. Clair County countered with Deshaun Williams' win in the long jump (21-8).
St. Paul's, however, countered with a win in the shot from Bryce Huff (50-6), and over the next couple of days the team got valuable points in the 3,200 and despite Williams winning the high jump (6-4) and finishing second in the triple jump (44-2.50) and 200 (22.00), St. Paul's third-day surge proved to be too much.
Columbia's Alize Ford had a big day, winning the 200 (21.76) and finishing second in the 100 (10.92) and 400 (48.87).
Other notable performances on the boys' side came from Douglas' Gary Johnson, who won the 100 meters in 10.79, and Lawrence County's Tristan Smith, who won the javelin (164-7).
Beauregard survived a 1-2 finish by St. Paul's Emily Burrowes (36-10.25) and Charlotte Krause (35-11) in the triple jump to defeat the Saints 139 to 133.50 and win Class 5A girls, while Columbia was third with 71.
Beauregard was led by Kylee Carter, who won the javelin (130-4), finished third in the long jump (16-9.50), and high jump (5-2) and fifth in the triple jump (35-4); Sam Dailey, who won the discus (111-8); and Alexxis Milner, who won the 100-meter hurdles (15.42) and was second in the 100 (12.34), 200 (25.90), and 300-meter hurdles (45.79).
St. Paul's started off strong with a win from seventh-grader Isabel Valenzuela in the 1,600 (5:29.51), and second and fourth place finishes from Burrowes and Krause in the long jump. Valenzuela then came back on Day 2 and won the 3,200 (11:36.31). But Beauregard hung tough, and a 1-2 finish by Carter and Dailey in the javelin gave the Hornets some momentum going into the meet's final day, and Milner's Saturday performance in the sprints and hurdles gave Beauregard a lead it would never relinquish.
Other notable performances included Sylacauga's Morgan O'Neal winning the 300-meter hurdles in a new state-meet record time of 44.11; and Huntsville-Butler's Na' Asha Robinson winning the 100 (12.29), 200 (25.12), and 400 (56.35).
Class 4A: UMS-Wright dominated the Class 4A boys and girls' division. The boys defeated Wilson 95-66 to win their seventh straight title, while Dadeville was third with 64. Meanwhile, UMS-Wright's girls routed Brooks 135.50 to 64.50 to win their sixth championship in the last seven years, while Wilson was third with 54 points.
UMS-Wright's boys — who had a huge lead coming into Saturday's competition — got third and fifth-place finishes from Hunter Lanier and Robert Hope in the 800 to help maintain the lead and cruise to victory.
Hope, who had bee struggling with a leg injury, was back to his old form during the first two days of the meet, winning the 1,600 (4:29.52) and 3,200 (9:45.40). Those two wins, plus a 1-3 finish in the javelin from Chris Majure (170-0) and Tift Lyons (159-0), gave the Bulldogs a big lead and basically put the meet out of reach.
Sarah Morris' state meet record in the javelin (132-7), was the highlight for UMS-Wright's girls. A 3-4-5 finish by Sarah Morris, Mona Crook and Ashley Scott in the shot picked up 15 points, and Ellen Ray Chitty's win in the 300-meter hurdles (47.70) and Morris' second-place finish in the discus (108-3), enabled the Bulldogs to open up their lead in the final day of competition.
Meanwhile, Catholic-Montgomery's Amaris Tyynismaa, an eighth grader, won all three of her races and set records in all of them. Tyynismaa won the 1,600 on Thursday in 5:01.38; the 3,200 on Friday in 10:53.15, and the 800 in 2:16.86.
History for Alabama AHSAA Outdoor State Championships
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