Humphrey, Carlos to highlight Alabama state champs

By Arthur L. Mack

Two of the top track and field athletes in the state of Alabama—as well as the nation—will be the center of attention at the 4A-5A-6A Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships this Friday and Saturday at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex.

Hoover’s Marlon Humphrey, along with Mobile McGill-Toolen Catholic’s Carmen Carlos are expected to make one last hurrah in the 6A competition. Both Humphrey and Carlos are ranked nationally in their respective events—Humphrey in the 110 and 300-meter hurdles, and Carlos in the 800, 1,600, and 3,200.

There are national-class athletes to watch in the other divisions, too. Mobile’s St. Paul ’s Episcopal has one of the top pole vaulters in Chantel Krause. Krause is the heavy favorite as the Saints seek their eighth straight 5A girls’ team title.

In 4A, Mobile’s UMS-Wright hopes to make it five straight titles in the boys’ and girls’ divisions. One athlete in particular to watch in the 4A girls’ division is UMS-Wright’s Kathryn Lazarchick, who is favored to win the 800, 1,600, and 3,200.

Let’s take a look and see what may happen this weekend:

6A: Hoover’s boys, led by Humphrey, are loaded and well balanced, and are shooting for a seventh straight title. Humphrey had strong performances in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles in the Mobile Challenge of Champions, blazing to a US#1 and meet record 35.60 in the latter event.  His 13.38 110H best also leads the nation.

Battling Hoover will be Mountain Brook, with hurdler Charlie Forbes and distance star Peyton Ballard leading the way. Or, it could be Mobile’s McGill-Toolen Catholic, which has its most balanced team in years and has a legitimate sprint threat in Tony Bridges.

Another threat Hoover faces comes from Vestavia Hills, led by distance star Mac McCoy. Also, let’s not forget about Auburn, paced by TCU-bound Cameron Luper, who along with teammate Justin Carter (javelin) had a strong performance at the Mobile Challenge of Champions.

There could very well be some strong battles individually, too. Ballard is expected to lock up with Tuscaloosa County’s Donnie Lee in the 800—which will have a very loaded field. In the throws, Huntsville’s Grant Hill, who has the state’s best marks of 58-10 and a US#1 203-7 in the discus, should get a healthy dose of competition, especially from Prichard Blount’s Tory Radcliff (54-0).

On the girls side, another Humphrey—Marlon’s freshman sister Brittley—could figure prominently in Hoover ’s quest to repeat as girls’ champion. Brittley is one of the favorites in the 100 and 300-meter hurdles—though she could face a stiff challenge from Mobile Baker’s Elisea Jones, the defending champion in the latter event.

Mountain Brook —which is strong in the middle and long distances as well as the jumps—could mount a challenge, as well as McGill-Toolen with the aforementioned Carlos. She is highly favored to win the 800, 1,600, and 3,200, and could break state meet records in at least two of those events.  She’s US#5 in the 1600 at 4:49.20 and #6 in the 3200 at 10:15.70.

The girls’ 400 should be very interesting. Auburn ’s Fanta Diabate, is one of the favorites, along with Hoover ’s Asia Hart and Shaina Cadet, and Central-Phenix City’s Brandi Jackson.

5A: St. Paul’s Episcopal, which would normally be the favorite to win a fourth straight boys’ title, suffered a severe blow when its top sprinter, Kylen Towner, pulled a hamstring during the Mobile County Championships.

That could leave the door open for Scottsboro, led by middle distance runner Madison Estes, or Cullman, which has a strong middle distance crew of its own.

LeFlore of Mobile, which defeated St. Paul’s in the Section 1 meet, has a legitimate shot of being in the top three, along with John Carroll Catholic of Birmingham and Valley.

The team to watch, though, is Homewood , A solid distance crew, led by Logan Sadler, Andy Smith and Fulton Williams, will help the Patriots tremendously. Another team, Central-Tuscaloosa—led by hurdler-jumper Lezyon Lagard—should also make things interesting. Lagard has a seasonal best triple jump of 48-1/2.

Individually, athletes to watch are Columbia’s Bryan Arthur, who has the state’s leading times in the 200 and 400 (21.74/48.10), John Carroll’s Griffin Lee in the 1,600 and 3,200, and Spanish Fort’s Grant Schumacher in the high jump.

St. Paul’s could conceivably win an eighth straight 5A girls’ title, but an illness to the Saints’ top distance runner, Alana Babington, will put more pressure on Anna Braswell to score high against Scottsboro’s vaunted distance crew, led by Olivia Thompson and Savannah Roland.

But the Saints have a strong 1-2 punch in Shelly Spires and Chantel Krause. Spires is the favorite in the high jump, and has the fastest time in the 400-meter dash (57.63). In addition, she is an excellent long jumper, and will be in a major battle with Hartselle’s Quanisha Burks, the defending state champion in that event, and Homewood’s Kiara Williams, who jumped 19-1 ½ at the Mobile Challenge of Champions.

Krause has the best pole vault mark of anyone in the state, regardless of classification (13-0), and also has done well in the 100 and 300-meter hurdles.

In addition, St. Paul’s also has the top 5A discus thrower in the state in Nanette Weitzman—who is also expected to score in the pole vault and triple jump.

If St. Paul’s falters, it can be anyone’s meet. Homewood, Scottsboro, or even John Carroll Catholic has a shot of winning.

4A: The burning question in everybody’s mind is this: Will UMS-Wright win a fifth straight boys’ title?

Maybe so, but the Bulldogs will have to score points, and score often, in order to have a reasonable chance of getting another blue trophy. While UMS-Wright easily won its section, Alabama Christian—which finished second—had some excellent performances.

In addition, UMS-Wright will have to have a career day, not only from its distance duo of Robert Hope and Chase Tan, but also from the rest of its supporting cast, including shot-putter George Williams, 400-meter runner Patrick Huettemann, and javelin throwers Hamilton Phillips and Christian Hollinghead.

And then, there’s luck. If the rest of the competition, such as Tallassee, led by Jed Carter (javelin) and Dijon Paschal (100/200/400); St. Clair County, led by jumpers Deshawn Williams, Kartez Carr and Kendall Patton; or even Oneonta, led by distance star Alex Gilliand, has a sub-par day, then UMS-Wright should cruise to a team victory.

Paschal, though, has the fastest 4A time in the state in the 100 and 200 (10.77/21.85). Gilliand has the best 1,600-meter time in 4A (4:26.58) and it should be a battle between he and Hope.

Meanwhile, Lazarchick hopes to go out with a bang as she runs her final meet for the UMS-Wright girls, who like the boys are trying to win a fifth straight 4A title.

Lazarchick is in the 800, 1,600, and 3,200, and is favored to win all three. Not only does she have the fastest times of anybody in 5A in those three races, but she has an opportunity to break her own 800 state record of 2:17.57, which she set two years ago. If she wins all three races, and the Bulldogs get a strong performance from their supporting cast, which includes distance runners Ellie Carter and Claire Kennedy, sprinter/jumper Rekha Berry, and Sarah Morris (shot put/javelin), it could be a long day for the rest of the competition.

However, Lincoln, led by Shelbi White (seasonal bests of 12.20 in the 100, 24.70 in the 200 and 57.10 in the 400), Maliya Carter (38-11 in the shot put), and Aaliyah Glover (122-5 ½) will make a strong run at the title, as well as Beauregard, which scored a whopping 330 points to win the 4A Section 2 crown. Beauregard is loaded in the sprints, hurdles, and distances, and is virtually a mirror image of UMS-Wright talent wise.

Keep an especially close eye on Guntersville’s Raven Stewart, who has the top 4A times in the 100 and 300-meter hurdles (14.16/47.16), long jump (18-6 ½) and triple jump (38-1/4).