HS sports recap: Rebels boys win cross-country state title

Here's a look back at the last week in Vestavia Hills High School sports.

FOOTBALL

The Vestavia Hills football team won its first playoff game in seven years last Friday, beating Austin 52-10. Click here for the story of the game.

This Friday, the Rebels head to Thompson to take on a Region 3 foe in the quarterfinals.

CROSS-COUNTRY

The Vestavia Hills boys and girls cross-country teams competed in the Class 7A state meet last Saturday at Oakville Indian Mounds Park. The Rebels boys earned the state championship, while the girls finished third in the team competition.

Vestavia Hills won its third boys cross-country title and first since 2012 on a tiebreaker. The Rebels and Huntsville tied for the win with 60 points apiece, bringing each team’s sixth runner into play. Vestavia’s sixth runner, John Hayes, finished 32nd, eight spots ahead of Huntsville’s sixth.

Mitchell Schaaf and Alex Leath finished eighth and ninth to lead the Rebels, while Will Jordan (12th), Wilson Holt (15th) and Jackson Mize (16th) all posted times in the top 20 as well. After Hayes, Max Armstrong, James Bentley, Drew Morris and Mason Thompson all ran for the team.

On the girls side, the Rebels scored 114 points to place third, behind Chelsea and Auburn. The team was led by two outstanding performances, as Kaitlyn Wende finished fifth in the race with a time of 18 minutes, 42 seconds. Claire Spooner placed seventh in 18:54 as well. Angela Zhang, Jasmine Zhang, Kendall Field and Riley Zeanah all finished within five seconds of each other, while Izzy Maniscalco, Angela Hjelmeland, Maddie Crawford and Elizabeth Gannon also ran in the race for the Rebels.

FLAG FOOTBALL

The Vestavia Hills girls flag football team won its qualifying tournament last week to advance to the state quarterfinals. The Rebels beat Homewood 26-0 and followed that up with a 33-0 win over John Carroll. 

The Rebels play Moody on Tuesday in the quarterfinals.

BASKETBALL

The Vestavia Hills girls basketball team opened up the season last Thursday at home by hosting Pell City. The Lady Rebels cruised to a 72-45 win to start things off with a win. Sarah Gordon was dominant in her first outing of the season, going for 27 points and 5 rebounds in the win. Anna Towry posted 18 points and 6 rebounds in the game as well. 

Want to see something else mentioned? Feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnesmedia.com.