State track and field: Scollard, Trotman close out meet with top-six finishes

GULF SHORES -- The Vestavia Hills High School track and field teams continued to exceed expectations on the final day of the Class 7A outdoor meet. 

This time, Colin Scollard and Taylor Trotman rose to the occasion. Both secured sixth-place finishes in their respective events.

Entering Saturday, neither were projected to finish among the top eight. 

"A lot of times on the performance lists, it looks like kids aren't going to score," Vestavia head coach Brett Huber said. "But with the way we coach our kids, the way they usually respond is, if they're close to scoring but not scoring, we think they're going to score."

They did.

Scollard threw 167 feet, 8 inches in the javelin, and Trotman ran 46.89 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles. Both athletes earned three points for their teams. 

The Vestavia boys finished the state meet in seventh place with 39 points. The Vestavia girls placed 15th with seven points.

Collectively, Huber said his athletes competed well.  

"Most of them, if they didn't score, they improved anywhere from five to eight spots on the performance lists," he said. "A lot that planned on scoring scored more than we had planned on. We had a lot in that category. You can't ask for any more than that."