State track and field: Sweeney's thrilling victory highlights Day 2 in Gulf Shores
GULF SHORES -- Vestavia Hills High School head track and field coach Brett Huber will have a new hair-do when he returns from the Coast. He can thank junior James Sweeney.
Huber set performance goals for his athletes prior to this weekend's Class 4A-7A state meet. If the athletes meet or exceed those goals, Huber has vowed to get lightning bolts shaved in his hair.
Sweeney more than exceeded his coach's expectations on Friday. He captured the first state title of his career, winning the 7A boys 3,200-meter run in a personal-best time of 9 minutes, 27.72 seconds.
Cue the razor.
"A state championship trumps a performance," Huber said. "He's definitely going to get a lightning bolt on that one."
The race came down to the wire.
For seven of its eight laps, Sweeney paced a chase pack that trailed Auburn's Joshua Escoe by 15 to 20 meters. Escoe went out aggressively and ran alone in front of the field for the majority of the race. It appeared that his solo endeavor might pay off with one lap to go. Despite battling heavy winds by himself for more than eight minutes, Escoe maintained a substantial cushion over his nearest competitors.
Sweeney had other plans. Entering the final 400 meters, he made his defining move.
"I came across. I heard that bell, and I was like, 'I might as well put it all out there,'" he said.
He did.
Sweeney increased the tempo considerably at the start of the bell lap, and he pulled a few familiar faces along with him. They made up ground quickly on Escoe.
But after passing him with nearly 300 meters to go, Sweeney went from hunter to hunted. Hoover's Tommy McDonough, Hewitt-Trussville's John Ngaruiya and Baker's Jay Day followed closely in his tracks.
Sweeney stayed steady, picking up the pace as he maneuvered the final curves. A five-meter gap separated him from his pursuers.
He had been there before, in multiple races. After entering the final stretch with a clear line of vision, he would be swallowed from behind by guys like McDonough, a 4:13 miler with exceptional leg speed.
Sweeney didn't let that happen Friday. He willed himself around the last bend and down the final straight. He pushed his body to the limit.
"I just put it out there, ran as hard as I could that last 100," he said. "It hurt, really bad, but it was all worth it."
Sweeney threw his arms in the air when he crossed the finish line, the memories of missed opportunities erased in an instant. A smile washed over his bespectacled face.
"I'm never going to forget this," Sweeney said. "All the glory goes to God."
McDonough finished second, in 9:28.51. Ngaruiya finished third, in 9:29.20. At February's state indoor meet, that order was jumbled.
McDonough placed first, Ngaruiya placed second, and Sweeney placed third in the 3,200-meter run.
"That's what these events do," said Huber of the state meet. "They bring performances out of kids they weren't sure they could do."
Sweeney's breakthrough race paced the Vestavia Hills boys on Day Two of the state meet. After 10 events, the Rebels are fifth in the team standings with 37 points. Auburn leads with 50.
Carl Nesbitt, Bryce Hutchinson and Phillip Maloy contributed to their team's tally.
Nesbitt earned a runner-up finish in the high jump, clearing the bar at 6 feet, 6 inches. McGill-Toolen's Jake Spotswood, who won, also cleared 6-6. He took gold because he required fewer attempts to advance through his height progression.
Hutchinson and Maloy placed seventh in their respective events. Hutchinson ran 9:39.05 in the 3,200-meter run; Maloy threw the discus 133-05.
Sweeney and Hutchinson also ran legs on the Rebels' eighth-place 4x800-meter relay team, which collected one point.
The Vestavia Hills girls are in 13th place with four points. Katherine Ratliff and Manon Burris scored the Lady Rebels' first points of the meet on Friday. Ratliff placed sixth in the javelin with a throw of 110-06. Burris placed eighth with a throw of 102-02.
The Vestavia Voice is in Gulf Shores for this week's Class 4A-7A state meet to bring you up-to-the minute coverage of the Rebel track and field teams. For live updates, follow @sam5k on Twitter and visit vestaviavoice.com.