Sweeney snags state championship
James Sweeney entered the Class 7A boys race at the Nov. 11 AHSAA state cross-country meet as the presumptive favorite. The Vestavia Hills High School senior had run more than 20 seconds faster than the second-seeded athlete. He also had won the past week’s Section 3 qualifier in convincing fashion.
Thus, it was not surprising to see Sweeney well ahead of the chase pack as he sprinted down the final straight on a cool morning at Oakville Indian Mounds Park. He completed the 5K course in 15 minutes, 38 seconds to secure his first state cross-country title.
“It felt good. I did what I wanted to,” Sweeney said. “I just went out fast and kind of hung in there.”
His championship performance propelled the Vestavia Hills boys team, which made its first state meet appearance since 2013, to a third-place finish. The Rebels totaled 97 points. Mountain Brook edged Huntsville, 74-78, to clinch the team title.
“We thought we could win this thing this year, or today we thought we would go top four depending on how everything ran out,” Vestavia Hills head coach Brett Huber said. “Start to finish, top to bottom, we’re proud of our boys. They’ve done a great job. They fought hard today.”
Bryce Hutchinson, a junior, helped Sweeney buoy the team. He placed 12th in 16:14 to earn All-State honors, which stands out as a particularly noteworthy achievement. Hutchinson missed a large portion of the season due to a bone injury that prevented him from racing until mid-October.
“I’m happy that I pulled it off, because I couldn’t do it last year,” said Hutchinson, who missed All-State by five spots in 2016.
John Ingram, a sophomore, and Ethan Strand, a freshman, finished third and fourth for the Rebels. Ingram placed 27th overall in 16:32, while Strand placed 31st in 16:39. Senior Joseph Gilroy (39th, 16:46) rounded out the team score. Grayson Holbert (48th, 16:57), Mitchell Lee (65th, 17:10), William Morrison (67th, 17:12), Andrew Precise (75th, 17:20) and William Tapscott (101st, 17:51) also represented Vestavia Hills.
Only Sweeney and Hutchinson had run previously on the state stage.
“I had told them going into it, ‘it’s the hardest race you’ll run,’” Sweeney said. “We didn’t come out as a team like we wanted exactly, but we all ran hard, and I’m super proud of my guys.”
Sweeney’s individual victory capped a phenomenal season in which he shaved nearly 45 seconds off his 5K personal best. Last fall, he ran 16:11 and finished 19th at state. This season, his fastest time was 15:25.
But his breakout began before the first meet in September. Rather, it started in May, when he overcame a talented field to win the 7A 3,200-meter title at the state outdoor track meet. Sweeney rode that wave of momentum into summer training and, eventually, into the cross-country season.
“I bought in,” Sweeney said. “That’s kind of my motto, is just buy in to everything that you do.”
Toward the end of the season, he bought in to an aggressive race strategy that forced competitors to run on his terms. He pushed the pace early at the Nov. 2 section meet and pulled away from the field. At state, he employed the same approach.
Sweeney gapped his pursuers from the gun, passing the mile at 4:45 and 2-mile at 9:55. Then, he made one last surge.
“I’m really proud of him,” Huber said. “We knew a lot of people would be shooting for him the first half of the race, and he just sort of took it from the beginning and took care of business.”
The Vestavia Hills boys advanced to state thanks to their runner-up finish at the 7A, Section 3 meet. The Rebels joined first-place Mountain Brook and third-place Hoover as the team qualifiers.
The Vestavia Hills girls weren’t as fortunate. They placed fourth at the section meet behind Mountain Brook, Hoover and Oak Mountain. But Sasha Allison, a senior, and Katy Lambert, an eighth-grader, provided a silver lining. Both runners advanced to state as individuals.
Allison wrapped up her season with a 33rd-place finish in 19:51. Lambert placed 67th in 20:57.
“She gave it a really good fight, so I’m proud of her for finishing her career,” Huber said of Allison. “She’s a Rebel franchise girl. She’s awesome.”