West leads Rebels at state meet
You couldn’t tell Crawford West felt under the weather Saturday morning.
As she readied for her 1,600-meter race at the Birmingham CrossPlex, the Vestavia Hills High School sophomore bounced beside the track in her pink Nike running shoes.
Concentration covered her face.
“Crawford is awesome. She is tough,” Rebels coach Brett Huber said.
West, the reigning Class 7A state cross-country champion, came down with strep throat before the state indoor track and field meet. But she persevered through the untimely sickness and didn’t allow it to take much of a toll on her performance.
West won the 3,200 meters on Friday in a personal-best 11 minutes, 4.74 seconds and finished runner-up the next day in the 1,600 in 5:06.
Her impressive showing paced the Rebels girls to a sixth-place finish.
“I didn’t feel my best, but I’m pretty happy with how I did considering how I feel,” she said.
The ailment could have rattled West mentally, but she didn't let the circumstances overwhelm her. She dialed in once she arrived at the track.
“I just knew that I needed to run my best despite how I felt,” she said.
West devised and executed a smart race strategy in the 3,200. She positioned herself near the front but didn’t take the lead until the end.
Her fast finish placed her three seconds ahead of Auburn’s Samantha Rogers, who took second.
“I knew that if I just stayed behind everyone, I could outkick them,” West said.
West hung near the front of the 1,600 as well but couldn’t match McGill-Toolen’s Claire Frazier-Bolton over the final two laps. Frazier-Bolton won in 5:01.
“I wish I could’ve gotten the mile won too, but I know that I just need to work towards it next time and hopefully improve so that maybe I can get it next time,” West said.
Huber said he was impressed with West’s resilience.
“You never know how kids are going to respond to sickness, but Crawford looked good after she said she wasn’t feeling good,” he said.
Vestavia Hills’ other distance standout, junior Ethan Strand, also fell ill before the state meet. The flu prevented him from competing in any of his races.
In recent weeks, Huber said his team has been hampered by sickness more than ever before.
“It’s been rough,” he said.
Strand, an eight-time state champion, would have been a top contender in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200. He won all three events at the 2019 state outdoor meet and recently ran one of the best races of his career.
At the Last Chance Invitational on Jan. 31, he clocked 9:00.49 in the 3,200. That’s the fastest time in state history and, as of Feb. 10, ranked sixth nationally. But it didn’t surprise Huber too much. Before the race, Strand told him he wanted to run 8:58.
“He really picks his goals, sets his sights. If he has something he wants, he really goes for it, and he did that day,” Huber said.
In Strand’s absence, the Vestavia Hills boys placed ninth at state. Apart from West, the only other individual to reach the podium was Angelica Vines, who placed third in the 60-meter hurdles in 9.34 seconds.
The boys 4x200-meter relay placed second in 3:29.34.