Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
Vestavia Hills High School senior James Sweeney signs his letter of intent to run track for Butler University on Nov. 13.
Before the cross-country season began, Vestavia Hills High School head coach Brett Huber set a high ceiling for his top runner, senior James Sweeney.
The sky, Huber said, would be his only limit.
Sweeney confirmed his coach’s belief over the course of a memorable fall. He ran the second-fastest 5K time in Alabama — 15 minutes, 25 seconds — and cruised to the Class 7A state title.
Those accomplishments helped him secure a college running scholarship at Butler University, to which Sweeney cemented his commitment during a Nov. 13 signing ceremony held at VHHS.
Sweeney was joined by his parents, John and Mary Virginia, along with his sister, Ella, as he put pen to paper in front of friends, family, coaches and faculty.
“Making it official and being able to say I’m going to be a Butler Bulldog, it feels really good,” Sweeney said.
At Butler, he will join a rising distance program that finished second at the 2017 Big East Championships and seventh at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. Sweeney said the Bulldogs’ collective talent, coupled with the coaching philosophy, set them apart from other suitors like Davidson, North Carolina Asheville and Samford.
“It’s just a great place up there,” he said of the school in Indianapolis, Indiana. “They’ve got a lot of good things going on.”
The same can be said for Butler’s newest signee. Over the past year, Sweeney has grown into one of Alabama’s top harriers. His times began to drop precipitously during his junior indoor track season, which he capped with a third-place finish at state in the 3,200-meter run.
Sweeney bested that performance at the state outdoor meet in May, when he surged in the final lap of the 3,200 to capture his first individual state championship.
Yet he didn’t rest on his laurels.
“I’d say after his first state championship it just motivated him further to continue to keep working even harder than he had before that,” said his senior teammate, Joseph Gilroy. “I think that’s really been the key to his success.”
But according to his coach and teammates, Sweeney’s swiftness doesn’t top the list as his most distinguishing quality. Huber and senior Grayson Holbert ranked leadership as the chief characteristic that sets him apart.
“If there was one word to describe James, it would be a leader, for sure,” said Holbert. “He just walks in the room, and you just know whatever he’s doing, he’s doing the right thing and you’re supposed to follow him.”
Sweeney thanked his family, coaches, team and friends for helping him achieve his goal of running collegiately. He called his time at VHHS an honor.
“I’ve loved all four years here, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” he said.
Huber acknowledged that Sweeney’s presence will be hard to replace. Luckily, he won’t have to confront that reality until next fall. Sweeney will run both indoor and outdoor track for the Rebels, and he appears poised to secure at least one more state championship.
Huber expressed confidence that the sky will remain his limit, at Vestavia Hills and beyond.
“I’ve never quite had a leader like him,” Huber said. “He’s the kind of athlete that what you see on the course, it’s everywhere.”
