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Photo courtesy of Katherine Terino.
Vestavia Hills boys cross-country team claimed the Class 7A state title at the state meet at Oakville Indian Mounds on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. Photo courtesy of Katherine Terino.
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Photo by Deangelo McDaniel.
Vestavia Hill's Claire Spooner finished 6th overall during the 7A state championship cross-country meet in Oakville on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. Photo by Deangelo McDaniel.
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Photo by Deangelo McDaniel.
Chelsea's Brylee Bennett, left, and Vestavia Hill's Kendell Field race to the finish line during the 7A state championship cross-country meet in Oakville on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. Photo by Deangelo McDaniel.
Tiebreakers came into play last fall in order to award the Vestavia Hills High School boys cross-country team its first state title in a decade.
The Rebels won the Class 7A championship for the second year in a row, but this time around, without tie breakers.
The state meet was held Nov. 11 at Oakville Indian Mounds Park. In cross-country, the lowest point total wins, as points are awarded based on finishing position.
Vestavia Hills defeated Huntsville for the second year in a row, scoring 45 points to the Panthers’ 55 points. James Clemens was third with 64 points, with Hewitt-Trussville and Oak Mountain rounding out the top five.
On the girls side, Vestavia finished fourth. Auburn won with 26 points, followed by Hewitt-Trussville and Hoover.
Four Rebels runners gained all-state honors in the boys race, led by senior Henry Strand. Strand was injured and did not run in last year’s state meet, but paced the competition this season. He won the race in 15 minutes, 10 seconds, less than a second ahead of Oak Mountain’s John Shoemaker.
“You could tell he was hungry,” Vestavia Hills cross-country coach Katherine Terino said. “It was his first and only opportunity to win, and he earned it.”
Huntsville had three all-state runners and closed the gap late, but the Rebels had opened up enough of a lead to keep them at bay.
Each of the five scoring runners put forth personal best times. John Hayes was seventh overall with a time of 15:42. Ethan Meadows cracked the top 10 with a 16-minute race. Jackson Mize was 14th at 16:07 and Daniel Johnson finished 18th in 16:20.
Of those four, Johnson is a freshman, while the other three are sophomores. That bodes well for the future.
“We’re excited for the future of this boys team,” Terino said. “We have a lot of talent coming back and good depth to stay competitive.”
Mitchell Schaaf was a solid 21st as well. Mason Thompson, Max Armstrong, Drew Morris and Brennan Promer all ran in the race, also.
“Coach [Richard] Anderson and I like to consider this a season of patience,” Terino said. “The boys really came on at the end when it mattered most.”
Two Vestavia girls earned all-state honors, as the team was led by Claire Spooner. The junior finished sixth in the race with a time of 18:36. Kaitlyn Wende had a strong showing as well, finishing 15th in 18:58.
Maddie Hazelton, Kendall Feild and Anna James Litty scored points for Vestavia. Finley Becker, Olivia Carroll, Angela Zhang, Riley Zeanah and Jasmine Zhang also ran in the race.
