Photo courtesy of David Leong.
The Vestavia Hills High School outdoor track and field team finished third at the Class 7A state meet.
Senior John Hayes delivered a dominant individual performance at the Class 7A state outdoor track and field meet, sweeping all three distance events in Class 7A to lead Vestavia Hills High School to a third-place finish in the boys' team standings with 97.5 points at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Gulf Shores.
Hayes won the 800 meters in 1:53.97, the 1,600 meters in 4:11.10 and the 3,200 meters in 9:19.51, accounting for 30 points on his own and capping a senior season for the ages. He was not alone in the distance events. Senior Ethan Meadows finished second in the 3,200 in 9:23.00, a personal best and the fourth-fastesttime in Alabama this season, and seventh in both the 800 in 1:58.14 and the 1,600 in 4:18.69. Senior Mason Thompson rounded out a remarkable 1-2-5 sweep for Vestavia Hills in the 3,200, finishing fifth in 9:33.16, also a personal best and the 14th-fastest time in the state this season. Senior Jackson Mize placed sixth in the 1,600 in 4:17.88 and 16th in the 800 in 2:01.60.
The Rebels' 4x800-meter relay team added to the distance dominance, winning the Class 7A title with a time of 7:48.34, the fastest in Alabama and 24th-fastest in the country this season. The 4x100 relay placed seventh in the final at 42.96, and the 4x400 relay finished sixth in 3:22.44.
Senior Henry Drew was the program's top field performer, placing third in the discus at 166-10, a personal best and the sixth-best mark in Alabama this year, and fourth in the shot put at 51-1. Senior Drake Renta finished fifth in the shot put at 50-9.50.
Senior Coleman Chapman took fifth in the javelin with a personal best throw of 170-6, the 15th-best mark in Alabama this season. Senior Riley Garcia placed 10th in the javelin at 156-1. In the pole vault, seniors Brady Ferrell and Josh Hahn both cleared 13-6 to finish third and fifth, respectively. Junior Tyler Bradshaw placed seventh in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.15 seconds.
On the girls' side, senior Riley Zeanah won the Class 7A 800 meters in 2:14.85, the second-fastest time in Alabama this season, to give Vestavia Hills its second individual champion of the meet. Senior Anna James Litty swept the remaining distance events, winning the 1,600 meters in 4:58.00 and placing third in the 3,200 in 10:57.71, a personal best and the fifth-fastest time in the state this season. Litty also finished 11th in the 800 in 2:19.98. Senior Olivia Carroll placed 10th in the 1,600 in 5:20.11 and eighth in the 3,200 in 11:32.75.
Senior Molly Mac Sharp placed third in the girls' javelin at 117-0, with senior Emily Jin adding a 10th-place finish at 107-5. Junior Krislyn Thomas took third in the girls' pole vault at 11-0, with junior Madelin Davidson adding a seventh-place finish and personal best at 10-0.
Junior Lyla Lochamy placed 10th in the girls' 300-meter hurdles in 46.91. The girls' 4x800 relay finished seventh in 9:57.68, and the girls' 4x400 relay placed ninth in 4:05.22.
Vaughan Rainer swept the para ambulatory events for Vestavia Hills, winning the 100 meters in 16.69, the 200 meters in 37.44, and the shot put at 20-11, a personal best.
