Sectional recap: Rebels on to state

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HOOVER — One team bunched together. The other team split apart. In the end, both conquered.

At Thursday’s Class 7A, Section 3 meet, the Mountain Brook High School girls and boys cross-country teams executed different strategies to achieve identical results.

The Mountain Brook girls ran as a pack along the 5K course at Veterans Park and took four of the top five positions. They bested runner-up Hoover, 29-44. The Mountain Brook boys began to string out within meters of the starting line. But they relied on a few key performances to hold off runner-up Vestavia Hills, 56-62.

“As I said all along, we are going to be our best the second weekend of November, and that’s coming up,” Spartans head coach Michael McGovern said. “This is another building block, and we’re hoping to be our best next Saturday.”

Mountain Brook, Hoover and Oak Mountain, which finished third in the girls team standings, punched their tickets to the Nov. 11 state meet in Oakville. This will be the Eagles’ first state appearance since 2012.

Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills and Hoover, which finished third in the boys team standings, also secured their spots at state. The Vestavia Hills boys had not advanced past the sectional meet since 2013; Hoover entered the meet projected to finish sixth.

“It was do or die,” Bucs head coach Devon Hind said. “There was no tomorrow. I made that clear to them on Tuesday, and I guess they were running scared.”

Thompson’s McKenzie Hogue won the girls race in 19 minutes, 17 seconds. She took off from the start and was pursued by a pack of green Mountain Brook jerseys. The Spartans’ Anna Balzli, Lily Hulsey, Reagan Riley and Elizabeth Robertson stayed within arm’s length of one another as they passed by the 2,000-meter mark.

That’s how they stayed until Riley, a seventh-grader at Mountain Brook Junior High, pulled away on the back half of the course. She placed second in 19:45 and was the only runner apart from Hogue to break 20 minutes. Hulsey (third, 20:03), Robertson (fourth, 20:03) and Balzli (fifth, 20:08) followed in succession.

“They executed exactly how I wanted them to, and I think we’re ready to make a run at it next week,” McGovern said.

The Hoover girls clinched a runner-up finish thanks to their heavy presence toward the front of the race. They also ran as a group, but not as aggressively as Mountain Brook. Hind had five runners stick together for the majority of the race. All placed among the top 12.

“That was basically what we were here for, just to finish,” Hind said. “Let’s get to state, and then we’ll lay it on the line.”

Sydney Steely and Ava Hayes Weems led the way for Hoover with sixth- and seventh-place finishes. Both crossed the line in 20:14. Haley Stallworth (ninth, 20:22), Caroline Sall (10th, 20:25) and Emma Langley (12th, 20:30) rounded out the team score.

Oak Mountain sealed its third-place showing behind sophomores Nicole Payne (11th, 20:29) and Evie Bell (20th, 21;28).

Additionally, the top six runners from non-advancing teams earned wild-card spots for the state meet. Local qualifiers included Spain Park’s Mackenzie Culpepper and Holland Lidikay, along with Vestavia Hills’ Sasha Allison and Katy Lambert.

The Rebels’ James Sweeney, on the other hand, will make the trip to Oakville with his teammates in tow thanks to their runner-up finish. It hasn’t happened previously in his high school career.

“We did what we needed to do, and that’s all I can ask for,” Sweeney said. “It’s pretty cool that this is the first time that I’ll go to state with a team.”

Sweeney won the sectional race in 16:20, which was more than 20 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor, Thompson’s Jace Jones. Sweeney ran alone for the second half of the race after separating from Mountain Brook’s Charlie Slaughter. Slaughter and Sweeney jumped out to an early lead and passed the mile mark around 4:48.

“That was about what I wanted to do, and then I just kind of chilled the last mile,” Sweeney said. “I kind of knew what was happening behind me.”

Chaos.

Six teams entered Thursday’s sectional with a shot at making it to state, and the urgency manifested itself on the course. Runners from Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, Hoover, Spain Park, Oak Mountain and Thompson battled for each place.

Slaughter, Hunter Harwell and Gram Denning delivered clutch performances for the first-place Spartans. All finished in the top 10. Harwell placed third in 16:48, Slaughter placed fifth in 16:49, and Denning placed 10th in 17:00.

Vestavia Hills also put three runners in the top 10, as Bryce Hutchinson (sixth, 16:54) and Ethan Strand (ninth, 16:59) bolstered the Rebels behind Sweeney.  

“We’re excited,” Vestavia Hills head coach Brett Huber said. “Getting a ticket [to state] is very important, and it was a tight, tight competition today.”

It was so tight that Hind, the Hoover coach, wasn’t sure if his boys would qualify for state. But the Buccaneers trampled any doubt with their best collective showing of the season. Alex Leary and John McCrackin placed fourth and seventh in 16:49 and 16:55. Leary’s sub-17 run was his first this fall — and he did it on one of the most challenging courses.

David Ash (15th, 17:15), Will Couch (19th, 17:26) and Joe Leventry (20th, 17:26) rounded out the team score. Couch is the only junior; the rest are seniors.

“They showed up, didn’t they?” Hind asked.

Local wild-card qualifiers included Oak Mountain’s Bryce Keefover and Hansen McCown, along with Spain Park’s Jacob Warner and Charlie Trower.

Team scores

Girls

1. Mountain Brook: 29

2. Hoover: 44

3. Oak Mountain: 99

4. Vestavia Hills: 115

5. Spain Park: 122

6. Thompson: 136

Boys

1. Mountain Brook: 56

2. Vestavia Hills: 62

3. Hoover: 65

4. Spain Park: 96

5. Oak Mountain: 108

6. Thompson: 109

7. Tuscaloosa County: 225