OAKVILLE – Huntsville High School’s Eric Moore executed his race strategy to perfection in the Class 7A boys’ race at Saturday’s 69th AHSAA Cross Country Championships at the Oakville Indians Mounds Park.
Moore planned to match the pace of James Clemens’ Luke Alverson, who delivered the state’s fastest time this year, and then find a way to kick to victory in the final 800 meters.
That’s exactly what happened, as Moore claimed the Class 7A individual title with a time of 14:52.81, just ahead of Alverson’s time of 14:53.58.
“I knew it was going to be so close,” Moore said. “I’m just glad it was me.”
Was Moore shooting for a goal time, or was he trying to better Alverson’s state-best time of 14:35.52 from earlier this season?
“No, I was just trying to win,” he said. “I think that’s more important when it comes to state.”
Moore delivered the fastest time of the day and helped Huntsville take home the Class 7A boys’ team title, but it was far from the day’s only compelling performance.
Homewood’s Emma Brooke Levering ran the fastest time of the day on the girls’ side, clocking 17:46.94 to win the Class 6A individual title.
Auburn High School’s Sarah Tole won her third straight 7A girls title with a time of 18:13.06, helping the Tigers win the team championship for the second straight season and seventh in the last eight years.
Auburn earned a 57-58 victory over Hoover in the team competition. The Bucs placed Ava Sparks (18:17.11), Catherine Wallace(18:36.39) and Amelia Vann (18:45.62) in second, third and fourth, respectively, in a strong finish.
White Plains senior Maddyn Conn won a third straight individual title, clocking 18:15.48 in Class 4A. She sprinted to a sizeable lead in the first mile, ran away from the pack and won by more than 45 seconds.
“I wanted to go out there and get ahead and not let them think, ‘Hey, I can catch up,’” said Conn, a Jacksonville State commit. “I got the job done.”
Two freshmen won individual state titles – Lee-Scott Academy’s Olivia Khan won the Class 3A girls’ title with a personal-record time of 19:32.28, and Scottsboro’s Ryder Linville clocked 16:01.50 to win the Class 5A boys’ competition.
Bayshore Christian’s Caden Phillippi delivered a personal-record time of 15:33.72 to win a second straight individual Class 4A boys’ championship. He raced DAR’s Bailey Kendrick for much of the race before pulling away in the final 400 meters. Kendrick clocked 15:49.61 to finish second.
“I wanted to run my race and PR, and that’s what I did,” Phillippi said. “I felt like I earned this one. It wasn’t given to me. This feeling is amazing and going back-to-back is awesome.”
In the Class 6A boys’ race, Hazel Green’s Bryce McCleary won with a personal-record time of 14:55.11. McGill-Toolen Catholic’sWilliam Porr finished second in 15:37.66 in a photo finish with third-place finisher River Richard of Pell City (15:37.99). Porr ran despite a lower leg stress fracture that required him to wear an immobilizing boot during the awards ceremony.
Brewer’s Rose Betts clocked 17:54.60 to beat 2023 individual champ Katie Mae Coan of Lawrence County in the girls’ Class 5A race. Coan wound up runner-up in 18:06.82. Betts’ time was just two seconds off her personal-record time of 17:52.10 set in last weekend’s sectional meet.
Mountain Brook’s boys and girls team took home Class 6A team titles, and that’s four in a row for the Spartans’ girls’ program.
J.B. Pennington won the Class 3A boy’ championship, the school’s first state title in any sport. Hamilton won the Class 4A boys’ crown, the first time a public school has won in 4A since LAMP in 2016.
Montgomery Academy won the Class 3A girls’ team title and finished runner-up on the boys’ side.
Here’s a look at the individual and team champions:
AHSAA 2024 Girls’ Individual Winners
Class 7A: Sarah Tole, Auburn, 18:13.06
Class 6A: Emma Brooke Levering, Homewood, 17:46.94
Class 5A: Rose Betts, Brewer, 17:54.60
Class 4A: Maddyn Conn, White Plains, 18:15.48
Class 3A: Olivia Khan, Lee-Scott Academy, 19:32.28
Class 1A-2A: Kaylie Key, Athens Bible, 20:01.69
AHSAA 2024 Girls’ Team Scoring (TOP 5)
Class 7A: Auburn 57, Hoover 58, Huntsville 65, Vestavia Hills 108, Hewitt-Trussville 136
Class 6A: Mountain Brook 44, Homewood 99, Bayside Academy 124, Briarwood Christian 181, Spain Park 185
Class 5A: Scottsboro 42, Lawrence County 44, Westminster-Oak Mountain 79, Providence Christian 79, Jacksonville 165
Class 4A: Whitesburg Christan 48, Altamont 95, Bayshore Christian 119, White Plains 140, Houston Academy 178
Class 3A: Montgomery Academy 42, Cottage Hill Christian 77, St. James 80, Holly Pond 97, St. Luke’s Episcopal 131
Class 1A-2A: Cold Springs 34, Athens Bible 82, Sand Rock 95, Pisgah 103, West End-Walnut Grove 184
AHSAA 2024 Boys’ Individual Winners
Class 7A: Eric Moore, Huntsville, 14:52.81
Class 6A: Bryce McCleary, Hazel Green, 14:55.11
Class 5A: Ryder Linville, Scottsboro, 16:01.50
Class 4A: Caden Phillippi, Bayshore Christian, 15:33.72
Class 3A: Travis Barnett, Holly Pond, 16:18.68
Class 1A-2A: Caleb Yoder, Sand Rock, 16:08.92
AHSAA 2024 Boys’ Team Scoring (TOP 5)
Class 7A: Huntsville 48, Vestavia Hills 57, Hewitt-Trussville 107, Hoover 111, Oak Mountain 135
Class 6A: Mountain Brook 62, Cullman 126, Homewood 134, UMS-Wright 162, Northridge 214
Class 5A: Providence Christian 38, Scottsboro 42, Westminster-Oak Mountain 97, Lincoln 153, Northside 171
Class 4A: Hamilton 58, White Plains 74, Bayshore Christian 104, Altamont 138, Hatton 158
Class 3A: J.B. Pennington 47, Montgomery Academy 54, St. Luke’s Episcopal 98, Holly Pond 181, Prattville Christian 206
Class 1A-2A: Mars Hill 100, Sand Rock 101, Cold Springs 105, Holy Spirit Catholic 154, Athens Bible 161
COMPLETE RESULTS CAN BE FOUND AT THE FOLLOWING LINK:
https://ahsaa.com/Sports/Fall/
