Huntsville, AL – The Huntsville Track Club, in collaboration with the Huntsville Sports Commission, is thrilled to announce the annual Rocket City Marathon Race Weekend, set to bring thousands of runners and spectators to the Rocket City December 13-15.

 

This beloved event, one of the longest-running marathons in Alabama, will once again bring a vibrant atmosphere to Downtown Huntsville, with events centered at the Von Braun Center. The Rocket City Marathon has become a cherished tradition, attracting over 3,500 runners and fans who return year after year to experience Huntsville’s hospitality and race culture.

 

Founded in 1977, the Rocket City Marathon has grown from a local race to a nationally recognized multi-day event that showcases Huntsville as an inviting and runner-friendly city. The marathon’s legacy speaks to the dedication of the local running community and the passion of Huntsville’s residents.

 

Race Weekend kicks off on Friday with an expo, where attendees can connect with local businesses, athletic brands, and health experts. The excitement continues Saturday with a 5K, 10K, and Kids Marathon, followed by the two half marathons and full marathon on Sunday.

 

“This event has been part of the fabric of our community for nearly five decades,” said Mica Anderson, President of the Huntsville Track Club. “The energy and enthusiasm our volunteers and runners bring to this event every year make it truly special.”

 

Mark Russell, Executive Director of the Huntsville Sports Commission, stated, “The Rocket City Marathon not only highlights our running community but also contributes to Huntsville's economic vitality, welcoming runners and their families from across the country. This event reinforces our city's reputation as a leading sports destination, and we’re excited to be a part of it.”

 

Additionally, a press conference will be held on Monday, December 2nd, at 10:00 AM in Mars Music Hall to provide exciting updates and details about this year’s marathon. Media and community members are invited to attend for a closer look at what to expect from this year’s race weekend.

 

Registration remains open through December 12, 2024, at Rocket City Marathon Registration. Volunteers are also encouraged to sign up to be part of this historic event.

For more information on race weekend details, volunteer opportunities, or media inquiries, please contact Rhonda Hayden, Race Weekend Manager, at rcmmanager@huntsvilletrackclub.org.

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Make your story count, as it’s just one entry per household. So let your fingers start typing and send us your story today..Entries must be sent to 97.7 ESPN The Zone by Friday December 6th 97.7 ESPN The Zone and Army Football It's something special in college athletics and we want You to be there!

BOSTON, Mass. (November 19, 2024) – North Alabama junior guard Jacari Lane was named to the 2024-25 Lou Henson Early Season Watch List on Tuesday. The award is presented annually to the top player in mid-major college basketball.

 

Lane is off to a stellar start as a junior, ranking 13th in the nation with 107 points over five game to average 21.4 points per game. Last Friday, the Huntsville native posted a career-high 32 points against defending Southern Conference champion Samford. He had a team-high 16 points on Monday at No. 4 Auburn.

 

The junior guard is the only returning first team all-conference selection in the Atlantic Sun Conference. As a freshman, Lane earned Freshman and Sixth Man of the Year. Over 70 career games, he has scored in double figures 50 times.

 

Fifty players were named to the watch list on Tuesday, including three from the ASUN in Lane, Lipscomb’s Jacob Ognacevic and EKU’s Devontae Blanton.

 

The Lou Henson award honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach who won

775 games in 41 seasons.

 

Coach Henson is the winningest coach in Illinois basketball history with 423 victories. During

his 21 seasons (1975-1996), Henson led the Fighting Illini to 16 postseason appearances,

including 12 NCAA tournaments and a Final Four appearance in 1989.

 

Henson, who is also the all-time winningest coach in New Mexico State history with 289

victories, is one of only 11 coaches to take two different schools to the NCAA Final Four. His

teams have made 19 NCAA appearances and four NIT appearances.

 

Coach Henson passed away on July 25, 2020.

 

The recipient of the annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which

consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of

collegeinsider.com.

 

The 2025 award will be announced in San Antonio, Texas — site of the men’s Division I Basketball Championship.

 

2024-25 LOU HENSON AWARD EARLY SEASON WATCH LIST

Tytan Anderson                       6-6       Northern Iowa

Daniel Batcho                          6-11     Louisiana Tech

Rasheed Bello                         6-0       Purdue Fort Wayne

Austin Benigni                         5-10     Navy

Devontae Blanton                   6-6       EKU

Juslin Bodo Bodo                    7-0       High Point

Trey Bonham                           6-0       Chattanooga

Jamar Brown                           6-5       Kansas City

Ante Brzovic                            6-10     Charleston

Adam Clark                             5-10     Merrimack

AJ Clayton                               6-7       Ohio

Zach Cleveland                        6-7       Liberty

Tayton Conerway                    6-3       Troy

Duke Deen                              5-8       Bradley

Kintavious Dozier                    6-1       Grambling

Kezza Giffa                               6-2       High Point

Landon Glasper                       6-2       NC A&T

Tyon Grant-Foster                   6-7       Grand Canyon

Barrington Hargress                6-0       UC Riverside

Bryce Harris                            6-4       Howard

Ray Harrison                           6-4       Grand Canyon

Ty Johnson                              6-3       UC Davis

Jordan Jones                           6-0       Central Connecticut

Rylan Jones                             6-0       Samford

Kobe Julien                              6-6       Arkansas State

Jacari Lane                              6-0       North Alabama

Xaivian Lee                              6-4       Princeton

Kino Lilly, Jr.                             6-0       Brown

TJ Long                                    6-4       Vermont

Augustas Marciulionis             6-4       Saint Mary’s

Bez Mbeng                              6-4       Yale

Issac McBride                          6-0       Oral Roberts

AJ McKee                                6-2       Milwaukee

Trent McLaughlin                    6-6       Northern Arizona

Amarri Monroe                       6-7       Quinnipiac

Brandon Noel                         6-8       Wright State

Jacob Ognacevic                      6-8       Lipscomb

Caden Pierce                           6-7       Princeton

Josh Pascarelli                         6-3       Marist

Quimari Peterson                    6-1       ETSU

John Poulakidas                      6-6       Yale

Matt Rogers                            6-9       American

Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa   6-2       Columbia

Christian Shumate                  6-6       McNeese

Javan Simmons                       6-7       Toledo

Payton Sparks                         6-10     Ball State

Ray'Sean Taylor                       6-1       SIU Edwardsville

Earl Timberlake                       6-6       Bryant

Lamar Wilkerson                     6-5       Sam Houston

JaCobi Wood                           6-2       Murray State

 

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/Cross-Country/2024-XC-State-Meet-Results

 

ACKSONVILLE, Fla. (November 1, 2024) – Add another “first” to the list for UNA — and put it in bold.

 

On Friday, the University of North Alabama had a historic performance from true freshman Brian Bett at the 2024 Atlantic Sun Conference Championships in Jacksonville, Fla. Bett won the race, becoming the first individual from UNA to win a conference championship for the men’s cross country program all-time.

 

Even more significant, Bett is the first Lion to win a conference championship of any kind at the Division I level — across all sports.

“What an incredible moment and significant first for our entire athletic department,” said UNA Director of Athletics Dr. Josh Looney. “Congratulations to Brian on this historic accomplishment for UNA Athletics and our cross country program. Coach (Connor) Callahan, who arrived at UNA in late July, masterfully engaged, motivated and trained our athletes to accomplish things that have never been done before at UNA.

“I’m especially excited that in an August all-staff meeting, we spoke aloud our department-wide goal of bringing home UNA’s first ASUN championship this academic year - and this was accomplished in the very first ASUN Championship held after that goal was verbalized. We’re so proud of everyone associated with our cross country program and their efforts in pushing UNA Athletics to new heights!”

 

Bett won the ASUN championship with a time of 23:29.6, beating last year’s champion, Taha Er Raouy of EKU, by nearly six seconds.

 

While Bett was excited to make history with his championship win, he was even more excited to help his team match their highest Division I finish in school history. The Lions placed fifth of 12 teams, which was last achieved in 2019.

 

“This is the best thing that has ever happened (in my life),” said Bett after the win. “We have a good team. The teamwork is great. We have a good coach — the best coach. The training is perfect. We get the best results and we always prepare well. I like being the champion and being the first at UNA. It’s perfect.”

 

Bett has achieved multiple school records this season, including a 23:26.4 time for a new personal-best at the Gans Creek Classic earlier this season. He was three seconds off that time today at the ASUN Championship.

 

Bett was named the ASUN Runner of the Year, Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Freshman team with his performance. Not far behind him was fellow rookie Vincent Chepkwony with a time of 24:08.3 to finish 12th overall. Chepkwony was also named to the ASUN All-Freshman team.

 

Rounding out the top five scorers for UNA was senior Adam Nipper in 39th with a time of 25:19.4, sophomore Brent Lyons with a time of 25:43.9 and senior Noah Bonsall at 26:07.5. As a team, UNA had 145 points to crack the top five, besting Central Arkansas at 176.

 

EKU won the men’s race with 29 points, followed by North Florida, Lipscomb, Bellarmine and UNA. The rest of the order includes Central Arkansas, Queens, FGCU, Stetson, West Georgia, Jacksonville and Austin Peay.

 

On the women’s side, the Lions also celebrated an improved season with a seventh place finish. This ties as the second-highest finish in an ASUN championship since moving to Division I in 2018. The other seventh-place finishes happened in the 2019 and 2022 seasons.

 

“We had one goal all season long, and that was to be better at the ASUN championship. We showed up and did just that today,” said first year head coach Connor Callahan, who now owns claim to being the first coach at UNA to coach an ASUN champion. “These seniors on the women’s side have set the foundation for those coming in next. Our men being led by two freshmen shows that the future is bright here at UNA. I’m very happy with how the team performed today and proud of the work they put in.”

 

Leading the women’s side was senior Laura Mobley with a time of 18:06.5. Mobley passed six runners between the final checkpoint and the finish line, cracking the top-30 of the field with a. 30th place finish.

 

This marked a new personal record for Mobley.

 

“Coach and I talked before the race about how I held myself would impact how the team held themselves,” said Mobley after the race. “So coming into today, I was nervous, but I knew I had to be confident in myself and confident in my team. I knew as a team that we would work together and that the main thing we should focus on is going out there and having fun and finding each other during the race. Trying to keep it together before the race, I wanted to keep it fun and just work together as a team.”

 

Not far behind Mobley was teammate Gracie Mathews with a time of 18:31.8 to place 40th. Senior Janeth Jepkirui also made the top half of the 96-runner field with a time of 18:45.5. The other top five scorers for the Lions were Aaliyah Charo and sophomore Camille Etheridge side-by-side in 52nd and 53rd place. Both runners pushed each other to their best career races.

 

Lipscomb won the women’s race with 16 points and seven of the top eight finishers. Behind Lipscomb were North Florida, Central Arkansas, EKU, FGCU, Bellarmine, UNA, Queens, Jacksonville, Austin Peay, Stetson and West Georgia. Lipscomb’s Kiara Smeltz was the individual champion.

 

UNA had seven runners set new personal records on Friday. This includes Chepkwony, Lyons and sophomore Rogan Hanson on the men’s side and Mobley, Charo, Etheridge and sophomore Taylor Williams on the women’s side.

 

A number of Lions also improved their times from last season’s race to this season.

 

Next on the schedule is the 2024 NCAA South Regional Championships in two weeks on Friday, Nov. 15. This meet will be hosted at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla.

 

For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.