By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

OAKVILLE – Brady Barton and Teanna Cason have been constant figures inside the top 10 of cross country races this season, and at the 2019 Class 6A State Championship meet held at Oakville Indian Mounds Park on Saturday, Nov. 9, both ended the season inside the top 10 as well.

Barton, a junior at Helena, finished fifth with a time 16:11.34; while Cason, a senior at Chelsea, finished seventh in the girls standings behind a time of 19:34.72.

That concluded a season for both runners that featured a combined 16 top 10 finishes out of 19 races this season. Barton finished no lower than seventh during the season and had three wins on the season, while Cason had one win and three top three finishes.

Those were two of five strong top 20 finishes for local runners in the championship meet with Helena’s Ana Waters and Madison Tsimpides finishing 12th and 15th, respectively, in the girls’ race, while Chelsea’s Miles Brush finished 16th in the boys’ race.

Waters finished with a time 19:49.97, while Tsimpides finished with a time of 20:01.90. Brush came in with a time of 16:38.65.

In the boys’ race, Helena had a strong team showing with a fourth-place finish thanks in large part to six more runners finishing inside the top 50 behind Barton.

Talon Pritchard and Caleb Byers were the other two top 30 finishers for the Huskies. Pritchard finished 21st with a time of 17:00.79, while Byers finished 28th with a time of 17:21.19.

Behind that, Gage Pritchard, Tyler Darden, Aspen Warren and Edan Jamieson all finished inside the top 50.

Pritchard finished in 32nd with a time of 17:30.48, while Darden closed out his senior season with a finish of 34th thanks to a time of 17:33.46. Warren, an eighth grader, and Jamieson, a junior, finished 39th and 43rd, respectively. Warren finished the race in 17:38.31, while Jamieson finished in 17:41.72.

The Pelham Panthers also qualified two runners for the boys’ race and saw Dominic Fanella and Xavien Hrris run the majority of the race together. Both seniors, Fanella finished in 46th with a time of 17:45.85, while Harris finished in 49th with a time of 17:49.63.

Calera’s highest finisher in the race was Riley Gay, who claimed 53rd with a time of 17:52.98.

In the girls’ race, Pelham’s Brooke Monti finished in 27th with a time of 20:42.89, while Chelsea’s Avery Thompson finished in 36th to close out local top 40 finishers.