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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

OAKVILLE – The Westminster at Oak Mountain boys and girls cross country teams both finished inside the top three at the 2020 Class 4A Cross Country State Championship meet held at Oakville Indian Mounds Park on Saturday, Nov. 14.

The girls team put together a strong performance, including two finishers in the top five, to claim second in the team standings, while the boys had one top-10 finisher to claim third in the team standings.

The girls were led by Hallie Porterfield, who finished off an incredible senior season by taking home second in the event with a time of 19:27.77.

Porterfield finished inside the top 10 seven different times this season in eight races and with her second-place finish at state, she also had five top-two finishes this season.

She was joined in the top 10 by teammate Hannah Adams in sixth, who ran the race in 20:15.42, marking her fastest time of the 2020 season.

In addition to those two, Courtney Callahan finished inside the top 15 with a time of 21:18.80, which was good enough for 13th. Natalie Porterfield added a top-30 finish, coming in 27th with a time of 22:08.29.

The Knights also got top-50 finishes from three other runners, led by seventh grader Ava Gray. She finished 32nd with a time of 22:28.34, while Cammi Griffth finished a few spots lower in 39th with a time of 22:53.86.

Emily Mungai was the final to finish inside the top 50 of the girls race for Westminster. Another seventh grader, she finished 44th with a time of 23:10.42.

In the boys race, Andrew Purcell gave the Knights a top-10 finisher thanks to his impressive time of 17:34.42, which was good enough to claim ninth for the senior.

Just a few spots behind him were teammates Micah Adams and David Haskins, who both finished inside the top 25. Adams, a freshman, finished 17th with a time of 18:03.65, while Haskins finished 23rd with a time of 18:25.16.

Seventh grader Weaver Caldwell also finished inside the top 40 thanks to claiming 33rd with a time of 18:38.11.

Indian Springs also competed in the boys race with Mark Underwood claiming the highest finish. He took home 60th with a time of 19:28.62.

Ethan Xiao also finished inside the top 100 with a time of 20:06.23 to claim 90th.