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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

OAKVILLE – Coming off a state championship last year, Miles Brush entered this year as one of the best runners in the state eyeing a repeat during the 2021 cross country season.

On Saturday, Oct. 2, he not only cemented himself as a favorite, but he proved he is one of the country’s best runners.

Competing against the top runners from across the state and the southeast, Brush topped a field of 249 runners in the Jesse Owens Classic at Oakville Indian Mounds Park behind a speedy time of 15:10.47.

Coming off a win at the Shelby County Championship a week earlier, Brush picked up his second win in a row and has now finished inside the top six of all three events he has run in this season.

His lone event that he didn’t win was another national competition, as he took home sixth at The Southern Showcase behind a time of 15:11.84. He has now run every race in 15:27.48 or better this season.

Brush’s success was a highlight for Chelsea, but the Hornets had three others finish inside the top 100 of the crowded field. Elijah Williams was the next highest finisher thanks to claiming 53rd behind a time of 16:32.32.

Thomas Ludwig, Andrew Fielding and Tucker Brown all had strong performances as well. Ludwig finished 82nd with a time of 16:57.56, Fielding finished 92nd with a time of 17:10.20 and Brown finished 98th with a time of 17:12.28.

All of those highlights helped the Hornets finish 12th in the team standings out of 35 teams.

The Thompson Warriors and Oak Mountain Eagles also had highlights in the event.

Thompson was led by Jackson Hamlin with a time of 16:09.75, which was good enough for 30th and continued an impressive season for Hamlin.

Teammate Cameron Prosser was the other top-100 finisher for the Warriors. Prosser took home 84th thanks to a time of 16:59.62.

Oak Mountain’s Matthew Womak and Josh Stidfole were also close together in the standings.

Womak finished 66th thanks to a time of 16:42.03, while Stidfole was 11 seconds behind in 77th thanks to a time of 16:53.10.

In the team standings, the Warriors finished 16th and the Eagles took home 19th.

In the girls gold race, Chelsea took the highest finish for the county yet again.

Cady McPhail, who has been matching Brush’s dominance for the Hornets, finished sixth in the event out of 176 total runners.

Coming off a win in the Shelby County Championship, McPhaill ran the event in 18:24.56 for her fastest time of the season so far.

She was Chelsea’s main highlight, while Oak Mountain and Indian Springs both had high finishes as well.

The Eagles were led by Faith Scardino in 37th thanks to her speedy time of 19:48.14, while Lauren Cole and Rachel Whitley both performed well.

Cole finished 63rd with a time of 20:24.58, while Whitley ran the race in 21:04.36 to finish 89th.

Those three helped Oak Mountain finish 15th out of 23 teams in the final team standings.

Indian Springs’ Elise Picard had the third fastest time of any girl from the county during the event. She put together a time of 19:56.47 to take home a top-50 finish of 45th.

Briarwood’s runners also had special performances in the popular race competing in the silver division. 

In the boys race, the Lions had two top-25 finishers thanks to impressive efforts from Brandon Dixon and Luke Thompson.

Dixon finished the race in 17th thanks to a time of 17:01.83, while Thompson was just behind with a time of 17:05.29 to claim 22nd.

Two others also finished the event in less than 18 minutes to gain top-100 finishes in a race featuring 326 runners.

Ford Thornton finished with a time of 17:33.59 to claim 51st, while Noah Williams finished 76th thanks to a time of 17:56.34.

Briarwood’s boys finished sixth in the team standings with 47 teams competing.

The success also carried over to the girls’ team.

Bela Doss and Mary Grace Parker both had strong finishes for the Lions with Doss finishing 20th behind a time of 20:04.31 and Parker finishing 31st with a time of 20:30.67.

In a race that featured 295 total runners, Luci Williams added another top-100 finish for the Lions thanks to grabbing 86th behind a time of 21:43.49.

Briarwood’s girls finished 20th in the team standings with 40 teams competing.