Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – It may have been a hot day on Saturday, Aug. 26 prior to the start of the Spain Park Twilight Meet at Veterans Park in Hoover, but as the sun set and the temperatures cooled, the action heated up on the course as multiple area teams were among the top finishers.

Oak Mountain’s girls team took home the team title in the varsity girls 5K race after placing five runners in the top 10. The boys team finished in second in their varsity race thanks to two top six finishes.

Spain Park’s Delaney Vickers took home the individual title in the girls race, finishing with a time of 19:30.06 to win the race by 24 seconds. Her teammate Madison Harvey finished in third with a 21:00.08 time.

As for the Eagles, they dominated the remaining spots in the top 10. Ava Fields was Oak Mountain’s highest finisher in fourth place with a time of 21.07.28.

Oak Mountain runners finished sixth, seventh and eighth in the race with Faith Scardino earning a time of 21:33.29, Brighton Bell finishing in 21:44.13 and Lauren Cole rounding out the trio with a time of 21:49.00. Catarina Williams finished 10th with a run of 21:58.98 to round out the Eagles’ top finishers.

In addition to claiming two of the top three spots, Spain Park had two more finishers in the top 25. Remy Richards finished 11th with a time of 22:11.20, and Gianna Thornton finished in 25th place with a time of 24:01.22, just edging out teammate Sarah Kate Phillips in 27th with a 24:03.58.

Westminster OM had three runners in the top 25, and they each finished right behind one another in 21st, 22nd and 23rd place. Emily Mungai was the top finisher for the Knights with a time of 23:46.20, Pippa Hussar was just behind her with a 23:47.80 and Sarah Adams finished with a time of 23:51.82.

Shelby County’s Jennie Owens also competed in the meet, finishing in 57th with a time of 29:14.68.

The host Jags finished in third place in the team standings behind Oak Mountain and James Clemens with 60 points. Westminster OM finished in fourth place with 126 points from their top runners.

In the boys race, John Shoemaker of Oak Mountain finished second in the boys race with a time of 16:16.63, which was just behind race winner Luke Alverson of James Clemens.

Oak Mountain had four more runners in the top 15 thanks to Whitt Kilgore finishing in sixth place with a time of 17:09.31, Cooper Jeffcoat in 11th place with a time of 17:49.62, Luke Marvin finished 13th with a time of 18:07.99 and Zachary Joyce in 15th with a 18:17.84 time.

Spain Park had three finishers in the top 15 with Eian Phillips in 7th place with a time of 17:16.48, Brody Ahlemeyer in 9th with a time of 17:39.10 and Weston Higginbotham with a time of 18:02.37 in 12th place.

Westminster OM’s top finisher was Alexander Montgomery in 14th place with a time of 18:12.20. The Knights had two more runners in the top 20 thanks to Micah Adams and Weaver Campbell finishing back-to-back in 19th and 20th with times of 18:51.42 and 18:52.06, respectively.

Shelby County’s top finisher was River Horton in 39th place with his time of 20:09.93. Tucker Busby finished shortly behind him with a time of 20:21.12, which was good enough for 41st place.

Oak Mountain finished in second place in the team standings with a score of 47 points, behind James Clemens’ 28, and Spain Park and Westminster OM made it three straight area teams in the standings with their finished of 3rd and 4th. Shelby County finished in 6th place in the boys race.