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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MONTEVALLO – As night fell on the campus of the University of Montevallo on Saturday, Sept. 16, two stars from the Shelby County area rose and took the crown at the Early Bird Twilight.

Chelsea’s Parker Campbell won the boys race with a time of 15:33.33, while Briarwood’s Bela Doss won the girls race with a time of 18:18.91.

Campbell won his race by just over 10 seconds, while Doss won the girls race by eight-and-a-half seconds over the next closest runner.

Behind Campbell in the boys 5K, Thompson’s Doster Robinson finished in fourth place with a time of 16:00.59. Thompson had three other runners in the top 65 as well, with Nick Zito running an 18:25.44 to finish in 55th, Colby Prosser finishing in 57th with a time of 18:38.01 and Christopher Gutierrez running an 18:44.08 to finish in 61st place.

Chelsea finished with three total runners in the top eight, as Hudson Williams finished in sixth with a time of 16:08.08 and Conner Campbell finished in eighth place with a time of 16:20.47 to go with Parker Campbell’s winning time.

The Hornets had multiple other notable times, including Wilbur Valencia Nava with a time of 17:21.87 in 23rd place, Luke Dollar with a 17:58.19 to finish in 45th place, Hayden Cox running an 18:15.38 in 52nd place, Anden Peek in 59th place with a time of 18:40.86 and Aaron Price in 65th place with a time of 18:51.25.

Briarwood placed two runners in the top 40, with Whit Thornton finishing in 30th with a time of 17:31.66 and Kolby Day earning 40th place with a time of 17:48.82.

Pelham’s highest finisher was Jacob Horton in 89th place with a time of 19:42.39.

Vincent’s highest placing runner was eighth grader Owen White, who ran a 23:10.69 to finish in 178th place.

Chelsea finished in third in the team standings with 71 points behind meet winners Hoover, with Thompson in seventh place and Pelham in 12th place.

In the girls race, Doss beat out Chelsea’s Ty Cason by 8.46 seconds to claim the title.

Cason was joined by four other Chelsea runners in the top 25, which gave the Hornets the win in the team standings as the five scoring runners for Chelsea earned 54 points.

Mia Dunavant finished in eighth place with a 19:12.75, Adeline Keith finished in 15th place with a time of 20:02.67, Kylie Jones ended the race in 18th place with a time of 20:26.73 and Hannah Quick ran a 20:34.97 to finish in 22nd place.

Chelsea also placed four other runners in the top 75 for nine total, as Evie Scroggins finished in 28th place, Brylee Bennett earned 31st place, Juliette Edwards finished in 33rd place and Sydney Johnson took 56th place.

Doss was among four strong finishers for Briarwood at the meet, with Lena Anne Parker finishing in 14th place with a time of 20:02.11, Luci Williams earning 17th place with her time of 20:24.99 and Allie Hale finishing in 26th place with a time of 21.02.23.

Blakely Margene, Ginger Potts and Lauren Luker all place in the top 75 as the Lions finished in fourth place in the team standings.

Pelham freshman Janelle Ramos finished in 21st place with a time of 20:32.16 to lead all Panthers runners, and Mikaula Leftwich finished in 51st place as another notable time for Pelham.

Thompson’s highest finisher was Ansley O’Neal, who finished in 50th place with a time of 23:13.35, and she was joined in the top 75 by Hanna Sheffield and Alyssarae Bustamante to give the Warriors 11th place.

Vincent’s fastest runner was Emma Brown, who finished in 139th place with a time of 28:52.01.

The meet served as a great warm-up for Saturday, Sept. 23’s Shelby County Championships at the University of Montevallo, as the fastest runners from around the county will gather at the same course to decide the best in the county.