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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MONTEVALLO – The top of the leaderboard at the 2024 Shelby County Championships looked the exact same as the 2023 edition as Chelsea’s Ty Cason and Oak Mountain’s John Shoemaker claimed wins at the meet.

In addition, the Oak Mountain Eagles won both the boys and girls team championships once again on Saturday, Sept. 28 at the University of Montevallo’s cross country course.

Shoemaker won the boys race by a minute and 15 seconds thanks to his time of 14:59.25.

The race for second place was much more heated with Chelsea’s Conner Campbell taking home runner-up honors with a time of 16:14.52.

Indian Springs’ Quinn Conroy came in third with a time of 16:18.34, Chelsea’s Hudson Williams finished in fourth with a time of 16:20.07 and Oak Mountain’s Zack Joyce came in fifth with a time of 16:24.72.

Shoemaker and Joyce were two of six Eagles runners to finish in the top 10. Sam Trammell came in sixth with a time of 16:33.32 and Cooper Jeffcoat made it three Oak Mountain finishers in a row with his seventh-place time of 16:39.62.

After Briarwood’s Whit Thornton took eighth place with a time of 16:40.30, Whitt Kilgore and Luke Marvin rounded out the top 10 as Kilgore claimed ninth place with a time of 16:43.49 and Marvin was just behind him in 10th with a time of 16:43.38.

The Eagles took the team standings with 28 points ahead of Chelsea in second place with 64 points and Westminster School at Oak Mountain in third with 95 points.

As for the girls race, Cason won with a time of 18:19.59, over a minute ahead of Oak Mountain’s Ava Fields in second place with her time of 19:26.22. Pelham’s Janelle Ramos rounded out the podium in third with a time of 19:31.63.

Ramos won a tight race for third ahead of Indian Springs’ Catherine Hinson, who came in fourth with a time of 19:32.73, and Oak Mountain’s Hayley Datema, who took fifth with a time of 19:34.02.

Chelsea runners took the next two spots with Juliette Edwards coming in sixth with a time of 19:41.82 and Hannah Quick claiming seventh with a time of 19:49.56.

The last three top 10 spots went to Briarwood’s Allie Hale, who came in eighth with a time of 19:51.74, Pelham’s Emily Wester, who took ninth place with a time of 20:04.56 and Westminster OM’s Emily Mungai, who earned 10th with a time of 20:08.85.

The girls team podium looked the exact same as the boys as Eagles won the girls race with 46 points, Chelsea came in second with 56 points and Westminster OM earned third with 111 points.

In addition to the top 10 performances, the top 20 runners in each race were named to the All-County team.

For the boys race, Oak Mountain’s Isaac Glorioso came in 11th with a time of 16:49.07, Westminster OM’s Weaver Caldwell finished in 12th with a time of 16:54.03 and Shelby County’s Carter Wood was his team’s top finisher in 13th place with a time of 16:59.92.

Briarwood’s Kolby Day earned 14th place with a time of 17:24.44, Chelsea’s Carson Campbell finished in 15th with a time of 17:31.33, Westminster OM’s Daniel Vansant took 16th with a time of 17:40.81 and Shelby County’s Kevin Davis came in 17th with a time of 17:40.81.

Rounding out the All-County boys runners were Westminster OM’s Aiden McEachran in 18th place with a time of 17:44.60, Helena’s John Howard who was his team’s top finisher in 19th place with a time of 17:46.29 and Chelsea’s Luke Dollar in 20th with a time of 17:47.00.

Thompson’s top finisher in the boys race was Colby Prosser in 44th place with a time of 19:29.42.

Vincent’s best boys finish came from Zane Pate in 67th place with a time of 20:52.89.

Montevallo’s top boys runner was Gunner Partridge in 75th place with a time of 21:11.61.

Calera’s Carter Duncan had the boys team’s best finish of 81st place with a time of 21:32.71.

As for the other girls All-County runners, Oak Mountain’s Catarina Williams came in 11th place with a time of 20:28.91, and her teammate Faith Scardino finished right behind her in 12th place with a time of 20:29.82.

Briarwood’s Lena Anne Parker was her team’s best finisher in 13th place with a time of 20:31.92, and Aldrie Ridgon earned Helena’s best run of 14th place with a time of 20:39.54. Chelsea’s Emily Davis earned 15th place with a time of 21:12.97, and Oak Mountain’s Joy Damron took 16th with a time of 21:26.33.

The rest of the All-County runners were Westminster OM’s Sarah Adams, who took 17th place with a time of 21:45.75, Oak Mountain’s Brighton Bell, who earned 18th place with a time of 21:45.75, Westminster OM’s McKenzie Bell, who secured 19th place with a time of 21:56.85 and Oak Mountain’s Fiona Mallory, who earned 20th place with a time of 22:00.52.

Thompson’s top girls finisher was Luna Montiel-Duenas in 21st place with a time of 22:02.34, and four of the seven runners after her were Warriors.

Shelby County’s Josie Payne was her team’s best girls finisher with a time of 22:52.69.

Calera’s best finish in the girls race came from Keanna Hart, who earned 44th place with a time of 24:08.39.

Vincent’s Kaleigh Wills had her team’s best girls finish with a 79th-place time of 28:31.28.

Montevallo’s best girls run of the day came from Fatima Martinez, who earned 88th place with a time of 30:55.69.