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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

With less than two weeks before sectionals, local cross-country runners left their marks on meets across the state.

Briarwood’s Whit Thornton earned the victory at the Tiger Classic in Auburn on Thursday, Oct. 17, and a slew of other strong performances from county teams followed on Saturday, Oct. 19.

The Westminster OM Knights, Shelby County Wildcats, Thompson Warriors and Calera Eagles competed in the Northridge Invitational, and the Spain Park Jaguars, Pelham Panthers, Helena Huskies, Montevallo Bulldogs, Indian Springs School and Vincent Yellow Jackets ran in the Husky Challenge at Hewitt-Trussville High School.

The Chelsea Hornets went to Huntsville to compete in the Randolph Invitational and round out this week’s meets.

 

Tiger Classic

Briarwood’s Thornton took the Tiger Classic title on Thursday, Oct. 17 with a time of 16:17.16, just beating out Opelika’s Brantley Turnham by a second-and-a-half.

Kolby Day also secured a top 10 finish as he came in seventh with a time of 17:13.95.

While the Lions didn’t field enough runners to compete in the team standings, they had two other key performances from Kaden Cawood and Sam Mixon, who finished back-to-back in 105th and 106th place with times of 22:18.18 and 22:25.76, respectively.

Over on the girls side, Lena Anne Parker came in the top 10 with her eighth-place run of 20:07.19.

Allie Hale posted a 14th-place finish of 21:15.72, eighth-grader Emmie Hale came in 22nd place with a time of 22:11.48, seventh-grader Lily Cate Jeff finished in 45th place with her time of 23:45.25 and Blakely Margene took 69th place with a time of 26:12.83.

Catherine Monasterio was just behind her in 71st place with a time of 26:24.63.

The top five times for Briarwood helped the team come in fourth place in the team standings with 103 points.

 

Northridge Invitational

Westminster’s Weaver Caldwell had the county’s best finish in the Boys 5K with a third-place time of 16:04.70.

His teammate Quinn McCurry joined him in the top five as the eighth grader came in fifth with a time of 16:35.07. Aiden McEachran made it three Knights in the top 10 with a 10th-place finish for the 10th grader of 16:49.09.

Other scoring runners for Westminster included Daniel Vansant in 16th place with a time of 17:12.87 and Charlie Krulak in 22nd place with his time of 17:29.24.

The Knights finished second as a team with 51 points behind only host Northridge, which won the meet with 45 points.

In addition, Riley Rehberg won his heat with a time of 17:46.42, coming in 26th overall.

Shelby County cracked the top 10 thanks to Carter Wood finishing in seventh place with a time of 16:41.12.

Two other Wildcats joined him in the top 15 as seventh grader Klanton Henderson came in 11th place with a time of 16:54.20 and MaKonnen Falcon finished in 13th place with a time of 17:03.97.

Rounding out the top five for Shelby County was Alex Fleming in 24th place with a time of 17:36.72 and eighth grader Zachary Hallmark in 25th place with a time of 17:41.82, meaning all five of Shelby County’s scoring runners place in the top 25.

As a result, the Wildcats came in third place with 75 points, just beating out Northside’s total of 76 points.

Thompson’s top boys finish came from Colby Prosser, who earned 39th place with a time of 18:47.61. Kohen Jenkins-McGill came in 42nd place with a time of 19:03.64 as an eighth-grader.

Andrew Sheffield and Tanner Paganelli finished back-to-back in the overall standings with Sheffield earning 55th place with a time of 19:43.23 and Paganelli claiming 56th place with a time of 20:02.05.

Graham Chenault rounded out the scoring times with a 67th-place time of 20:30.31, helping the Warriors come in seventh as a team with 215 points.

Calera’s top runner was Carter Duncan after he claimed 57th place with a time of 20:05.11.

The Eagles’ other three runners were Cooper Manning, who came in 76th place with a time of 20:57.17, Dustin Best, who finished 85th with a time of 21:33.60, and Aidan Ward, who took 116th place with a time of 23:20.28.

Over in the girls race, Thompson’s Delaney Paganelli took home a top five finish as the eighth grader came in fifth place with a time of 20:06.68.

Hanna Sheffield came in 12th place with a time of 20:42.29, Luna Montiel-Duenas earned 16th place with a time of 20:59.50, Addison Zoebelein took 19th place with a time of 21:03.89 and Ansley O’Neal posted a time of 21:48.42 to earn 24th place.

The Warriors finished in second as a team with 69 points, one ahead of Westminster OM in third place with 70 points.

As for the Knights, Emily Mungai and Maris Sellers finished back-to-back in 10th and 11th place, respectively, to earn their team’s top finishes. Mungai finished in 20:38.75 and the seventh grader Sellers posted a time of 20:41.30.

Westminster’s top five included Sarah Adams in 15th place with a time of 20:59.23, eighth grader Savannah Schleicher in 20th place with a time of 21:13.94 and Pippa Hussar right behind her in 21st place with her time of 21:21.97.

Shelby County’s Kathryn Peterson was her team’s top runner as she earned 23rd place with a time of 21:41.25.

Josie Payne came in 32nd place with a time of 22:32.36, seventh grader Lorelei Hallmark posted a time of 23:01.76 to finish in 36th place, her classmate Kaylee Bone earned 39th place with a time of 23:15.03 and Jennie Owens finished in 46th place with a time of 24:34.35.

Calera’s Laiken Hammond earned 87th place with a time of 34:16.71.

 

Husky Challenge

Spain Park’s Brody Ahlemeyer finished in sixth place with a time of 16:28.86, making him the highest county finisher.

Caleb Landers earned 67th place with a time of 18:29.25, Finn Carter came in 76th place with a time of 18:36.31, Luca Zellner finished in 79th place in a photo finish with a time of 18:45.38 and Stephen Schneider took 90th place with a time of 18:56.95.

As a result of those times, Spain Park finished in fifth with 179 points as a team.

Helena’s Josh Howard earned 28th place with a time of 17:05.66 to lead his team.

Elsewhere for the Huskies, Camp Herndon took 63rd place with a time of 18:26.71, Gavin Dreher came in 140th place with a time of 19:57.01, Caleb Williford earned 161st place with a time of 20:28.31 and Nathaniel Blevins finished in 200th place with a time of 21:11.55.

Helena walked away with 299 points in the team standings, good enough for a ninth place finish.

Pelham’s best finish came from Robert Lewis, who earned 115th place with a time of 19:23.28. Alex Cruz secured 125th place with a time of 19:46.35.

The other Panthers scoring runners were Jonathan Gordon in 141st place with a time of 19:59.37, Cole Hollingsworth in 158th place with a time of 20:24.88 and Gabe Sierra in 194th place with a time of 21:05.69. Those times helped Pelham finish 11th with 337 points.

The Montevallo Bulldogs had their best finish from Crimson Hill as the freshman turned in a time of 20:55.19 to earn 182nd place. Austin Cummings wasn’t far behind him in 189th place with a time of 21:01.08.

The rest of Montevallo’s top five included Gunner Partridge in 193rd place with a time of 21:05.34, Nathan Gallagher in 208th place with a time of 21:23.76 and John Baggett in 249th place with a time of 22:07.91.

The Bulldogs took 16th place as a team with 487 points.

Indian Springs’ best time came from Oliver Middleton, who earned 126th place with a time of 19:47.74.

The rest of the Springs scoring runners were Tom Freitas in 215th place with a time of 21:29.46, Aron Wang in 250th place with a time of 22:08.74, Hopper Akins in 279th place with a time of 23:01.20 and Finn Wilson in 192nd place with a time of 23:17.81.

That helped Indian Springs come in 19th place with 549 points.

Vincent’s Zane Pate had his team’s best finish of 150th place with a time of 20:14.15.

Kash Dobson came in 274th place with a time of 22:55.71, Bryson Blanchard earned 352nd place with a time of 26:27.44, Jericho Cordes took 374th place with a time of 29:41.21 and Colton Davis finished in 378th place with a time of 31:55.20.

The Jackets came in 24th as a team with 689 points.

As for the girls side, Spain Park had two top-10 finishes from Remy Richards in fourth place with a time of 19:09.05 and Madison Harvey in sixth place with a time of 19:30.24.

The rest of the Jags scoring runners included Mackenzie Colbaugh, who came in 40th place with a time of 21:29.19, Caroline Barlow, who finished in 84th place with a time of 24:02.35, and Rebecca Stafford, who earned 90th place with a time of 24:17.23.

Spain Park claimed fifth place as a team with 156 points.

Pelham’s Emily Wester also claimed a top 10 spot with a seventh-place finish behind a time of 19:47.30.

The other Panthers runners were Abigail Silwal in 139th place with a time of 26:43.19 and Chloe Pearson in 183rd place with a time of 30:24.09.

Helena’s Aubrey Kennedy had her team’s best finish of 85th place with a time of 24:07.21.

Elizabeth Awtry came in 101st place with a time of 24:55.33, Kylie Scoggins and Emma Price were back-to-back with Scoggins earning 110th place with a time of 25:17.38 and Price taking 11th place with a time of 25:20.94 and Ella Car finished in 117th place with a time of 25:37.42.

The Huskies came in 12th place in the team standings with 323 points.

Indian Springs’ Catherine Hinson came in 63rd place with a time of 22:42.10.

Other scoring runners for Springs included Eva Good in 88th place with a time of 24:09.82, Harper Breitenfeld in 123rd place with a time of 25:57.37, Anna Park came right behind her in 124th place with a time of 25:59.19 and Lucia Kolchlowski took 127th place with a time of 25:59.57.

As a team, Indian Springs came in 13th place with 323 points

Montevallo seventh-grader Avery Doss took 133rd place with a time of 26:21.44. Elsewhere for the Bulldogs, Fatima Martinez came in 182nd place with a time of 30:23.69 and Jaimie Nichols took 212th place with a time of 36:58.64.

Vincent’s lone girls runner was Kaleigh Wills, who came in 155th place with a time of 27:43.35.

 

Randolph Invitational

The Chelsea Hornets went north to Huntsville to compete in the Randolph Invitational at John Hunt Park on Saturday, Oct. 19.

On the boys side, Hudson Williams was Chelsea’s best finisher in sixth place with a time of 15:55.05.

Conner Campbell just got into the top 20 with a 20th-place finish of 16:14.05. Luke Dollar finished 113th with a time of 17:45.92, Anden Peek came in 134th with a time of 17:58.50 and Jeremiah Kirkes rounded out the scoring runners in 209th place with his time of 18:52.77.

Thanks to those times, the Hornets came in 15th place as a team with 432 points.

Juliette Edwards was Chelsea’s best girls runner with a 24th-place finish of 19:44.62.

The Hornets’ other girls runners included Brooklyn Jernigan in 252nd place with a time of 25:22.71, Jillian Ellis in 269th place with a time of 25:53.36 and Avery Holland in 305th place with a time of 26:46.59.