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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

ALABASTER – With five runners finishing inside the top 10 of the standings at the 2020 Shelby County Cross Country Championship, the Oak Mountain Eagles not only made up half of the top 10 runners, but took home first in the team standings at the meet held at Alabaster’s Veterans Park on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

The Eagles were led by the top two finishers in the race with Walker Cole and Hunter Wright continuing impressive seasons. Cole won his third race of the season thanks to a time of 16:02.96 and has yet to finish any lower than third in five events.

For Wright, it marked his second top-five finish of the season thanks to a time of 16:12.60 and came just a few days after setting a personal record of 15:55.20.

Reese Bell added another top-five finish for the Eagles thanks to finishing the event with a time of 17:23.49, which was good enough for fourth place.

Behind that, Noah Arrington and Bryce Caton finished seventh and eighth, respectively. Arrington finished with a time of 17:30.51, while Caton finished with a time of 17:35.62.

The Eagles also got top 20 finishes from Matthew Womak, Matthew Coby and Ryan Cox. Womak finished 12th with a time of 18:27.70, Coby finished 15th with a time of 18:33.91 and Cox finished 16th with a time of 18:41.21. Bennett Phillips, who finished 23rd with a time of 18:59.79 was the final top-30 finisher for Oak Mountain.

Helena finished just behind Oak Mountain in the team standings in second, while Briarwood finished third, Thompson finished fourth, Chelsea finished fifth, Indian Springs finished sixth and Vincent finished seventh.

A big reason for the success of the Huskies was Brady Barton, who continues to have a strong senior season for Helena. He finished third in the event with a time of 16:52.28.

Barton also got help from teammate Aspen Warren, who finished fifth with a time of 17:26.74. Gage Pritchard and Edan Jamieson added top 15 finishes for Helena. Pritchard finished 11th with a time of 18:22.51, while Jamieson finished 13th with a time of 18:32.42.

Helena also had strong finishes from Braden Burch and Trent Palladina, who finished 20th and 21st, respectively. Barrett Draiss and Drew Cook also finished in the top 30 with Draiss finished 24th and Cook finishing 28th.

Briarwood also two top 10 finishers with Joseph Bell and Patrick Hnizdil continuing impressive seasons. Bell finished ninth behind a time of 17:54.80, while Hnizdil finished 10th with a time of 18:10.33.

Ford Thornton, Luke Baldwin, Luke Thompson and Noah Williams also had finishes inside the top 30. Thornton and Baldwin finished inside the top 20 with Thornton claiming 14th behind a time of 18:33.33 and Baldwin finishing 19th with a time of 18:54.95.

Thompson and Williams finished 27th and 29th, respectively. Behind them, Joseph Hopkins and Brandon Dixon finished 31st and 32nd, respectively.

The Thompson Warriors also had a few high finishes with Jackson Hamlin highlighting the team thanks to his sixth-place finish behind a time of 17:27.56.

Cameron Prosser and Ethan Jones added top 20 finishes with Prosser finishing 17th thanks to a time of 18:44.64 and Ethan Jones finishing 118th with a time of 18:53.48.

The Warriors also saw four more finish inside the top 30. Walker Bobo finished 22nd with a time of 18:58.62, Jacob Cofield finished 25th with a time of 19:07, Ian Boackle finished 26th with a time of 19:07.67 and Reid Tindell finished 30th with a time of 19:33.38.

For the Chelsea Hornets, Jett Thomas, Logan Bierlair, Max Scroggins, Parker Campbell, Jack Davis, Wilbur Valencia Nava, Evan Ramsey and Camden Thomas all finished between 34th and 45th in a consistent effort.

Pelham was highlighted by Ian Howell with a finish of 33rd thanks to a time of 19:40.86. Teammate Thomas Gennari finished 50th.

Indian Springs was led by Leo Liu in 62nd, while Vincent was led by Lee Robertson with a finish of 96th.