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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

CULLMAN – The Briarwood Lions and Westminster at Oak Mountain Knights competed in the Oktoberfest Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 17, in Cullman with each putting together strong performances.

The two highlights in the event were Briarwood’s boys and Westminster’s girls with both teams finishing third in their respective races.

But the highest local finish belonged once again to Westminster’s Hallie Porterfield, who continued an impressive season. In her last event, Porterfield set a personal record in one of the largest meets of the season, and she followed that up with her second fastest time in the Oktoberfest Invitational.

She finished the event with a time of 19:49.87, marking her second sub-20 time in a row and of the season, which led to her finishing second in the standings. It marked her fifth finish inside the top six and her third finish of second or higher.

Beyond that, Briarwood’s Marty Grace Parker also grabbed a top-10 finish by crossing the finish line with a time of 20:37.37, which was good enough for seventh place.

Her finish was key in the Lions finishing eighth overall in the team standings. Behind her, Bela Doss and Adrienne Goolsby finished in the top 30 with Doss finishing 24th thanks to a time of 22:11.65 and Goolsby finishing 29th with a time of 22:25.84. Beyond that Kelly Rollins finished 50th with a time of 24:02.67.

Westminster’s Hannah Adams and Courtney Callahan also had impressive performances with Adams finishing 12th thanks to a time of 21:13.45 and Callahan finishing two seconds behind in 13th with a time of 21:15.74.

In addition to that, Ava Gray, Natalie Porterfield and Amiya Sullivan all finished in the top 50. Gray finished 35th with a time of 22:47.35, Porterfield finished 41st with a time of 23:18.50 and Sullivan finished 46th with a time of 23:32.61.

In the boys race, there were no top 10 finishers, but Briarwood’s top runners finished inside the top 20 with Trent Malloy finishing 15th and Joseph Bell one spot lower in 16th. Mallow finished with a time of 17:49.69, while Bell finished with a time of 17:50.45.

Teammates Patrick Hnizdill, Ford Thornton, Brandon Dixon and Noah Williams all finished in the top 40. Hnizdill was the highest of the finishers in 31st with a time of 18:24.23, while Thornton was three spots lower in 34th with a time of 18:32.32.

Dixon finished the event in 18:37.20 to claim 36th, while Williams finished 40th with a time of 18:52.97.

For the Knights, Micah Adams was the highest finisher, as he helped them finish fifth in the overall team standings. He finished 22nd with a time of 18:00.04, while Andrew Purcell finished two spots lower in 24th behind a time of 18:04.72.

Alexander Montgomery, David Haskins and Weaver Caldwell also finished inside the top 50. Montgomery led that pack with a finish of 39th thanks to a time of 18:49.81, while Haskins and Caldwell finished 43rd and 44th, respectively. Haskins finished with a time of 18:56.03 and Caldwell finished with a time of 18:56.29.