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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

MONTEVALLO – Two Chelsea runners shined on the big stage on Saturday, Sept. 25 in Montevallo during the Shelby County Championship, which brought together the top cross country runners from across the county.

At the end of the event, Miles Brush and Cady McPhail stood tall as the winners of both the boys and girls races to continue strong starts to the season and build off last year’s success.

Brush not only won the boys race, but beat the next closest opponent by almost a whole minute.

The senior for the Hornets finished the race in 15:27.48 to take the top spot, which now gives him two finishes inside the top six this season with this time actually being 16 seconds slower than his sixth-place finish at the Southern Showcase.

McPhail also put together her second fastest time of the season and put together a dominant showing. The junior for the Hornets finished atop the standings after running the race in 19:11.47, which was more than 45 seconds faster than second place.

In the boys race, Brush was one of three Chelsea runners to finish inside the top 10 of the standings, which helped the Hornets claim the top spot in the race as a team.

Other top-10 finishes included Elijah Williams in third with a time of 16:35.55 and Andrew Fielding in 10th with a time of 17:07.54.

Thompson’s Jackson Hamlin finished second in the race to close out the top three. Hamlin continued a strong season thanks to a time of 16:22.26, which helped the Warriors take second as a team.

Just two spots behind him in fourth was teammate Cameron Prosser, who finished with a time of 16:37.15, while sophomore Matthew Hamlin added a third runner in the top 10 for Thompson with a finish of seventh thanks to a time of 17:02.13.

Oak Mountain added two runners in the top 10 as well with Matthew Womack finishing fifth behind a time of 16:47.96 and Noah Arrington finishing eighth behind a time of 17:03.35.Briarwood’s Brandon Dixon was the other top-10 finisher thanks to his time of 17:05.47, which was good enough for ninth.

In the team standings, Oak Mountain took third while Helena, Briarwood, Pelham, Calera and Shelby County finished behind the Eagles in that order.

Chelsea’s Tucker Brown, Camden Thomas and Luke Price all finished inside the top 20 to help solidify the team win, while Thompson had two more runners in the top 20 thanks to Reid Tindell and Aden Carter.

Briarwood’s Luke Thompson and Oak Mountain’s Josh Stidfole added top-20 finishes for their respective teams, while Helena also posted its top-two finishers in the top 20.

Caden Blackman led the Huskies in 14th behind a time of 17:15.10, while Drew Cook finished 20th with a time of 17:41.36.

Calera added one finisher inside the top 25 with Cade Galloway finishing 24th thanks to a time of 17:49.17.

Pelham’s highest finisher was Michael Kuper in 35th with a time of 18:10.30.

Shelby County’s highest finisher was Gabriel Arias in 91st behind a time of 21:32.91.

In the girls race, it was the Oak Mountain Eagles who were able to walk away with the team victory thanks to five finishers inside the top 15 and two inside the top five.

Faith Scardino and Lauren Cole were the top top-five finishers. Scardino, a sophomore, finished in third with a time of 20:01.36, while Cole, a sophomore, finished in fifth with a time of 20:50.48.

Lexi Ray, Haley Datema and Katie Wright finished 12th-14th, respectively. All three finished between times of 22:16.92 and 22:24.27.

Indian Springs’ Elise Picard finished second in the race to close out the top three. The junior claimed the top-two finish thanks to a time of 19:57.83, making her one of two to finish the race in less than 20 minutes.

Briarwood added two finishers inside the top 10. Bela Doss finished fourth with a time of 20:09.02, while Luci Williams finished seventh with a time of 21:01.17.

Helena’s Mallory Barton was one of many highlights for the Huskies, who finished second in the team standings two points ahead of Chelsea.

Barton was one of two Helena runners to finish inside the top 10. She claimed sixth behind a time of 20:59.39, while Ashlynn Beery finished eighth behind a time of 21:11.12.

Pelham and Thompson each had representation inside the top 10 as well.

The Panthers were led by Lacy Lambert in ninth with a time of 21:24.45, while the Warriors were led by Lauren Moon in 10th behind a time of 21:28.77.

Chelsea posted three more top-20 finishes thanks to Juliette Edwards finishing 11th, Isabelle Seymour finishing 15th and Hannah Quick finishing 19th.

Helena’s Lindsey May (16th), Thompson’s Zora Jackson (17th), Helena’s Olivia Timmons (18th) and Pelham’s Mikayla Leftwich (20th) also finished inside the top 20.

In the team standings, Thompson finished fourth, Briarwood fifth and Shelby County sixth.

The highest finisher for the Calera Eagles was Isabella Jones in 43rd with a time of 26:39.57, while Shelby County was led by Aleah Pickett in 56th with a time of 28:01.16.