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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

TRUSSVILLE – With sectionals and states fast approaching, multiple area teams gained momentum ahead of the most important stretch of the season as they posted quick times at the Husky Invitational at Hewitt-Trussville High School on Saturday, Oct. 21, highlighted by big performances from Helena and Briarwood.

In the boys race, Helena’s Drew Cook led all county runners in sixth place with a time of 16:46.66 to help the Huskies finish in sixth place in the team standings.

Over in the girls 5K, Briarwood’s duo of Bela Doss and Mary Grace Parker turned in fast times on Saturday. Doss finished in third place with a time of 19:05.40 and Parker posted a seventh-place finish with a time of 19:29.03 to put the Lions in sixth place as a team.

Elsewhere for the Huskies boys team, Aspen Warren finished in 36th place with a time of 17:45.17 and Josh Howard came in 37th place with a nearly identical 17:45.73, beating out Hewitt’s Mason Lachina by just 14-hundredths of a second.

Camp Herndon came in 60th place for Helena with a time of 18:22.15, and Merrick Blackman rounded out the scoring runners for the Huskies in 69th place with a time of 18:36.61.

Briarwood’s Whit Thornton finished in 23rd place with a time of 17:20.02 to lead all Lions runners. Kolby Day finished in 67th place with a time of 18:32.29 for Briarwood also.

Indian Springs’ Quinn Conroy came in 59th place with a time of 18:21.64.

Shelby County’s Alex Fleming was his team’s fastest runner, coming in 66th place with a time of 18:29.42. MaKonnen Falcon finished in 70th place with a time of 18:41.38.

Tucker Busby came in 75th place with a time of 19:00.83, River Horton finished in 81st place with a time of 19:07.94 and Kevin Davis came in 88th place with a time of 19:28.40. Those five finishes gave Shelby County 321 points and an 11th place finish as a team.

Robert Lewis of the Pelham Panthers finished in 73rd place with a time of 18:55.01. His time was the fastest of all Pelham runners. Jacob Horton came in 85th place with a time of 19:23.70 and Levi Clardy finished in 94th place with a time of 19:33.87 to give the Panthers 15th place.

Calera’s fastest time was run by Cooper Manning, who came in 109th place with a time of 20:18.07.

Montevallo’s Gunner Partridge was his team’s top runner, finishing in 140th place with a time of 21:45.29.

Vincent’s best finish came from Lyric Weaver, who came in 155th place with a time of 22:29.99.

In addition to Doss and Parker’s top 10 finishes in the Girls 5K race for Briarwood, Allie Hale finished in 31st place with a time of 20:59.31, Luci Williams came in 35th with a time of 21:10.01 and Blakely Margene finished in 58th place with a time of 22:57.42.

Helena’s Ashlynn Beery finished in 23rd place with a time of 20:22.14. That led all Huskies runners, and as for her teammates, Elizabeth Awtry came in 76th place with a time of 24:26.03, Abigail Cory finished in 77th place with a time of 24:26.38 and Teia Briggs came in 78th place with a time of 24:27.84.

Indian Springs’ Catherine Hinson finished in 26th place with a time of 20:32.41.

Pelham’s Emily Webster led all Panthers finishers in 39th place with a time of 21:22.41, and Janelle Ramos came in 40th place with a time of 21:22.92. Mikayla Leftwich finished in 65th place with a time of 23:08.69, Anna McDonald came in 79th place with a time of 24:31.03 and Mariana Channell rounded out the scoring runners with an 88th place finish and a time of 25:20.32.

Vincent’s fastest runner was Kalin Cobb, who finished in 80th place with a time of 24:36.78.