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Chelsea’s Ty Cason, Thompson’s Bradley Franklin and Akasha Dudley and the Oak Mountain girls 4x800-meter relay team earned state titles as Chelsea, Thompson, Oak Mountain and Spain Park had successful showings at the 7A indoor track and field championships. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

BIRMINGHAM – The Chelsea Hornets, Thompson Warriors, Oak Mountain Eagles and Spain Park Jaguars all gave their all at the AHSAA Class 7A indoor track and field championships, and in the end, four gold medals went to county teams on Saturday, Feb. 3 at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

Chelsea’s Ty Cason, Thompson’s Bradley Franklin and Akasha Dudley and the Oak Mountain girls 4×800-meter relay team each earned first place to win individual state championships.

Cason won the girls 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:58.00 to bring home the gold for the Hornets.

She headlined an all-county podium as Oak Mountain’s Lauren Cole came in second place with a time of 5:04.33 and Spain Park’s Delaney Vickers finished with a time of 5:06.64.

In all, five of the top six finishers in the race were from the area. Remy Richards of the Jags took fifth place with a time of 5:17.55 and the Eagles’ Catarina Williams rounded out the group with a sixth-place finish and a time of 5:19.60.

Thompson’s Franklin continued his dominance in the boys 60-meter hurdles, winning the race with a time of 7.62 seconds. He also won the preliminary race with a time of 7.68 seconds.

Both times set new state records, and his finals time puts him as the top runner in the country in the indoor 60-meter hurdles. This is his third state championship for the Warriors.

Dudley also brought home gold for the Warriors, securing first place in the girls shot put after earning a mark of 40-09.00 on Saturday.

Her teammate Alaura Myers came in fourth place with a mark of 33-00.50.

Oak Mountain won the girls 4×800-meter relay as the team broke its own school record in the process. Cole, Sara Cothran, Ava Edwards and Catarina Williams finished the race in 9:35.32 to earn the state title.

Chelsea came in second place in the same race with a time of 9:38.20.

Those performances headlined a dominant meet for county teams. Thompson’s girls team earned fifth place with a score of 41 points, while Oak Mountain’s girls team came in seventh with 35 points and Chelsea’s girls team finished eighth with 34.5 points.

On the boys side, Oak Mountain came in fifth place with 33 points, Chelsea tied with Sparkman for sixth place with 29 points and Thompson finished in eighth with 26 points.

Points were awarded to the top eight finishers in each event and were added up to give each team its total.

Thompson’s Trinity Williams followed up her second-place finish in the girls 60-meter hurdles preliminaries with another second-place run in the finals. She ran a 9.18 in the finals to beat her preliminary time by 0.10 seconds and earn the silver medal.

Franklin also added a second-place finish in the boys 60-meter run to his hurdles state title. He ran a 6.90 to reach the podium once again for the Warriors.

Chelsea’s Eryk Brown joined him on the podium with a third-place finish and a time of 6.94 seconds, and his teammate Brandon Sims turned in a time of 7.10 seconds to come in seventh place.

Oak Mountain’s John Shoemaker came in second place in the boys 3,200-meter run finals with a time of 9:25.75.

Chelsea’s Parker Campbell came in fourth place in the same race with a time of 9:29.06.

Oak Mountain’s Cooper Jeffcoat earned a personal record and a school record in the boys 800-meter run. His time of 1:55.54 earned him third place in the state championship.

Shoemaker also took third place in the boys 1,600-meter run by finishing with a time of 4:19.15.

Thompson’s Arianna Hill earned third place in the girls high jump with a mark of 5-02.00.

Chelsea took a pair of third-place finishes in the relay races as its boys 4×200-meter team earned bronze with a time of 1:30.74 and its girls 4×400-meter team reached the podium with a time of 4:03.30.

Mia Dunavant of the Hornets came in fourth in the girls 800-meter run with a time of 2:17.47 in the state championship.

Oak Mountain’s Williams finished in fifth place in the same race with a time of 2:18.40.

In the boys long jump, Chelsea’s Brandon Sims earned fourth place with a mark of 22-00.50 and Franklin took seventh place for Thompson with a mark of 21.03.50.

The Warriors’ girls 4×200-meter relay team earned fourth place after posting a time of 1:46.91.

Chelsea’s Alana McCulla came in a tie for fourth place in the girls pole vault. She and Hoover’s Isabelle Maple both cleared a mark of 10-00.00.

Oak Mountain’s boys 4×400-meter relay team came in fourth place with a time of 3:31.40. Chelsea finished sixth with a time of 3:32.04 and Thompson took eighth place with a time of 3:33.03.

In the boys 4×800-meter relay, Oak Mountain earned fourth place with a time of 8:13.58.

Thompson’s Curtis Hill claimed fourth place in the boys 400-meter relay with a time of 50.22 seconds.

In the same event, Spain Park’s Isaac Battles came in seventh with a time of 51.10 seconds to earn his team points.

Gracie Baldwin of the Warriors finished fifth in the girls long jump with a mark of 16-11.25.

Vickers earned sixth place for the Jags in the girls 800-meter run with a time of 2:18.84.

In the girls 4×400-meter relay, Oak Mountain came in sixth place with a time of 4:09.08 and Thompson finished in seventh with a time of 4:11.27.

The Eagles’ Samantha Bennett secured seventh place in the girls 60-meter dash with a time of 8.02 seconds.

Oak Mountain’s Samiah Jones came in seventh in the girls triple jump after recording a mark of 35-05.50. Thompson’s Baldwin finished eighth with a mark of 35-04.75.

Spain Park’s Sydney Baker came in eighth place in the girls 400-meter run with a time of 1:00.35.

Chelsea’s Juliette Williams finished in eighth in the girls 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:37.91.

Also, for the Hornets, Wyatt Irvin helped his team on the scoreboard with an eighth-place finish in the boys pole vault. He finished the event with a mark of 12-06.00.

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