Cross Country roundup: Helena’s Aldie Ridgdon wins Leeds Invite, Spain Park, Pelham shine in Decatur

Published 6:25 pm Tuesday, October 15, 2024

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

Cross country runners from around the county had another big week as they competed in various meets around the Southeast.

The Pelham Panthers and Spain Park Jaguars took part in one of the biggest meets in the state at Dew It On the Trails in Decatur, and the Helena Huskies secured an individual win at the Leeds Invitational while competing alongside the Montevallo Bulldogs.

The Briarwood Christian Lions went up to Tennessee to take on Nooga at Night, Indian Springs competed in a Wednesday race in the Hueytown Invitational and the Vincent Yellow Jackets were in action at the Volunteer Fall Classic.

Here are some of the top times from each team in action in the past week as the race toward the end of the season heats up.

 

Leeds Invitational

The Helena Huskies and Montevallo Bulldogs took the course at Leeds Historical Park for the Leeds Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 12.

Helena seventh grader Aldrie Ridgon won the girls 5K with a time of 19:52.23, which powered a third-place finish for the Huskies in the team standings with 102 points.

Other scoring runners for Helena included Jaid Spears in 26th place with a time of 24:23.12, Aubrey Kennedy in 28th place with a time of 24:27.49, Kylie Scoggins in 31st place with a time of 24:38.12 and Emma Price in 33rd place with a time of 24:40.48.

Montevallo had two runners in the girls race, including seventh grader Avery Doss, who came in 63rd place with a time of 27:02.86 and Jaimie Nichols, who finished in 123rd place with a time of 37:09.49.

Helena’s Josh Howard came in fourth place with a time of 17:27.72 to lead his team. Camp Herndon gave the Huskies another top-10 finish with a 10th-place time of 18:12.08.

As for the rest of the scoring runners, Ethan McGee came in 59th place with a time of 21:34.69, Ian Edwards finished in 80th place with a time of 22:32.42 and Brock Howell took 93rd place with a time of 23:32.44, helping the team finish in seventh place with 205 points.

Montevallo’s Gunner Partirdge had his team’s best time of 20:54.96 as he earned 48th place. Crimson Hill finished in 52nd with a time of 21:11.95 and Nathan Gallagher took 58th place with a time of 21:29.85.

John Baggett came in 61st with a time of 21:39.14 and Carter Laster rounded out the top five with an 83rd-place finish off a time of 22:48.74. The Bulldogs took 10th place as a team with 253 points.

 

Dew It On the Trails

The Spain Park Jaguars and Pelham Panthers both took the course at Point Mallard in Decatur for Dew It On the Trails on Saturday, Oct. 12.

Spain Park’s Remy Richards cracked the top five with a fourth-place finish as she finished in 18:31.86. Her teammate Madison Harvey was shortly behind her in sixth place with a time of 18:43.84, making it two top 10 finishes for the Jags.

Other scoring runners for Spain Park were Mackenzie Colbaugh in 62nd place with a time of 21:20.84, Catherine Barlow in 98th place with a time of 22:45.67 and Allie Barton in 133rd place with a time of 23:32.55.

The Jags claimed seventh place in the team standings with 230 points.

Pelham also cracked the top 10 in the girls race with a seventh-place finish from Janelle Ramos as she posted a personal-record time of 18:48.14. Emily Wester came in 17th place with a time of 19:11.77 to secure a personal record as well.

The other Panthers runners competing in the race were Julia Reese Davis, who finished in 150th place with a time of 23:55.80, and Chloe Pearson, who took 306th place with a time of 29:20.99.

Spain Park also took a top-10 finish on the boys side with Brody Ahlemeyer’s ninth-place run of 15:56.89.

Caleb Landers came in 61st place with a time of 17:21.55, Stephen Schneider finished in 114th place with a time of 18:06.38 and Allan Padgham took 266th place with a time of 20:16.69.

Alexander Creuzer finished out the top five Jags runners with a 343rd-place finish behind a time of 21:09.28, helping Spain Park come in 18th as a team with 582 points.

Pelham’s Robert Lewis led his team with a time of 18:05.96 in 112th place. Levi Clardy finished in 167th place with a time of 18:53.35.

Other scoring runners for the Panthers included Alex Cruz in 174th place with a time of 18:57.49, Cole Hollingsworth in 213th place with a time of 19:29.39 and Kaleb Jones in 256th place with a time of 20:10.23.

Pelham finished in 22nd in the boys team standings with 704 points. As a team, the Panthers posted 13 personal records across both the boys and girls teams.

 

Nooga at Night

The Briarwood Christian Lions went north of the border to Chattanooga, Tenn. for the Nooga at Night meet and walked away with some big performances.

Whit Thornton cracked the top 10 with a seventh-place finish thanks to his time of 15:29.00. Kolby Day earned a time of 16:07.70 to finish in 21st place.

Rounding out the top five for the Lions were Gavin Nguyen in 95th with a time of 18:24.80, Josh Mattson in 151st with a time of 20:20.40 and Will Mattson in 155th with a time of 20:27.50.

The boys finished in 14th place with 309 points.

As for the girls, Allie Hale led the way with an eighth-place finish off a time of 18:39.60. Lena Anne Parker also finished towards the front in 13th place with a time of 18:54.20.

Anna Veal earned 55th place with her time of 21:21.30, Blakeley Margene came in 89th place with a time of 22:29.60 and Catherine Monasterio finished out the scoring runners with a 122nd-place time of 23:55.50.

Those times helped the girls finish in ninth place with 211 points.

 

Hueytown Invitational

Indian Springs ran a little bit earlier in the week than usual as it competed on Wednesday, Oct. 9 in the Hueytown Invitational, and all of the school’s five best girls runners placed in the top 15.

Catherine Hinson secured a spot on the podium as she finished in second place with a time of 21:01.

Springs also had two other top 10 finishes, including Eva Good in sixth place with a time of 25:14 and Lucia Kochlowsky in 10th place with a time of 26:33.

The other scoring runners for Indian Springs were Harper Bretenfeld, who came in 12th place with a time of 26:54 and Aofie Martin, who secured 15th place with a time of 29:50.

Oliver Middleton led the boys team with a sixth-place finish thanks to his time of 19:41. Isaiah Colorado came in 16th place with a time of 22:02.

The rest of Springs’ top five included Harper Akins in 18th place with a time of 23:06, Tuan Tran in 32nd with a time of 24:20 and Tom Freitas right behind him in 33rd place with a time of 24:28.

 

Volunteer Fall Classic

The Vincent Yellow Jackets made the trip to Lineville to compete in the Volunteer Fall Classic on Saturday, Oct. 12.

Zane Pate led the boys in 31st place with a time of 19:40.69.

Kash Dobson came in 107th place with a time of 23:54.33, Bryson Blanchard finished in 141st place with a time of 27:01.44, Jericho Cordes earned 148th place with a time of 29:32.47 and Colton Davis took 153rd place with a time of 31:26.16.

As a team, the Jackets came in 13th place with 349 points.

Vincent’s two girls runners were Kalin Cobb, who came in 33rd place with a time of 26:34.61, and Kaleigh Wills, who finished in 55th place with a time of 29:09.60.