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Oak Mountain’s John Shoemaker, Cooper Jeffcoat and Catarina Williams, Thompson’s Akasha Dudley and Indian Springs’ Cara Huff won individual state titles at the Class 7A and 4A/5A indoor track and field state championship. (Contributed)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

BIRMINGHAM – The Oak Mountain Eagles, Thompson Warriors, Indian Springs and Shelby County Wildcats capped off the indoor track and field season with big results at the first day of the 2025 AHSAA Indoor Track and Field State Championship on Friday, Jan. 31 at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

While neither walked away with team trophies, Oak Mountain, Thompson and Indian Springs each secured individual state championships. John Shoemaker took two state titles for the Eagles while Catarina Williams and Cooper Jeffcoat won state titles for Oak Mountain as well.

In addition, local throwers swept the girls shot put events as Thompson’s Akasha Dudley capped a strong season with her third-straight Class 7A state title and Indian Springs’ Cara Huff was victorious in Class 4A/5A.

Both the Eagles and Warriors finished in the top 10 in the boys and girls team standings. Oak Mountain’s boys came in fourth in Class 7A with 49.5 points and the girls were tied for seventh with 30 points.

As for Thompson, the boys finished in seventh with 17 points and the girls came in ninth with 25.5 points.

Here is a look at each of the county athletes who placed in the top 10 at state.

Class 7A

Oak Mountain’s Catarina Williams took home the Class 7A girls 800-meter run state title with a time of 2:16.94, winning the race by 2.5 seconds. It’s her first state title and third win during the 2024-25 indoor season. Williams also finished in fourth in the girls 400-meter run with a time of 58.71 seconds.

The Eagles had another top finisher in the girls 800-meter run as Ava Fields finished fifth with a time of 2:23.78.

Cooper Jeffcoat of Oak Mountain won the boys 800-meter run in Class 7A with a new school-record time of 1:53.06 to bring home the state title. It’s his first state championship after finishing in third at last year’s state meet, which was also a school-record time.

His teammate John Shoemaker came in sixth place in the same race with a time of 1:57.61.

However, Shoemaker got the better of Jeffcoat in the boys 1,600-meter run and claimed a state championship. Shoemaker gave Oak Mountain the state title with a first-place time of 4:16.99.

Jeffcoat earned another personal record in the boys 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:17.07 to earn second place, mere milliseconds behind Shoemaker.

Shoemaker made it two state championships in 2025 after winning his second-straight 3,200-meter run state title. He won the race with a time of 9:09.68 to finish an undefeated 5-0 indoor season in the event.

Thompson’s Akasha Dudley won the Class 7A girls shot put state title after throwing for a mark of 40-05.75 and 12.34 meters, more than a meter further than second place. It’s Dudley’s third-straight indoor state title after winning in 2023 and 2024 and fifth win in six meets this season.

Her teammate Alaura Myers came in seventh with a mark of 33-00.50 after throwing for 10.07 meters.

Oak Mountain’s girls 4×800-meter relay team came in second place with a time of 9:45.06 while Thompson finished in eighth with a time of 10:21.80, the latter breaking an 11-year old school record.

Thompson’s D’Asya Harold finished in third place in the girls triple jump with a mark of 38-07.25 and 11.77 meters.

Oak Mountain’s Blake Harry came in a tie for fourth place with Hoover’s Christian August in the boys high jump after clearing a mark of 6-00.00, or 1.83 meters.

Thompson’s girls 4×200-meter relay team came in fourth with a time of 1:45.22 and its girls 4×400-meter relay team earned eighth place with a time of 4:11.11.

Thompson had two top-five finishers in the boys triple jump as Khalid Boykins came in fourth with a mark of 43-09.50 after jumping 13.35 meters and Ty Edwards was just behind him in fifth place with a mark of 42-03.50 after jumping 12.89 meters.

Thompson sophomore Micah Fleming finished in fifth in the boys 60-meter dash after finishing the race with a time of 6.92 seconds. He came in sixth in the prelims with a time of 6.98 seconds.

Thompson’s boys 4×400-meter relay team came in fifth place with a time of 3.28.17 while Oak Mountain finished in sixth with a time of 3:29.79, just more than a second behind the Warriors.

Fields earned seventh for Oak Mountain in the girls 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:19.37.

Thompson’s Arianna Hall came in eighth in the girls high jump with a mark of 4-10.00 and 1.47 meters.

Oak Mountain’s Harper Richey finished in eighth place in the girls pole vault with a mark of 9-06.00, or 2.90 meters. The Eagles’ Oliver Griffin also earned eighth in the boys pole vault with a mark of 12-06.00, or 3.81 meters.

Oak Mountain’s girls 4×400-meter relay team came in 10th with a time of 4:12.41 and its boys 4×800-meter relay team also had a 10th-place finish with their time of 8:36.95.

Class 4A-5A

Indian Springs’ Cara Huff brought a state championship home to ISS, capping off a stellar indoor season with a win in the Class 4A-5A girls shot put. The junior earned a mark of 40-10 after throwing a personal-record 12.45 meters, just more than a meter-and-a-half further than any other competitor.

This is her first indoor state title after winning the 1A-3A outdoor discus title in 2023 and finishing second in shot put and discus at the 2024 1A-3A outdoor state championship.

Indian Springs’ Quinn Conroy secured a pair of top four finishes to earn multiple All-State honors. He finished in second place in the boys 3,200-meter run, five seconds off the winning time with a finish of 9:56.94 for himself, and came in fourth in the boys 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:31.88, three seconds off of first place in a tighter race.

Shelby County’s boys 4×800-meter relay team made their mark by finishing in seventh place with a time of 9:02.54.

Indian Springs’ Mia Phillips finished in seventh place in the girls pole vault after clearing a mark of 8-06.00 and 2.59 meters.

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