ALABAMA STATE MEET RECAP

Hoover's Championship Streaks Continue, Records Tumble At Gulf Shores; Bradley Franklin Runs US#2 13.37 Hurdles

By Arthur L. Mack for DyeStat

     GULF SHORES, AL. — The Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Class 4A-7A Outdoor Track and Field Championships, held at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex May 2-4, always guarantees solid performances, and this year was no exception.

     Not only did powerhouses such as Hoover in Class 7A and Scottsboro in Class 5A maintain winning streaks, there were athletes who won multiple events. In addition, numerous records were broken.

     Class 7A: Hoover won the boys and girls outdoor titles for the third year in a row. The boys defeated Vestavia Hills 156.50 to 73. Two Madison schools, James Clemens and Bob Jones, were third and fourth with 71 and 55 points respectively, while Auburn scored 46 to round out the top five.

     Hoover defeated Hewitt-Trussville 90.50 to 71 to win the girls crown. Auburn, Foley, and Chelsea rounded out the top five with 60, 57, and 56 points respectively.

     “We just went out there and did our job on the guys and the girls side,” Hoover coach Chris Schmidt said. “I learned from guys like (coaching legends) Jim Tate and Pat Galle that you have to nickel and dime your way to getting state championships by scoring as many points as you can. We’re blessed with some great athletes and we have a great school system that supports track and field.”

     Hoover won the 4x100-meter relay (41.58), and got 1-2 finishes in the shot from Bradley Shaw (55-10.75) and Nigel Thomas (53-7.25), as well as in the pole vault from Collin Pate (15-0) and Norman Settles (15-0). The Bucs also got double wins from Grant Weighall in the discus (166-7) and javelin (197-9).

     The Hoover girls won the 4x400 (3:53.38), and got a 1-2 finish from Nyel Settles (5-6) and Lila Discua (5-4) in the high jump.

     In the 3,200-meter run, the previous record was broken by not one, but two runners, as Oak Mountain’s John Shoemaker and Madison’s James Clemens’ Luke Alverson went under the old record of 9:11.55 set by Auburn’s Maxwell Hardin last year. Shoemaker won in 9:09.68, while Alverson was second in 9:10.21.

     Alverson was part of another record-breaking performance as he, Cole Robinson, John Luke Stovall, and Dylan Dryer teamed up to help James Clemens destroy the 4x800 meet record with 7:41.07.

     Bradley Franklin of Alabaster Thompson had the fastest 110-meter hurdle time, easily winning his heat in a wind-aided 13.47 seconds, then coming back in the finals to run wind-legal and US#2 13.37, shattering the previous record of 13.90 set by Thompson’s Emmanuel Tait in 2016. Franklin then won the 300-meter hurdles in 37.14.

     “I was just calm, I was just relaxed, and I was just ready,” said Frankin of his record-breaking performance. “Usually before a race I’m incredibly nervous, but today, I wanted to have fun running this race. When I started off (running track), I wasn’t all that great, but now I’m one of the best in the country, and that makes me feel great.”  

     Auburn’s T.J. Autrey set a new record in the high jump, clearing 6-10.25, breaking the old record of 6-10 set in 2018.

     The girls played a part in the record-breaking binge, too. Hewitt-Trussville’s quartet of Mary Durham, Kinley Harris, Hadley Turner and Avery Cahoon set a new meet record in the girls 4x800 relay, running 9:13.85 to break the old record of 9:16.77 set in 2016.  Cahoon also won the 1,600 in 4:53.64, edging Spain Park’s Delaney Vickers (4:54.26) and Chelsea’s Ty Cason (4:56.05), who came back to win the 800 (2:09.40).

     Vickers, who finished second to Cason in the 800 (2:10.37), won the 3,200 in 11:00.42.

     Other notable individual performances came from Mobile Baker’s Myla Reed, who won the 100 (11.69) and Kendall Brown, who won the triple jump (38-3.50); Madison’s James Clemens’ Zaria Parker, who won the 200 (24.20); and Harvest Sparkman’s Charity Collier, who won the shot (40-0.50)

     One of the most remarkable events in Class 7A came in the 400 meters, and resulted in a brother-sister act from Madison Bob Jones siblings Alivia and Jordan Urrutia. Alivia, a freshman, trounced the girls field, winning in 56.47 and Jordan, a senior, won the boys final in 47.96, holding off Vestavia Hills’ Max Armstrong (48.19) and Harvest Sparkman’s Joe Quez Keith (48.87).

      It was especially a sweet win for Jordan, who lost last year’s 400-meter final by three-hundredths of a second. Ironically, his little sister finished second in last year as well.

     “We both knew that our mindset was to win,” Jordan Urrutia said. “We knew we could execute our race, and we’re happy. After I lost last year, I didn’t want that to happen to me again.”

     His little sister was focused on winning as well. 

     “It was in my whole mind to win, and I also wanted to win for Jordan in his last year,” Alivia said. “I told him on Wednesday when we got here that we both had to win the 400.”

     Jordan Urrutia added three more wins to his haul — he edged Fairhope’s Ty Watkins in the 100 10.62 to 10.63, won the 200 in a wind-aided 20.80, and anchored the winning 4x400 relay team, which ran 3:16.70. Watkins had ACL surgery seven months ago and came out of nowhere to get into the 100-meter finals. 

     Class 6A: Tuscaloosa Northridge had just enough in the tank, using a balanced effort to hold off a gallant Mobile’s UMS-Wright team 62.50 to 57.75 to win the boys title, with Homewood (48.25), Cullman (39), and Blount (39) rounding out the top five.

     Northridge got big wins from William Numnum in the pole vault (15-0) and Khiyon Lewis in the triple jump (46-10.75), and got enough points from other events to hold off UMS-Wright.

     For UMS-Wright’s Charles Perry, this year’s state championships ended on a high note, as he not only won the 1,600-meter run on the meet’s first day in 4:14.49, pulling away from archrival Winston McGhee of Spanish Fort (4:19.19), but the following day fought off a challenge from Hazel Green’s Bryce McCleary in the 3,200, winning in 9:25.04.

     “I kind of went into the race wanting to be conservative, but Bryce took the lead at the end of the race,” Perry said of the 3,200. “I just wanted to keep going, and trusted my speed in the last full lap and it wound up working out for me.” 

     Marlon Miller of Prichard Blount successfully defended his 400-meter title by running a personal best of 48.51 and fighting off a challenge from Birmingham Parker’s Josh White (48.81) and Calera’s Jaden King (49.00).

     “I had to stay focused the whole time,” Miller said. “I knew I had competition and I knew it was going to be a good run. It feels good winning the state 400 two times in a row, and I’m grateful to do that.”

     Other notable performances in the boys competition came from Malcolm Simmons of Alexander City Benjamin Russell, who won the high jump (6-10) and long jump (23-11); Pell City’s Tre Peterson, who won the 100 (10.59) and 200 (21.31); Athens’ Jayshon Ridgle, who won the 110-meter high hurdles (13.85); and Cullman’s Patrick Adcock, who won the shot (56-3.50) and discus (161-11).

     In Class 6A girls, it was no surprise that perennial powerhouse Mountain Brook would rise to the occasion and dominate — and it did.

     Powered by Annie Kerr’s record-breaking 13-4 clearance in the pole vault and strength in the distances, the Spartans routed Fort Payne 114 to 63.50, with Tuscaloosa Northridge (63), Mobile St. Paul’s (55), and Homewood (45) rounding out the top five.

     One of the most exciting races of the meet came in the 1,600, where Mountain Brook’s Lucy Benton, who won the 800 in 2:13.29, narrowly lost to Homewood’s Emma Brooke Levering, 4:59.19 to 4:59.44. But Benton, Kennedy Hamilton (5:00.97), and Mary Katherine Malone (5:03.14) finished 2-3-4 in the event, and got a strong performance in the 4x800-relay. The team, consisting of Callie Kent, Georgia Jayne Stuckey, Kayman Hamilton and Holland Finch, scorched the competition en route to a 9:25.51 clocking.  

     Mountain Brook also won the 4x400 relay (4:02.17). Fort Payne was led by Cooper Garrett, who won the discus (138-0) 

     St. Paul’s Janie Ford had a meet for the ages, winning four events — the long jump (19-5.50), triple jump (40-4.25), 100-meter hurdles (13.97), and 300-meter hurdles, setting a meet record of 42.32 in the process, breaking the old record of 42.48 by Reah DeGraffenried of Shades Valley in 2023.

     “I just knew I had to relax and get my rhythm going (in the 100-meter hurdles),” Ford said. “You just don’t know what can happen, and I had to trust myself.”

     As for the record-breaking performance in the 300-meter hurdles, Ford said: “Going in, I didn’t feel the wind until we got to the starting line, and I tried not to think about it. I knew if I did my thing, I wouldn’t have to worry about the wind and the heat.

     “I think everyone out here is paying a little bit for it; it’s so hot. The heat is something you know is going to be at state. I was trying to shoot for a sub-42 today, but you can never know with the 300-meter hurdles. Sometimes, you can be bipolar with how it goes; you can stutter-step on each one or be smooth. My main goal was to be smooth and just finish strong.”

     Montgomery Park Crossing’s Somer Rone won the 100 (12.01) and 200 (24.62), while eighth-grader Nyla Franklin of Gadsden City won the high jump with a 5-6 clearance and Lee-Huntsville’s A’Cynthia Brown won the shot (40-0.50).

     Class 5A: Once again, Scottsboro’s boys and girls used team balance to dominate the competition. The boys won their third straight title (second in Class 5A), routing Birmingham’s John Carroll Catholic 141 to 71 by using a 1-2 finish in the shot from Taygan Harris (54-5.25) and Austin Burger (50-3.25), a 1-2 finish in the high jump by Quincie Franklin (6-2) and Devon Walker (6-2) and wins in the 800 from Stephen Jones (1:56.37) and pole vault from Craft Sanders (14-0).

       John Carroll Catholic got double wins from Isaiah Riggins in the long jump (22-7.75) and triple jump (47-8.25) and Arthur Langley in the 1,600 (4:18.68) and 3,200 (9:24.80). The Cavaliers also got a first from Adam Malpass in the 300-meter hurdles (38.90)

     Rounding out the top five teams were Arab (44), Elberta (42) and Carroll-Ozark (41).

     Other notable individual performances came from Sylacauga’s Quindavius Swain, who won the 100 (10.76) and 200 (21.47).

     In the girls competition, Scottsboro repeated as champs, defeating Arab 106 to 75.50, while Opelika Beauregard (68.50), Central Clay-County (41) and Jasper (39) rounded out the top five. The biggest performance for Scottsboro came in the long jump, where Caroline Sanders became the state’s third 20-foot jumper, leaping 20-1 to beat her nearest competitor by nearly three feet. Sanders also won the high jump (5-4) and triple jump (38-6.50).

     Sanders’ record-breaking leap in the long jump was one of several records broken during Class 5A competition. Lawrence County’s Katie Mae Coan broke the meet record in the 1600, running 5:05.20 to break an 18-year-old record. Coan also won the 3,200 (11:04.14)

     Another record broken was in the discus, where Opelika Beauregard’s Katie Wilkerson broke the record of 127-8 set by Cullman’s Ginger Coleman in 1987 with a throw of 145-11. Wilkerson, a three-time state champion, said she was really nervous coming into the competition.

     “There was a lot of good competition,” she said. “There was one girl who had the state record before me, so it was a bad year for all of us to be competing at the same time, but they deserve it too. It was a really great moment.”

     Class 4A: Hamilton got a 1-2 finish by Jake Webb (15-6) and Elijah Robinson (13-6) in the pole vault to defeat Brooks 94-56 to win the boys title, while Anniston (54), Handley (47), and Montgomery Academy (44) rounded out the top five.

     Brooks was led by Tyler Haskovec with a winning throw of 153-8 in the discus, while Handley was led by Nemo Askew’s wins in the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles (14.66/39.20). Montgomery Academy was led by Skyler Stovall’s win in the high jump (6-6).

     Two athletes won three events — Cherokee County’s Alex Johnson won the 100 (10.73), the 200 (21.68), and the 400 (49.68); while Munford’s Dakota Frank won the 800 (1:55.06), 1,600 (4:18.56) and 3,200 (9:33.69).

     Daphne’s Bayside Academy used its distance strength to win the Class 4A girls’ competition. The Admirals scored 108 points, well ahead of Cherokee County (66). Brooks was third with 55 points, while Hamilton (52) and Montgomery Academy (39) were fourth and fifth respectively.

     Bayside Academy got a 1-2-3 sweep in the 800 on the meet’s final day from seventh-grader Avery Therrell (2:19.87), Annie Midyett (2:22.30) and Catherine Doyle (2:22.91). 

     Therrell, who took the lead early in the race and never relinquished the lead, 

     “I was just trying to get out quick and see what would happen next,” she said.

     “We really got out fast with a strong first lap, and I wanted to see how far I could push it,” Midyett said.

     “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the team and Coach (Joe) Swagart,” said Doyle, who also won the 1,600 (5:10.89) and 3,200 (11:28.23). “It’s just an amazing feeling working together and pushing together.”

     “I’m really proud of these girls,” Swagart said. “Honestly, we scored 73 of our points in the 800, 1,600, 3,200, and 4x800 relay. “

     Cherokee County dominated most of the sprints, with Mary Hayes Johnson winning the 200 (24.86) and 400 (56.58). One meet record was broken in Class 4A girls — Brooks’ Ellie Patrick set a new mark in the javelin, throwing 153-4, breaking the old record of 143-0 by Maddie Roberts of Deshler in 2021.

CLASS 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A RESULTS