280 sectional recap: Howard, Lions dominate

HOOVER — Prior to Thursday’s Class 5A, Section 2 meet at Veterans Park, Zack Howard hadn’t competed in a meaningful race since Oct. 7.

That didn’t go too well.

At the Jesse Owens Classic in Oakville, Howard, a Briarwood Christian School senior, passed out from exhaustion about 150 meters from the finish line. He crawled the rest of the way.

“I knew that I needed to do well in this [race] to really get encouraged back from what happened,” Howard said on Thursday.

He did.

After biding his time through the first half of the 5K race, Howard made his decisive move to overtake the race leaders. It went unanswered. Howard pulled away over the final mile and a half to win the section title in 17 minutes, 19 seconds — more than 30 ticks ahead of his closest competitor.

“I just kept pushing,” Howard said. “I knew that I needed to keep a steady pace, which I did.”

Howard’s first-place finish propelled the Briarwood boys to the section title over Central-Clay County, 21-79. Four Lions placed in the top 10, while seven placed in the top 13.

Freshman Trent Malloy took third in 17:55, and senior Wade Herren took fifth in 18:51. Joseph Bell (ninth, 19:20) and Sam Candler (11th, 20:02) rounded out the team score.

Briarwood’s team triumph secured their spot at the Nov. 11 state meet in Oakville. There, Howard will chase a championship on the same course where he went down earlier in the season.

“I’m really looking forward to state,” Howard said. “I’m going to try to go for at least podium. Hopefully, if God lets it happen, first place.”

The Briarwood girls also won the section title and qualified for state. They beat runner-up Shelby County, 15-58, as Lions runners claimed seven of the top 10 spots.

Freshman Adrienne Goolsby, senior Anna Beth Hild and seventh-grader Cady McPhail swept the top three positions. Goolsby won in 22:20. Meghan Talley (fifth, 24:12) and Morgan Harris (seventh, 24:26) completed the team score.

6A

The Chelsea High School girls cross-country team finished third at the Class 6A, Section 3 meet, held Thursday at Veterans Park. The Hornets totaled 53 points to advance to state.

Teanna Cason (fourth, 21:28), Avery Burleson (10th, 22:31), Riley Abston (13th, 23:37), Carolanne Fauer (15th, 23:50) and Nakia Coleman (16th, 23:51) contributed to the team score.

The Hornets advanced four boys to state as individuals. Cade Neuberger, Kyle Frangopoolis, TJ Gennari and Cole Kennedy will represent Chelsea in Oakville.

7A

The Oak Mountain High School girls cross-country team placed third at the Class 7A, Section 3 meet, held Thursday at Veterans Park. The Eagles top-three finish qualified them for state for the first time since 2012.

Sophomores Nicole Payne and Evie Bell paced the team with top 20 finishes. Payne finished 11th in 20:29, and Bell finished 20th in 21:28.

Spain Park’s Mackenzie Culpepper and Holland Lidikay nabbed two of the six state wild-card spots thanks to their strong performances. Culpepper, an eighth-grader at Berry Middle School, clocked a time of 20:20 to place eighth. Lidikay ran 20:47 and placed 14th.

The Jags also will send two male representatives to the state meet. Jacob Warner (13th, 17:10) and Charlie Trower (16th, 17:17) punched their individual tickets in the sectional boys race. The Spain Park boys missed qualifying by one spot, as they finished fourth to Hoover.

Oak Mountain placed fifth behind Spain Park, but the Eagles also qualified two runners for state. Bryce Keefover (eighth, 16:56) and Hansen McCown (11th, 17:04) will represent their team in Oakville.