Howard, Westminster School run to state titles
Zack Howard wore a determined look at the Nov. 11 AHSAA state cross-country meet. The Briarwood Christian School senior knew what he wanted to accomplish, but he also knew it wouldn’t come easy.
No matter. Howard met the challenge of winning a state title head on.
After biding his time in the Class 5A boys race, Howard made a decisive — and planned — move along the final mile of the 5K course at Oakville Indian Mounds Park. The surge catapulted Howard from fourth place to first and propelled him to the first state title of his career.
He finished in a personal-best time 16 minutes, 16 seconds. St. John Paul’s Fuad Qushair placed second in 16:18.
“I was just going as hard as I can and tried to get to that finish line as fast as possible,” Howard said.
The Briarwood standout pointed his fingers to the sky upon completing his victorious race, and he credited God for enabling his comeback. Howard overcame more than the 5A boys field en route to the state crown.
Five weeks prior, he collapsed about 150 meters from the finish line on the same Oakville course. The medical scare hindered him from competing in a meaningful race until the Nov. 2 sectional.
“It really just shows how God is in control no matter what, because I had a really bad down point in the middle of the season,” Howard said. “Without God, I wouldn’t have been able to bounce back.”
Howard, who signed with the University of Alabama in Huntsville two days before state, trimmed nearly a minute off his previous season best. In doing so, he became Briarwood’s first boys state cross-country champion since 1999. Lions head coach Aaron Margene called the feat unbelievable.
“He just got redemption here,” Margene said. “ He just absolutely ran a perfect race.”
Howard’s triumph spurred the Briarwood boys to a third-place team finish. The Lions totaled 109 points; Scottsboro took first with 33.
Trent Malloy bolstered his team’s presence toward the front of the pack. He earned All-State honors by placing 10th in 16:57. Malloy was one of four freshmen who contributed to the Lions varsity squad.
“We’re excited about not just how well we did today, but the future that we have in front of us,” Margene said.
The Briarwood girls placed sixth in the team standings. Anna Beth Hild (12th, 20:29), Adrienne Goolsby (14th, 20:31) and Cady McPhail (15th, 20:33) notched All-State performances. All shaved a considerable amount of time off their previous personal bests.
“It’s just one of those great days to walk away from,” Margene said. “They could not have run any better than they did.”
1A-2A
The Westminster School at Oak Mountain swept the Class 1A-2A team titles at the state cross-country meet.
The Knights girls defended their state crown by overwhelming runner-up Hatton, 32-101. The boys, meanwhile, bested Cold Springs, 43-77, to secure their first-ever state championship.
They had finished second in 2014 and third in 2016.
“They were running for all of those who came before them and came so close,” head coach Leslie Callahan said. “They won it as a team, and that’s what makes it happen.”
The Westminster girls placed their top five runners in the top 15. As a result, each of them earned All-State recognition. Hallie Porterfield, a freshman, and Sarah Kate Lipperd, a senior, led the way with third- and fourth-place showings. Porterfield ran 19:34, and Lipperd ran 19:36.
Both times represented significant personal bests.
“I don’t think I could have done it without her,” Porterfield said of Lipperd. “She was with me the whole time, and we were not expecting to run that fast.”
Arden McCullough bridged the gap between the Knights top duo and their fourth and fifth runners. She placed seventh in 20:12. Rachel Faulk (13th, 21:16) and Camilla Lemons (15th, 21:25) rounded out the team score.
“They are so strong,” Callahan said of her girls team. “It was a good day.”
The Westminster boys unleashed a similarly dominant performance, as they placed their top five runners in the top 18. Senior Nate Collins and freshman Hunter Wright paced the Knights. Collins took second in 16:15, while Wright took fifth in 16:42.
Collins trimmed close to 30 seconds off his personal best and trailed only St. Bernard’s Andrew Sweeney, who won in 16:02.
“Honestly, I just had a fun time trying to hang with Andrew Sweeney,” Collins said. “It was a great day.”
John Porterfield joined Collins and Wright in the top 10. He placed ninth in 17:13. Cooper Reynolds (11th, 17:16) and Daniel Collins (18th, 17:56) completed the team score.
Callahan, who started as head coach in 2012, called her teams’ achievements a milestone for the Westminster program.
“This was six years in the making,” she said.
7A
Spain Park’s Mackenzie Culpepper and Jacob Warner earned All-State honors in 7A.
Culpepper, a Berry Middle School eighth-grader, clocked a 5K personal-best 18:51 to place 10th in the girls division. Warner, a junior, ran a personal-best 16:11 to place 11th in the boys division.
“I knew what she had,” Spain Park head coach Michael Zelwak said of Culpepper. “It was just a matter of putting it all together.”