Westminster stuns at state track meet

Entering a 1A-4A meet is daunting enough, but the fourth-smallest school in the state – as rated by the Alabama High School Athletic Association – was called on to compete against schools that have populations up to eight times that of their own.

Westminster School at Oak Mountain rose to the challenge on Feb 1-2 at the Crossplex in Birmingham as the team set three AHSAA records, broke nine school records, set 25 personal records and the boys team brought home the Runner-Up trophy.

Andrew Carrell won the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.6 seconds, setting a new AHSAA record. Andrew, joined by his younger brother Jake, Scott Landers and Garrett Smith, won gold with in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:40.81 – just over a second off the state record.

The 4x800-meter relay team of Andrew, Jake, Scott and Ethan Shaw placed Third, taking home Bronze, and the 4x200-meter relay team of Joshua Moore, Collin Thomas, Joshua Lipperd and Garrett Smith placed sixth.

For the girls, Katie Brooks Boone won the 60-meter with a time of 7.75 seconds and the 400-meter with a time of 58.36 seconds, both of which set AHSAA state records.

Maddie Hoagland scored an eighth-place finish in the 3,200-meter run. The girl’s 4x800-meter relay team of Maddie, Camilla Lemons, Lauren Hoagland and Rachel Faulk placed seventh.

More important than any record, medal or trophy is the character development that comes from the training and competition in track and field. The environment is not one where you desire the other person to fail or get disqualified, but rather to be his best so you can be your best as well.

For more, visit westminsterknights.org.