Photo by Erin Nelson.
Briarwood Christian boys soccer celebrates following the Class 4A-5A state final against Springville on May 10 at John Hunt Park in Huntsville. Briarwood defeated Springville 5-0.
During the home stretch of the high school spring sports season, Briarwood Christian School athletics director Jay Mathews rated the recent run as one of the best seasons in school history.
After having time to reflect on a banner few months for Briarwood athletics, he still feels that way.
“It was pretty special,” Mathews said in late May.
The Lions earned three state championships during the most recent spring season: boys soccer, boys tennis and bass fishing.
Briarwood’s boys soccer team won the Class 4A-5A state championship with a 5-0 win over Springville on May 10. The triumph came following back-to-back runner-up finishes, but the Lions sealed the deal in 2019. They finished the season with a 21-1-3 record and set a state record with 10 consecutive shutouts during the season.
The Lions boys tennis team earned every possible point at the state tennis tournament in late April, capturing all six singles and all three doubles titles on the way to racking up 84 points to win the Class 6A state championship. It was the third straight state title for the program.
Briarwood’s bass fishing team won the ASABFA state championship in the spring to cap a season of unprecedented success. The Lions were the first team in state history to win three straight regional tournaments in the same season.
That’s not to mention the baseball team advancing all the way to 5A championship series after starting the season 0-11. The Lions didn’t notch their first victory until the beginning of area play, but they got on a roll and rode that momentum to playoff sweeps of Munford and UMS-Wright.
In the third round, they mounted a game three comeback to beat Chilton County before taking down Sylacauga in the semifinals. After beating Springville in the first game of the final series, the Tigers took the final two games to claim the title.
Mathews credited the success to the positive school atmosphere created in recent years by Principal Shawn Brower.
“Even this year, you can go back to the fall, our student section during football season, they were just having a blast,” Mathews said. “I’ve never seen a better time of where our coaches really do support one another.”
Some other notable spring sports had positive results as well. The girls soccer team improved throughout the season and gave eventual semifinalist John Carroll a close game in the second round of the playoffs. The boys golf team finished third at sub-state, while Annamarie Thompson made it to sub-state as an individual on the girls side.
The softball team had just one senior (Taylor Wheat) and continued to progress in coach Ashley Segreto’s second year, as the Lady Lions advanced to the regional tournament and won a game there. The Briarwood girls tennis team was also a young group and finished fifth at the state tournament.
The outdoor track and field teams sent 30 athletes to the state meet and four school records were broken throughout the season.
“It’s a natural outflow of a real positive energy in our school right now among our parents, faculty and kids,” Mathews said.
So much success in the spring creates momentum and expectations for the next school year, but nothing is given in the world of athletics.
“We go to work and you’ve always got to know what your ‘why’ is,” Mathews said. “For us, that’s always going to be discipling young guys and girls in the gospel of Christ and pointing to the bigger things beyond athletics.”
