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Photos by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Briarwood’s Ansley Murphy competes in the Class 6A girls pole vault on Feb. 2.
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Photos by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Oak Mountain’s John Shoemaker competes in the boys 1,600-meter run during the AHSAA Class 7A state indoor track and field meet at the Birmingham CrossPlex on Feb. 3.
The Briarwood, Chelsea and Oak Mountain high school indoor track and field teams put forth strong showings at the state meet Feb. 2-3 at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
Briarwood’s girls finished fifth in Class 6A competition, while Oak Mountain and Chelsea’s boys and girls all found themselves in the top 10 at day’s end.
On the 6A side, Northridge won the boys and Mountain Brook won the girls competitions. In 7A, Hoover swept the boys and girls titles for the third straight year.
For Briarwood, Ansley Murphy reached the podium by finishing second in the pole vault. Murphy is the school record holder in the event and cleared 11 feet at state. She was joined on the podium by the 4x800-meter relay team of Mary Grace Parker, Lena Anne Parker, Luci Williams and Bela Doss, as the team placed third with a time of 10 minutes, 9 seconds.
Doss finished fifth in the 800 and seventh in the 1,600 to add to a strong day. Allie Hale finished sixth in the 3,200. Livi Reebals posted a personal best time of 9.73 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles to finish seventh. Anna Reid Frost and Ava Doss also competed as individuals. The 4x200 relay team of Frost, Reebals, Lynley Newdome and Kristen Wolfe broke the school record with a time of 1:49.
For Chelsea’s boys, Eryk Brown reached the podium with a third-place finish in the 60-meter dash, with a time of 6.94 seconds. The 4x200 relay team (Brown, Drew Cheslock, Ryker Mattes, Brandon Sims) also finished third overall. Parker Campbell was fourth in the 3,200 and Sims was fourth in the long jump. Sims was also seventh in the 60, Hudson Williams was eighth in the 3,200, Wyatt Irvin was eighth in the pole vault and the 4x400 team (Brown, Cheslock, Owen Key, Sims) was sixth.
On the girls side, Ty Cason won the 1,600 with a personal best time of 4:58. The 4x800 team (Mia Dunavant, Hannah Quick, Brylee Bennett, Cason) finished second and the 4x400 team was third to also reach the podium. Dunavant had a strong fourth place in the 800, while Alana McCulla was fourth in the pole vault.
Juliette Edwards placed eighth in the 3,200 to gain a point for the team.
Connor Burley, Conner Campbell, Raymond Bridgeman, Addison Foster, Emma Raines McGough and Tamarah Rice competed individually as well.
For Oak Mountain’s boys, John Shoemaker had a standout day, posting a pair of podium finishes by placing second in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600. Cooper Jeffcoat and Bennett Phillips ran personal bests in the 800, with Jeffcoat finishing third and Phillips finishing sixth. The 4x400 (Sam Laney, Lane Falone, Gerrick Brown, Jeffcoat) and 4x800 (Phillips, Whitt Kilgore, Shoemaker, Jeffcoat) teams also finished fourth.
The girls 4x800 relay team (Sara Cothran, Ava Fields, Lauren Cole, Catarina Williams) took home the top prize, winning in 9:35. Cole also took home some individual hardware, finishing second in the 1,600 with a personal best of 5:04.
Samantha Bennett was seventh in the 60, Williams was fifth in the 800 and sixth in the 1,600, Samiah Jones was sixth in long jump and seventh in triple jump, and the 4x400 team was sixth to also gain points for the team.
Luke Marvin, Corrin Hammett, Sean Ray, Adelaide McKeown, Savannah Clausell and Harper Richey also competed in individual events.
For Spain Park, Delaney Vickers had a strong meet. She placed third in the 1,600 and finished sixth in the 800. Remy Richards, Sydney Baker and Isaac Battles were among the Jags to score points as well.
