Unconquered Patriots sweep state
The AHSAA state cross-country meet on Saturday, Nov. 10, went as well as Josh Donaldson hoped it would.
Perhaps even better.
After withstanding a season that featured injuries to key athletes and painful personal loss, the first-year Homewood High School head coach watched his teams conquer the competition en route to a pair of Class 6A state titles.
The Patriot boys placed six runners in the top 15 to capture a 38-94 victory over runner-up Cullman, while the girls placed five in the top 16 to seal a 34-72 win over runner-up Fort Payne.
“It was a joyful and emotional day on Saturday just to see how everybody and how everything came together,” said Donaldson, whose father, Steve, passed away shortly after the season’s first meet. “I really couldn’t ask for anything else from these kids.”
It was the seventh consecutive state championship for the Homewood boys and the second in three years for the Homewood girls.
Both teams were led by their front-runners.
Will Stone, a senior, won the boys 5K race in 15 minutes, 26.58 seconds, far ahead of his nearest competitor. Wetumpka’s Cory Anthony crossed the finish line more than half a minute later, in 16:04.
According to AHSAA records, Stone’s triumph made him only the third runner in state history — and the first in three decades — to secure three individual cross-country championships. He also won in 2016 and 2017.
“I had the confidence in him that he was going to pull out a win, but I knew that he wasn’t necessarily going to be pushed as much as he could be pushed,” Donaldson said. “For him to run a race from the get-go by himself says a lot about him and his training and just really his grit.”
Lainey Phelps, a junior, notched an equally impressive performance in the girls race. She completed the course at Oakville Indians Mounds Park in 18:22 to win her second state cross-country title. Her closest competitor, St. Paul’s Isabel Valenzuela, ran 19:11.
“She has shown so much growth this season — individually, as a team leader, just everything,” Donaldson said of Phelps, who won state as a freshman but did not run last fall. “She was just glad she could contribute to the team aspect of things and help the girls win their second title in three years.”
The Patriots wouldn’t be denied.
Junior Edie Smith and sophomore Victoria Thompson joined Phelps in the top five, placing third and fourth respectively. Smith ran 19:23, and Thompson ran 19:29.
Both times marked significant personal bests.
Freshman Lily Blish (10th, 20:11) and senior Audrey Nabors (16th, 20:21) rounded out the team score.
On the boys side, Carson Bedics joined Stone as a top-five finisher. The junior clocked a personal-best 16:23 to place fifth. The rest of Homewood’s forerunning contingent finished a little farther back
Jon Fielding Stogner (10th, 16:42), Logan Justice (12th, 16:45), Jack Gray (13th, 16:50) and Brady Cassell (15th, 16:54) finished within seconds of one another.
Each runner earned All-State honors by placing among the top 15.
“To see that come together, to have four All-State girls finishers and six All-State boys finishers, to have two individual champions along with the team championships, I don’t know if I could ask for anything more than that,” Donaldson said. “I am so excited for them and proud of them and can’t wait for seasons to come, for sure.”