Patriots, Cavs feature strong showings at state indoor

The Homewood High School boys indoor track and field team capped off the season by finishing as the runner-up in Class 6A at the state meet, Feb. 3 at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

Homewood scored 66 points to finish second to McGill-Toolen, which finished with 84 points. Mountain Brook finished third and scored 54 points.

Homewood’s girls placed third, scoring 61.75 points. Northridge was the runner-up, with 64.5 points, and Mountain Brook won, racking up 77 points.

“Both teams had an outstanding meet,” Homewood coach Josh Donaldson said. “They outscored the projections, especially on the guys' side. We had a lot of season-best and/or PRs [personal records] at the state meet between a lot of the different events.”

Brooke Walden was Homewood’s lone individual winner, as she set a state record in the pole vault competition, clearing the bar at 12 feet, 3 inches. The boys 4x800-meter relay team of Will Doughty, Colvin Bussey, Ethan Bagwell and Ben Murray also took the top spot on the podium, winning the race in 8 minutes, 1 second.

“Brooke is one of the hardest workers there is,” Donaldson said of Walden, an Auburn University signee. “She’s put in a lot of work and continues to do that.”

Also reaching the podium for the boys were Slate Rohrer (third in 60-meter hurdles), Ben Murray (third in the 800) and Hunter Drake (third in triple jump). The boys relay team in the 4x400 (Ben Murray, Rohrer, Doughty and Bussey) crossed the line third as well.

Bussey (eighth in the 400), Doughty (sixth in the 800), Andrew Laird (seventh in the 1,600), Graham Murray (fifth in the 3,200), Foster Laird (eighth in the 3,200), drake (fourth in long jump), Elliott Allen (seventh in pole vault) and Maxy Salazar (fourth in shot put) contributed points to the boys score.

For the girls, Emma Brooke Levering finished third in the 1,600 to reach the podium. The relay teams performed strongly as well. The 4x200 team (Walden, Liesel Kellen, Mary Siena McBride and Maris Owen) and the 4x400 team (Olivia Burczyk, McBride, Norah Nickoli and Owen) each placed second, while the 4x800 team of Sarah Derriso, Ada McElroy, Camille Etheridge and Sophia Forrestall) finished fifth, all earning points for the team.

Also earning points for the girls were Derriso (fifth in 60 hurdles), Owen (fourth in 400), Levering (fourth in 800 and 3,200), Sydney Dobbins (seventh in 3,200), Chandler Binkley (sixth in high jump) and Julia Mitchell (seventh in high jump and eighth in long jump).

Zaire White, Gabriel Dent, Garner Johnson, Matthew Floyd, Calyb Colbert, Gavin McAbee, Jermald Patterson, Jaela Polk, Lily Giffin, Sadie Busbee and Magi Williams all competed for the Patriots as well.

John Carroll competed in the 4A-5A division, with the boys finishing third. The Cavaliers scored 56 points, just a few shy of Arab, which finished second with 59.5 points.

Multiple John Carroll guys reached the podium in their events. Sebastian Guerrero placed third in the 800, Arthur Langley was second in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600, and James Edmonds was third in pole vault.

Carson McFadden (sixth in 60 hurdles, fifth in high jump, sixth in long jump), Guerrero (fourth in 400) Langley (fourth in 800) all earned points as well. The 4x200 relay team of McFadden, Jaylin Shepherd, Braydon Lowery and KJ Beck placed fourth, as did the 4x400 team of Beck, Eli McMillan, Langley and Guerrero.

Katie Marie Everett earned points by finishing sixth in the girls pole vault. John Carroll’s girls relay teams in the 4x200 (Lydia Hamilton, Emily Rhodes, Lacy Jackson and Kiera Lawrence), the 4x400 (Rhodes, Isabella Corsini, Jackson and Hamilton) and the 4x800 (Corsini, Amelia Leath, Anna Grace Fuller and Claire Humphrey) all placed in the top 10 as well.