Patriots sweep state meet
The Homewood High School indoor track and field teams on Feb. 8 swept the Class 6A state meet for the third straight year at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
The Patriots girls outscored runner-up Pelham 111-51 to win their fourth straight indoor championship. The boys, meanwhile, outpaced Opelika 84.5-76.
“I’m just so thankful to get to coach such a great group of kids. I mean, they come to work every single day and give it their all at all the meets,” Homewood head coach Tom Esslinger said. “We try to talk about just doing the little things that make big things like winning championships happen, and this group has really done that.”
Lainey Phelps set the tone for the Homewood girls. The senior distance runner captured the 12th, 13th and 14th individual state titles of her decorated career with victories in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters.
She won the 800 in 2 minutes, 15.76 seconds, 1,600 in 5:06.88 and 3,200 in 11:01.23.
“As far as the medal count and scoring for the team, that’s what today was really about for me,” Phelps said.
Phelps also anchored Homewood’s first-place 4x800-meter relay team that included Celie Jackson, Marin Poleshek and Adah Allen. They clocked a school-record 9:48.86.
“I definitely went into it tired but knew I wanted to do it for them and hit the split that I needed to for the team, and we made it happen. That was special,” Phelps said.
Jackson, a senior, and Poleshek, a freshman, both made impacts in individual events as well. Jackson took third in the 800 (2:22.53) and 1,600 (5:20.8), while Poleshek finished fourth in the 3,200 (11:46.85).
In the field, Alex Brooks and Brooke Walden claimed the top two spots in pole vault, clearing 12 feet and 11-6, respectively. Maggie White won the shot put with a heave of 38-1.5, and Alyssa Langford was second in the long jump with a leap of 16-11.25.
“Obviously, we pride ourselves on trying to be a well-rounded team. All of those kids in the field events...have worked hard to put themselves in a position to be there,” Esslinger said.
Carson Bedics and Crawford Hope paced the Homewood boys to victory. They swept the 1,600 and 3,200, with Bedics winning the former and Hope the latter.
Bedics set a 6A meet record — and earned his first state title — by winning the 1,600 in 4:19.27. Hope took second in 4:23.69. In the 3,200, Hope took first in 9:23.2 and Bedics took second in 9:24.23.
“Our main concern with this whole thing was just getting our points and going 1-2 in the events we needed to,” Bedics said.
Hope, who also was second in the 800 (1:59.28), teamed with Bedics, Jackson Merrell and Ivan Pichardo-Njenga to win the 4x800 relay in 8:15.47.
Walker Smith headlined Homewood’s showing in the field. He won the pole vault with a 6A meet record clearance of 15-7.
“He just kept going up and kept going up. [It’s] one of the greatest — if not the greatest — individual performances in our program’s history,” Esslinger said.
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