State track and field: Patriot girls pull away, clinch 4th straight title
GULF SHORES -- Homewood High School has clinched the triple crown.
The Patriot girls track and field team won its fourth consecutive state title on Saturday at the Class 6A outdoor meet, thumping runner-up Opelika, 128-80. Earlier this school year, the Homewood girls captured state cross-country and indoor track and field championships in similar fashion.
"I'm extremely excited," Homewood head track and field coach Tom Esslinger said. "There were some bumps in the road, but they still kind of found their way to win by a big margin."
The Patriot girls have never previously won all three state titles in a single academic year. The Homewood boys pulled it off in 2013-2014, sweeping every state competition at the 5A level.
On Saturday, the boys finished as the runners-up. Opelika prevailed, 84-65.
"We thought they fought hard every event throughout the whole meet, but we kind of knew we were undermanned a little bit heading into the last day," Esslinger said.
The Homewood girls had plenty left in the tank on the final day of competition.
Jasmine Griffin stomped on the gas pedal. She won her second and third individual events of the meet and ran the first leg of her team's state-champion 4x400-meter relay.
Griffin, a junior, posted first-place finishes in the 100-meter dash and 300-meter hurdles. She won the 100 by two-thousandths of a second over Athens' Japera Harris, running 12.03 seconds.
"I wanted to go home with four golds," Griffin said. "In the 100, I was nervous I wasn't going to get that, but I pulled through."
Griffin also won the 400-meter run on Friday. Collectively, she helped account for nearly a third of her team's points.
"I can't say enough about Jasmine," Esslinger said. "For her to come out this year and win three individual [events] with a close 100 win and kind of being rock solid on the 4-by-4, I think this sets her up really nicely for next year."
Griffin and Lainey Phelps, who anchored the 4x400, will have to find two new additions to their relay team in 2017-2018. Ann Mosely Whitsett and Caroline Lawrence, both seniors, will be hard to replace.
Esslinger refers to them as the "foundation" of the girls program, as each have played integral roles in the team's string of state triumphs.
They came through again on Saturday.
Whitsett took first in the 800-meter run, clocking a time of 2:16.86. Lawrence finished third in 2:19.61.
Together, they shared the postrace podium.
"It made the 800 that much more special," Whitsett said.
The duo made contributions earlier in the meet, too. Lawrence won Thursday's high jump competition, and Whitsett placed sixth in Friday's 400. Both agreed that wrapping up their high school careers tasted bittersweet.
"It's been a great ride," said Lawrence. "I'm so grateful I got to race for Homewood these past four years."
Pierce Jackson, also a senior, finished his prep career in style. He posted a personal-best time of 1:56.81 in the boys 800 to claim a fourth-place finish. Will Stone crossed the line in 1:58.86 to grab sixth.
Jackson hadn't previously competed in an individual event at a state outdoor meet.
"It was the race of his life, for sure," Esslinger said. "To see a senior go out like that, it's really what we want to be about, to send these kids off to college the right way."
Other notable Saturday performances
Girls
4x100-meter relay: 4th | 49.18
100-meter hurdles: Madison Kirkwood, 8th | 16.83
Pole vault: Alex Brooks, 8th | 8-6
Click here to read about Homewood's performance on the state meet's first day and here to read about its performance on the second day.