Underclassmen pave way for Patriots at Chickasaw Trails

MOULTON — Homewood High School head cross-country coach Lars Porter said he knew that freshman Lainey Phelps would make an immediate impact for the Patriot girls in 2016.

Two meets into the season, she’s proven him right.

On Saturday morning at the Chickasaw Trails Invitational in Moulton, Phelps claimed a second-place finish in the large school girls race with a personal-best 5K time 18 minutes, 40.41 seconds. Her runner-up performance propelled the Patriot girls to a fifth-place team finish

 “I just went with the older girls — they did a great job, I mean, super amazing, all of them — and then at the end I tried to pick it up a little bit,” Phelps said. “I felt good at the end, and I gave it all I had.”

Phelps hung with the chase pack for the first two-thirds of the race before making a surge in the final mile. At the finish, she trailed only Brentwood Academy’s (Tennessee) Claire Cheeseman, who ran 18:06.

Phelps was Alabama’s top female performer at the meet, and her personal-best time went down as the state’s fastest mark of the season, regardless of classification.

“Her talent, her ability, her willingness to work, is fitting into the structure of our program,” Porter said. “The workouts we’re doing, she’s responding well to them...she cares about it, she’s invested and she’s running like a mature runner.”

Phelps’ fellow freshman, Celie Jackson, placed second on the Homewood team and 16th overall. Her time of 20:06 registered as a personal best.

Audrey Nabors (47th), Adah Allen (59th) and Zoe Nichols (70th) rounded out the Patriot girls’ scoring five. The team totaled 180 points and recorded a 20:41 team average 5K time. Brentwood Academy won the team race with 16 points.

“The momentum, it’s gaining, and it’s one of those things coaches dream of,” Porter said of his girls team. “A few people buy in and start to have success, and the rest of the team goes, ‘I want to be a part of that.’”

Sophomore Will Stone delivered an impressive performance of his own in the large school boys race. A week after breaking 16 minutes for the first time at the Memphis Twilight Classic, he burst through the barrier again.

Stone posted a time of 15:59 to claim a seventh-place finish. Like Phelps, he was Alabama’s top performer at the meet.

“It’s been really better than I could have asked for, honestly,” Stone said in regard to his swift start to the season. “I’m just trusting coach Porter.”

Stone made his pivotal move in the final mile, creating a sizable gap between himself and his closest in-state competitor, Thompson’s Brandon DeMarcus Lee.

The race’s top six finishers hailed from either Brentwood or Brentwood Academy, and all dipped under 15:50.

Even though Stone ended up running alone for much of the final mile, his grit helped him get to the finish in sub-16 fashion.

“Will is not afraid of failure, which makes him such a talented runner. He’s got all the physical tools, but his mental toughness is unbelievable,” Porter said. “When I say he’s not afraid to fail, he’s not afraid to race anybody. He doesn’t get discouraged. He doesn’t doubt. He just gets out there and stays focused on the things that he can control and always remains positive.”

Senior Paul Selden finished second on the team behind Stone. His time of 16:38 earned him 23rd place.

Will Smith (29th), Azariah Kipchumba (68th) and Pierce Jackson (96th) closed out the team’s scoring. The Homewood boys totaled 221 points and posted a 17:02 team average 5K time. Led by a top-four sweep, Brentwood earned the team title with 31 points.

“All I asked of them was that their effort was there, and I’m pleased with that,” Porter said of his boys team.

The Patriots will return to action Saturday, Sept. 17, at the TCBY Invitational in Tuscaloosa.