Photo by Sam Chandler
Homewood cross country
The Homewood boys celebrate their fourth straight cross-country state title. The Patriots’ first two came while they were in the 5A classification with the most recent pair coming at the 6A level.
In the week leading up to the AHSAA State Cross Country Championships, Homewood coach Lars Porter found himself questioning whether or not his team would be prepared to defend its state title for a fourth straight year.
“I would say Monday, Tuesday, I was feeling a little bit of pressure wondering, ‘are we where we’re supposed to be?’” Porter said.
On that Tuesday afternoon, however, Porter’s Patriots appeased his nerves.
Led by seniors Sean Conboy and Hunter Poole, the team cranked out two reps of one-mile repeats, clocking blistering times in the mid-to-high four-minute range.
“It was like they walked away with that quiet confidence, and I was able to have that same confidence as the coach, you know, ‘OK, we’re ready,’” Porter said.
At Oakville Indian Mounds Park on Nov.14, site of the state meet, the Homewood boys confirmed that belief.
Driven by the top-10, All-State efforts of Poole (3rd), Will Stone (4th), Andy Smith (5th) and Conboy (8th), Homewood secured its fourth consecutive state title in dominant fashion, collecting a team score of 32 and finishing 28 points ahead of 6A runner-up Opelika.
“We’ve had a number of guys who’ve had the luxury of letting the older runners handle it,” Porter said, “knew it was their turn, their responsibility, and everybody did what they could and what they were supposed to, and I feel great about it.”
With the triumph, Homewood moved into a tie with three other schools for the third spot on the state’s all-time list for most consecutive state cross-country championships.
For the Class of 2016, who have now won state titles each year of their high school careers, it couldn’t have been a more perfect ending.
“When I was a freshman, Coach Porter came in as a new coach, and we just didn’t really know what to expect,” Poole said, “and then after just what his coaching strategies have done for us, we’ve just had so much success with him, and it’s just a joy to finish off what we started.”
Poole, competing in his fifth and final state meet, capped off an accomplished prep cross-country career with his first podium finish, nabbing third place in a near-personal-best time of 16:18.94.
“He’s been one that’s just been so steady over the years and steady with his improvement,” Porter said. “He had a breakout spring, breaking 4:30 in the mile, and we knew what he was capable of.”
Stone, the second-ranked freshman in Alabama, along with Smith, who battled injury over the course of the season, and Conboy, comprised the primary chase pack with Poole throughout the race, pushing each other to continue pressing until the finish.
“My coach always said, ‘find comfort that your teammates are suffering just as much as you are,’” Conboy said.
On the girls side, Homewood narrowly edged Florence, 131-132, for third place. Eighth grader Edie Smith and seventh grader Victoria Thompson were the first two Patriots’ finishers to cross the line, clocking times of 20:02.74 and 20:05.12, respectively. Smith’s 15th-place performance earned her All-State honors for the second straight year.
