Photo courtesy of Eric Swope.
The Homewood Middle School boys cross-country team won its third consecutive Metro South title Oct. 16 at Veterans Park in Hoover, while the Homewood girls finished second.
The Homewood Middle School cross-country program has come a long way since Eric Swope started coaching 12 years ago.
Back then, his roster consisted of about a dozen runners. And if somebody didn’t show up for a meet, the Patriots were at risk of having too few entrants to post a team score.
Those days are long gone.
Sixty-six students came out for the cross-country team this fall, and the boys punctuated a strong season by winning their third consecutive Metro South championship. The Patriots tallied 30 points to runner-up Oak Mountain’s 55 on Oct. 16 at Veterans Park in Hoover.
“I’m so proud of them,” Swope said. “It’s an amazing group of guys.”
Eighth-graders Arthur Langley and Harrison Fowlkes finished first and second in the 2-mile race. Langley crossed the line in 11 minutes, 2.68 seconds, while Fowlkes crossed in 11:08.38.
Swope said Langley persevered through stress fractures en route to the title. Fowlkes, on the other hand, converted to cross-country from football after breaking his collarbone in the first game of the season. The quarterback underwent surgery to repair the injury before pivoting to running.
“He probably ran 20 miles the entire year,” Swope said. “He’s just that type of athlete. It’s pretty extraordinary.”
Colvin Bussey (fifth) and Braxton McClusky (ninth) also finished in the top 10, running 11:43.13 and 11:50.71, respectively. Foster Laird (13th), Nate Bernstein (23rd) and Tripp McCain (24th) earned All-Metro honors by finishing in the top 30.
The Homewood boys won every middle school meet they entered this season and notched the highest finish of any middle school team competing in the junior high division at the Jesse Owens Classic in early October.
The Homewood girls also had an impressive season, which they capped with a runner-up finish at the Metro South meet. They totaled 75 points to Mountain Brook’s 35.
Eighth-grader Caroline Wilder led the Patriots with a fifth-place showing in 12:44.6. Sarah Kemper was second on the team, and she took 10th in 13:07.7. Susie Whitsett (17th), Madeline Alford (19th), Annie McBride (25th) and Lilly Maske (27th) also garnered All-Metro recognition.
Swope said he was proud of how his girls team performed after losing its top runner, Emma Brooke Levering, to a knee injury about a week before the race.
“We didn’t know if they were even going to make the podium,” Swope said. “They showed up when they had to, and it was awesome.”
Susie Ankenbrandt, Genie Christian and David Saunders coached with Swope. He said they played a huge role in Homewood’s success.
He also credited the high school’s cross-country program for generating enthusiasm about running in his middle school students.
The Homewood High boys have won eight consecutive state titles, while the girls have won three of the last four.
“It helps all these little kids see what’s going on up there, and they want to be part of that too,” Swope said, “so I think it’s just like a circular thing where we’re starting to see success at the middle school and the high school. It’s really fun.”
