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Homewood boys track team accepts the championship trophy at the AHSAA 6A indoor track championship at the Crossplex on Feb. 1, 2025. Photo by Savannah Schmidt.
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Homewood boys track team accepts the championship trophy at the AHSAA 6A indoor track championship at the Crossplex on Feb. 1, 2025. Photo by Savannah Schmidt.
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Homewood boys track team accepts the championship trophy at the AHSAA 6A indoor track championship at the Crossplex on Feb. 1, 2025. Photo by Savannah Schmidt.
Homewood High School took home the boys state championship Saturday afternoon at the Class 6A state indoor track and field meet at the Birmingham CrossPlex, winning the title for the first time in five years.
The Patriots dominated the boys competition, scoring 99 points. Northridge finished second with 49.5 points. Mountain Brook was third with 43.5 points.
“I’m beyond excited that we won this indoor championship. Last outdoor season, if we had a couple more things go our way, we would’ve won then. This group of seniors, they are truly the hardest working kids I’ve ever been around. For us to finish it off is awesome,” Homewood coach Logan Cornutt said.
Leading the way for the Patriots was senior Colvin Bussey, who dominated the mid-distance events with two individual state titles. Bussey won the boys 400-meter dash in 49.60 seconds, securing 10 points for Homewood. He followed that performance with another victory in the 800-meter run, clocking 1:54.33, a time that ranks No. 16 in the nation this season. He was also part of the 4x400-meter relay team that finished second.
“Colvin Bussey had an amazing day,” Cornutt said.
Sophomore Isaiah Davis also contributed in the 800 meters, finishing third in a personal-best 1:56.25 to earn six additional points.
Homewood secured another state title in the boys long jump, with junior Tomon Felton leaping a personal-best 22 feet, 2.25 inches to take first place. Junior John Esslinger gave the Patriots a 1-2 finish with a season-best mark of 21-7.25. Esslinger also placed fourth in the triple jump with a personal-best 44-9.75.
“John Esslinger had an amazing day, too. He PR’ed in long jump and triple jump, super clutch for us to get us quality points,” Cornutt said.
Senior Zaire White had a strong showing in the boys 60-meter hurdles, advancing from prelims with an 8.31-second performance before finishing second in the final in 8.23 seconds. In the boys 1,600-meter run, senior Foster Laird placed third with a personal-best 4:19.94, while freshman Charles Stone finished eighth in 4:24.18, also setting a new personal record. Laird later returned to the track for the boys 3,200-meter run, where he finished third in another personal best of 9:40.69.
In the field events, junior John Martin and senior Garner Johnson both cleared 6 feet in the boys high jump, placing third and fifth, respectively. In the boys pole vault, freshman Clayton Coltrin finished seventh with a personal-best 12-6. On the girls side, junior Eloise Delk cleared 10 feet to place fourth, while fellow junior Keely Chadha finished seventh with a personal-best 9-6.
Senior Sadie Busbee scored in the girls shot put, placing fifth with a throw of 34-7.75. In the girls long jump, senior Madeline Alford took sixth place with a leap of 16-7.75 and later finished eighth in the triple jump (35-2.25). Alford also earned a seventh-place finish in the 400 meters.
Homewood’s relay teams also contributed crucial points. The boys 4x400-meter relay team of Bussey, Davis, RJ Teter and Liam Linebaugh placed second in 3:27.11, while the boys 4x800-meter relay team of Davis, Stone, Wade Thomas and Teter also secured second place in 8:13.79. The boys 4x200-meter relay team of Felton, Dylan Griggs, Jonas Harrison and White finished eighth in 1:32.57.
“Everything came together for us,” Cornutt said. “For us to put it together today in pretty much every event across the board, that was a pretty great feeling.”
On the girls side, the 4x400-meter relay team of Alford, Ada McElroy, Tessa Teter and Claire Mitchell placed sixth in 4:12.77. Bailey Zinn placed seventh in the 3,200.
Homewood’s girls didn’t have the day they hoped for, but still finished in the top 10, tying for ninth with 22 team points.
“The effort, the way our girls competed today, that’s all we ask,” Cornutt said.
John Carroll had some strong showings in the Class 4A-5A meet as well.
Leading the way for the Cavaliers was Sebastian Guerrero, who placed fourth in the boys 800-meter run with a season-best time of 1:58.62, earning five points for the team. Guerrero also competed in the boys 400-meter dash, finishing ninth in 52.49 seconds.
In the boys high jump, Sawyer Bray cleared 6 feet to place fourth, setting a new personal best and adding five points to the team total. Lacy Jackson had a strong showing in the girls 400-meter dash, finishing seventh in 1:02.15, while Jaleah Rucker followed closely behind in eighth place (1:02.17).
In the field events, Hugh Tighe recorded a personal best in the boys shot put, placing 10th with a throw of 40-5.50. In the boys long jump, senior Jaylin Shepherd finished 15th with a mark of 18-2.75.
John Carroll’s relay teams also competed well, with the girls 4x800-meter relay team of Zoe Dillard, Rucker, Jackson and Amelia Leath placing ninth in 11:28.79, while the boys 4x200-meter relay team of Shepherd, Brian Lowery, Josh Metcalf and James Ford finished 11th in 1:38.57. The boys 4x400-meter relay squad placed 15th in 3:55.39.
