Photo courtesy of Josh Donaldson
The Homewood High School girls 4x400-meter relay team finished third in the 2021 state meet.
The Homewood High School track and field team completed the season at the Class 6A state outdoor meet in Gulf Shores on April 29-May 1.
The Patriots boys finished sixth, compiling 30 points, while the girls placed eighth with 30.5 points. The girls were half a point from vaulting to fifth.
Homewood’s girls won the state title six consecutive years from 2014-19, while the boys won it in 2018 and 2019. While the Patriots were unable to keep those streaks alive, there were still notable performances from this spring’s state meet.
Spenser Lamb won the 110-meter hurdles event with a time of 14.4 seconds. He also won the 300 hurdles with a time of 39.43 seconds. Brooke Walden won the girls pole vault event, clearing 12 feet.
Cross Derriso cleared 14 feet in the boys pole vault to reach the podium, as he finished third. The girls 4x400-meter relay team also finished third, posting a time of 4:06.64. Maddie Kline placed sixth in the girls high jump, with a leap of 4-10. Alyssa Langford was seventh in the girls long jump and Jordan Reaves was seventh in girls pole vault.
Sarah Derriso, Slate Rohrer, David Huynh, Phoebe Reed, Julia Mitchell, Robert Fowlkes, Sydney Dobbins, Camille Etheridge, Ben Murray, Caroline Wilder, Jack Harchelroad, Emma Brooke Levering, Sarah Kemper, Jon Fielding Stogner, Andrew Laird, Naeemah Gamble, Alan Martinez, Sam Dill, Alex Jones, Neily Stephens, Katie Justice, Ivan Wimberly, Lily Giffin, Karmen Paige and Hunter Drake also contributed for Homewood.
The girls 4x800 relay team was fourth. The boys 4x800 relay team also placed sixth.
Homewood competed in the Class 6A, Section 1 meet at Northridge the prior weekend, with the boys finishing first and the girls coming home as the runners-up.
Lamb won the 110-meter hurdles and 300 hurdles, Cross Derriso won the pole vault competition, Wimberly won the javelin throw, the girls won the 4x400-meter relay and the boys won the 4x800.
Other Patriots making it to the podium were Sarah Derriso (second in 400), Etheridge (third in 1,600), Levering (second in 3,200), Wilder (third in 3,200), Mitchell (second in 300 hurdles), Kline (second in high jump), Walden (second in pole vault), Reaves (third in pole vault), Gamble (third in shot put), Stephens (second in javelin), Murray (third in 800 and third in 1,600), Stogner (second in 3,200), Laird (third in 3,200), Rohrer (third in 110 hurdles and second in 300 hurdles), Jones (third in high jump) and Drake (third in triple jump).
For John Carroll in the 5A division, Sean Montenegro won the javelin competition with a throw of 165 feet, 7 inches. Mary Elizabeth Everett was sixth in the 300-meter hurdles, Claire Humphrey was sixth in the girls 800-meter run, the girls 4x800 relay team was fourth, the boys 4x100 team was sixth and the girls 4x400 team was sixth.
Martice Smith, Ethan Cull, Riley Kelner, Nic Pfamer, Lilly Langley, Jackon Gerace, Donnelly Tighe, Faith Wittmann, Lizzie Tighe and Patrick Wood all competed for the Cavs as well.