Photos by Erin Nelson.
From left: John Carroll’s Arthur Langley approaches the finish line in the boys Class 5A race of the AHSAA State Cross-Country Champiponships at Oakville Indian Mounds on Nov. 5; Homewood’s Emma Brooke Levering approaches the finish line in third place during the girls Class 6A race; Homewood’s Grayton Murray crosses the finish line during the boys Class 6A race.
The Homewood High School boys and girls cross-country teams competed in the Class 6A state meet Nov. 5 at Oakville Indian Mounds Park, both claiming runner-up finishes to earn red map trophies.
The boys race was the closer of the two, with Homewood scoring 65 points, 18 back of Mountain Brook’s 47 points. Mountain Brook dominated the girls race, scoring 33 points, while Homewood posted 88 points. It was Mountain Brook’s first sweep of the boys and girls titles since 2011.
Mountain Brook was favored to win on both sides, but Homewood head coach Josh Donaldson was pleased with how the Patriots handled race day.
“I’m really pleased with the gap that we made up on both sides to end up where we did,” he said. “I couldn’t be more pleased with how the teams competed.”
Homewood’s girls were led by Emma Brooke Levering, who finished third, running the 5K in 18 minutes, 48 seconds. Sydney Dobbins snuck into the top 10 with a 10th-place finish, running it in 19:29. Sophia Forrestall and Bailey Zinn were 25th and 26th for the Patriots. Sarah Kemper was 31st to also score points for the team. Maris Owen (36th), Camille Etheridge (39th), Caroline Wilder (48th), Lilly Maske (64th) and Marin McWilliams (88th) also ran for the team.
In the boys race, Grayton Murray and Ben Murray were neck and neck, with Grayton finishing less than a second ahead of Ben for sixth and seventh place on the board. Andrew Laird finished 11th and Foster Laird placed 22nd, while Will Doughty turned in a strong performance in 25th. Ethan Bagwell (39th), Hayden Thomason (59th), RJ Teter (60th), Nate Bernstein (96th) and Colvin Bussey (111th) also competed.
“Even out of the summer, we could see that it was going to be a really strong year for both teams,” Donaldson said. “All athletes on both sides competed and we tried to set up the whole season in order to see a lot of different things.”
One thing Donaldson was most pleased about was the depth of the team throughout the year.
“There was never a set top five,” he said. “It was truly a team effort this year. No one was No. 1 the whole year. It was a mix throughout the year.”
John Carroll had a couple athletes compete individually in the 5A state meet. Arthur Langley capped off his incredible season by finishing fifth overall, running a time of 16:07. Seventh grader Savannah Dillard ran in the girls race, posting a finish of 59th in 23 minutes.
Homewood and John Carroll now turn their attention to indoor track and field and will compete in a few events in January. The state meet is set for the first weekend in February at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
