Photo by Erin Nelson Starnes Media
Homewood State Cross Country
Homewood’s Lainey Phelps finishes first in the Class 6A girls race during the AHSAA State Cross Country meet held at Oakville Indian Mounds Park on Saturday, Nov. 09, 2019. Photo by Erin Nelson
She won it again.
On Monday, Jan. 27, Homewood High School senior Lainey Phelps was named the 2019-20 Gatorade Alabama Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year.
She also earned the award, which recognizes the state’s top runner, as a freshman in January 2017.
“I don’t know if any other runner in the state has had the setbacks that Lainey has experienced and come back with such determination and perseverance to reach such a high level,” Homewood cross-country coach Josh Donaldson said in a press release announcing Phelps’ selection. “She gives everything she has to each task she sets her mind to.”
Phelps won six races this past fall, including the Class 6A state championship in November. She completed the 5K course at Oakville Indian Mounds Park in 18 minutes, 14.7 seconds to clinch the 11th individual state title of her career. She also captured the 6A cross-country crown in 2016 and 2018 and has earned eight state championships on the track.
Phelps posted her fastest time of the 2019 cross-country season at The Southern Showcase in September. She clocked her first personal-best in three years by crossing the finish line in 17:36.18. Her showing at the state meet two months later propelled the Homewood girls to their third state victory in four years.
The week after state, Phelps signed her letter of intent to run cross-country and track and field at Vanderbilt University. In addition to her athletic success, she has maintained a 4.23 GPA in the classroom.
“I wanted to go to school for the school first, and of course Vanderbilt has that,” Phelps told the Star in November. “But I also knew I wanted to be a part of a really great team.”
Phelps is now a finalist for the Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year award. The winner will be announced in February.
