Jets sweep Randolph Cross Country

Raleigh Schmidt (24), Jase Bell (second from right) and Aaron Beane led the team as James Clemens swept boys’ and girls’ Class 5A-7A titles at the Randolph Cross Country Classic. (Photo by Katy Soto)

James Clemens freshman Liz Holcomb won the girls’ Class 5A-7A division of the Randolph Cross Country Classic 5k “Run in the Mud” at UAH. (Photo by Katy Soto)

By Mike Easterling

For the Record

HUNTSVILLE – James Clemens freshman Liz Holcomb turned to others for advice before her first “Run in the Mud” on the campus of UAH.

She listened, and the pay off was big on a day that saw the Jets girls and boys sweep the Class 5A-7A divisions on a warm, sunny Tuesday.

Holcomb completed the 5k, which features four trips across its signature muddy stream, in 19:00.57 to place first at the 11th annual Randolph Cross Country Classic.

“My teammates kept telling me to go left,” Holcomb said of the deep, mud-bottomed stream. “They said you’ll have a bigger jump but it’s more slippery if you go to the right. I did what they told me to do and it worked out well.”

The event featured 57 schools and 1,400 runners.

James Clemens’ girls scored 33 points to easily outdistance Randolph at 57. Bob Jones was third. In the boys’ race, the Jets won with 75 points and Bob Jones was second at 115.

The top 15 finishers in each race were named All-Elite.

Other girls making All-Elite included Rachel Seeley, Elise Sheldrick, Kate Casamatta and Ella Engstrom for the Jets and Lillie Robinson and Aspen Robinson of Bob Jones.

For the boys, James Clemens’ Raleigh Schmidt, Aaron Beane and Jase Bell and Bob Jones’ Nate Santiago, Tim McCarter and Jean Piere LeRoux of Bob Jones were All-Elite.

Madison Academy’s Julianne Hill was fifth in 1A-4A.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Jets coach Drew Bell said. ‘Three years ago we couldn’t place in JV.”