Cross-country Jets soar at Montevallo meet
MADISON — The James Clemens cross-country program placed all five of its teams in the top five at their opening meet Aug. 24 at the Montevallo Early Bird Twilight, hosted by the University of Montevallo. Seven runners finished with All Elite performances.
More than 900 runners from 20 schools competed in the meet.
In top results for James Clemens, the boys varsity team finished third behind Hoover and Oak Mountain, beating their fourth-place ranking from last year. Among individuals, Liz Holcomb represented James Clemens in the Gold Varsity Division, finishing third overall with a time of 20:43.
In the Girls Varsity Purple Division 5K, the Lady Jets were led by All Elite runner Sarah Shirley, who finished as the overall champion with a time of 22:24. Sydney Freeman, also All Elite, was the runner-up finisher with a time of 23:06.
The Lady Jets placed three more girls in the top 20: All Elite runner Kaija Sorensen, 11th, 24:08; Caila Batchelor, 16th, 25:00; and Hannah Einhorn, 20th, 25:24.
Other finishers included Emmy Mattingly, 21st, 25:38; Reagan Kvicala, 27th, 26:02; Su-An Cho, 51st, 27:53; and Ragan Sanders, 62nd, 28:33. There were 126 runners.
The varsity boys were led by All Elite newcomer Matthew Hill, a sophomore who placed fourth out of 109 with a time of 16:55 in the Boys Varsity Gold Division 5K. Two other varsity boys placed in the top 25: Patrick Neely, 20th, 17:57, and Alex Shah, 22nd, 18:09. Elliot Kliesner placed 31st with a time of 18:38, and AJ Sheldrick placed 34th at 18:40.
Other finishers included Isaul Rubio Montano, 41st, 19:04; Tyler Gohlich, 42nd, 19:05; Joseph Holder, 43rd, 19:07; Garrett Nix, 50th, 19:28; and Kody Shively, 55th, 19:42. Montano and Gohlich’s times were personal records.
The Junior Varsity Boys 5K had five scorers from the James Clemens program. Rajesh Patel finished 22nd with a time of 20:41. John Fluder finished right behind in 23rd with a time of 20:44. Other scorers were Noah Kliesner, 41st, 21:11; Zach Williams, 51st, 21:29; and John Velez, 52nd, 21:30.
James Clemens had 10 other finishers: Landers Clayton, 54th, 21:34; Tynan Gibson, 57th, 21:41; Landon Rendon, 75th, 22:23; Justin Diehl, 76th, 22:24; Jason Osborn, 77th, 22:30; Luke Posey, 83rd, 22:35; Michael Jupin, 90th, 22:49, Cole Alia, 134th, 25:29; Anthony Kosinski, 152nd, 26:44; and Andrew Day, 153rd, 26:46. Clayton and Rendon’s times were personal records.
The James Clemens/Liberty Middle School girls won the runner-up trophy in the 3200M race, which had 168 total runners, placing three girls in the All Elite top 15 and five girls in the top 30.
Both Harley Samsil and Katie Gudgen led the team with an All Elite time of 15:09, earning them 7th and 8th places, respectively. Sophie Plummer, also All Elite, earned 15th place with a time of 15:25. Other scorers include Brittain Mattingly, 18th, 15:35, and Amber Erwin, 29th, 16:28.
The James Clemens/Liberty Middle School boys earned fifth place in the 3200M race, led by Dylan Templet in 11th out of 206 with an All Elite performance of 12:27.
The four other scorers were Lee Gibson, 21st, 12:47; Cole Robinson, 23rd, 12:56; Luke Stovall, 33rd, 13:21; and Ronan Barnes, 44th, 13:43. Other finishers include Alex Butler, 49th, 13:49; David Einhorn, 58th, 14:03; Jayden Walton, 140th, 15:52; and Camden Murch, 201st, 20:07.
All scorers and finishers in the Middle School Boys 3200M earned personal record times.
