Twi-Light RunningLane Track Championships Featured Some Of Country’s Best

MADISON- Regarded as one of the top layered talent track meets in Alabama, James Clemens High recently played host to the RunningLane Track Championships showcasing athletes from all over the United States and Canada.

More than 300 elite track athletes converged onto the beautiful running track and surrounding facilities at James Clemens for the one-mile, 800 and 3,200 running events in both boys and girls. The twi-light meet was coordinated by RunningLane, co-owned by Madison’s Will Rogers and Sean Allan of Huntsville. The organization produces running events around the country while Rogers is also a running coach helping individuals with running techniques and event training strategy.

“The event was amazing as we only had three months to prepare as many other similar events were cancelled during the pandemic,” said Rogers, 33. “It’s sad to see those big races called off as those were opportunities taken from the athletes. After hosting the Cross Country Championships at Huntsville’s John Hunt Park last fall, we came up with this idea to help jump-start running again.”

The quality assembled for the two-day event was the very best in the country. There were 31 states and District of Columbia represented from the United States and five participants from Canada who made the trek to North Alabama giving Madison an estimated economic impact of close to a third of a million dollars. The races featured high school age runners.

“With other races cancelled the runners and their families were grateful to have this meet,” added Rogers, who received support from James Clemens administration and track head coach Drew Bell.

In the four events, the boys mile run had seven boys post times under the 4-minute, 12-second mark and 27 under the 4:20 mark making the race the deepest field in Alabama history. Riley Hough, a junior, from Michigan, set the best mark at 4:07.34. He was followed closely behind by senior Ben Shearer of Texas with a time 4:07.40.

In the girls 1-mile, Addy Wiley of Indiana posted the best time of the nine that posted times under 4:50 with her post of 4:38.14. Her time was the fastest ever in Alabama and ninth best all time for high school runners. But the junior’s winning time took a backseat to an eighth grade runner from Ventura, California who broke the record for 14-year old participants that stood for 48 years and was set by American Olympian Mary Decker. Sadie Engelhardt’s time of 4:40.16 was good for second place and was a new one for the record books.

Alex Leath of Vestavia, Alabama set the tone with a winning time of 1:51.51 in the boys 800 race. His time is now the No. 1 mark in the United States among sophomores in 2021.

In the girls 800, Morgan Monesmith, junior, from Ohio posted the sixth best time in the U.S. among high school participants. Her winning time of 2:06.89 was also four and a half minutes faster than the remainder of the field.

The 3,200 races, the quality was the fastest to ever run on Alabama soil with six breaking the nine minute mark in the boys and eight girls posting times under 10:35. Iowa’s Nate Mueller took the top spot by a mere a tenth of a second over Riley Hough, a junior, of Michigan. The senior Mueller ran 8:56.31 while Hough was at 8:56.46. In girls, Caroline Wells, a junior, posted a time of 10:08.77 for the win and the fastest time in Alabama and her home state of Florida. She was eight minutes faster than her nearest competitor.

The Huntsville Sports Commission was a huge player in having the event here locally. Rogers said the Track Championships were a big hit with everyone involved. He added, “This was a pretty magical event during the twi-light time of both days and no rain on day one and just spotty light rain on day two. This was a big win for the City of Madison. A win for everybody.”

The top performances in each of the events included:

BOYS 3,200

1 Nate Mueller, 12, Iowa, 8:56.31

2 Riley Hough, 11, Michigan, 8:56.46

3 Sam Rich, 11, Catawba Ridge HS, 8:57.10

4 Erik Le Roux, 11, Colorado, 8:57.44

5 Reuben Reina, 12, Arkansas, 8:58.82

6 Grahm Tuohy-Gaydos, 12, Colorado, 8:59.26

GIRLS 3,200

1 Caroline Wells, 11, Florida, 10:08.77

2 Caroline Lehman, 11, Florida, 10:16.48

3 Jenna Mulhern, 11, Pennsylvania, 10:17.47

4 Grace Hartman, 11, Ohio, 10:21.54

5 Emma Squires, 12, Michigan, 10:22.09

6 Madison Jones, 12, Mississippi, 10:33.18

BOYS 800

1 Alex Leath, 10, Alabama, 1:51.51

2 Will Sumner, 11, Georgia, 1:51.67

3 Brayden Packard, 12, Utah, 1:52.10

4 Brady Barton, 12, Alabama, 1:52.57

5 Saxon Brown, 11, South Carolina, 1:53.01

6 Marcus Guidry, 10 Georgia 1:53.90

7 Gabe Scales 12 Alabama 1:53.98

8 Michael Marvin 12 Alabama 1:54.44

9 Anthonie Alvarez 12 Arkansas 1:56.04

GIRLS 800

1 Morgan Monesmith, 11, Ohio, 2:06.89

2 Gretchen Farley, 10, Indiana, 2:11.05

3 Cady McPhail, 10, Alabama, 2:11.18

4 Kara Mickelson, 11, Washington, 2:13.55

5 Linde Fonville, 11, North Carolina, 2:16.32

6 Addison Pignetti, 12, North Carolina, 2:16.53

2 Brynn Kelso, 10, Louisiana, 2:17.26

BOYS 1-MILE

1 Riley Hough, 11, Michigan, 4:07.34

2 Ben Shearer, 12, Texas, 4:07.40

3 James Donahue, 11, Massachusetts, 4:09.50

4 Sam Rich, 11, South Carolina, 4:10.28

5 Walker St. John, 11, Texas, 4:11.19

6 Christian Balcer, 12, Mississippi, 4:11.32

7 Erik Le Roux, 11, Colorado, 4:11.92

GIRLS 1-MILE

1 Addy Wiley, 11, Indiana, 4:38.14

2 Sadie Engelhardt, 8, California, 4:40.16

3 Allison Johnson, 12, Ohio, 4:41.29

4 Audrey DaDamio, 12, Michigan, 4:42.44

5 Anastacia Gonzales, 11, Texas, 4:44.87

6 Ella Borsheim, 11, Washington, 4:45.63

7 Grace Hartman, 11, Ohio, 4:46.11

8 Emma Squires, 12, Michigan, 4:47.50

9 Caroline Lehman, 11, Florida, 4:48.16