Jets’ Cross Country Teams Fly High In Pepsi Challenge

MOULTON- The winning continues for James Clemens in the early stages of the 2022 high school cross country season. After a clean sweep to open the season in Scottsboro, the Jets took to the course located in Moulton for the 2022 Pepsi Challenge with 14 schools in attendance.

The competition was fierce as No. 1 state ranked teams Huntsville, Scottsboro and Lawrence County were in the action, but the Jets came away with more trophies for their trophy case. The varsity boys took first place, the varsity girls finished third and the Jr. High boys also grabbed a third-place hardware.

In varsity boys, James Clemens dominated the meet with four runners in the top 10 and five overall making the All-Elite Team (top 15) among the 169 participants. Luke Alverson led the Jets taking third place with a time of 16-minutes, 14-seconds. Finishing behind him were 4. Cole Robinson, 16:30, 8. John Luke Stovall, 16:51, 10. Ronan Barnes (16:54) and 15. Garrett Gallagher, 17:10. In team scores, the Jets were tops with 33 points, easily outdistancing runner-up Huntsville, 71, and third place Scottsboro, 79.

The Lady Jets scored 76 points and finished behind winner Lawrence County (No. 1 Class 5A), 35, and runner-up Huntsville (No. 1 Class 7A), 54. Among the 123 participants, the Jets had two runners finish among the All-Elite Team. Kylie Gero was fifth, 19:30, and Emma Bothern was seventh, 19:41.

The JC Jr. High boys team captured a third place trophy in the 2-mile race. Luke Bogardus (12:18), Hudson Parker (12:20), John Howard (12:41) and Brennan Ragsdale (12:51) all set personal record times among the 170 runners. In girls, James Clemens was fourth and placed one runner among the All-Elite Team. Adriana Gadomski set a personal best and third place time of 13:40. Others setting PR times included Veera Maan (15:05), Ivana Rubio (15:37), Jasmine Phillippi (16:41) and Olivia Stovall (17:21).