Jets-Patriots Shine In Metro Cross Country
MADISON- James Clemens captured both the boys and girls varsity team championships at the 2018 Huntsville-Metro Cross Country Meet hosted by James Clemens and held at Palmer Park. Top performer for the Jets was Elizabeth Holcomb who won the girls division with a time of 20 minutes, 24 seconds.
“It was the muddiest race I’ve ever been associated with as a coach,” said Drew Bell head coach of James Clemens and host for the annual meet. “With the rain that fell all day, the day was more like a slip-n-slide event, especially coming up the hills located behind the ballfields at Palmer Park.”
Despite the treacherous running conditions the meet was a huge success with participants and attending fans having a fun and rewarding day of high school cross country running. The meet featured teams battling through four different divisions. Those separate races included varsity, Huntsville city, Madison County and junior high.
In Varsity Girls, the Jets of James Clemens took first place with 41 points. Sparkman was fourth with 126 and Madison Academy at No. 6 with 170 points.
Individual finishes had the senior Holcomb as the winner followed by No. 2 Hannah Thuss, 10, Bob Jones, 21:03, No. 3 Julianne Hill, 12, Madison Academy, 21:07, No. 6 Sydney Freeman, 9, James Clemens, 21:25 and No. 10 Sarah Shirley, 10, James Clemens, 21:40.
James Clemens posted 35 points to earn the championship trophy in Varsity Boys. Sparkman came in fourth with 127 points, Bob Jones seventh with 200 points and No. 9 Madison Academy with 237.
Individual results had No. 2 Alex Shah, 12, James Clemens, 17:19, No. 3 Patrick Neely, 12, James Clemens, 17:20, No. 7 Alex Butler, 8, James Clemens, 17:41, No. 9 John David Ray, 12, Sparkman, 17:54 and No. 10 Bradly Spindle, 11, Bob Jones, 17:56.
In Madison County Boys, Sparkman was first in the team standings with 21 points followed by Buckhorn 41 and Hazel Green 79.
John David Ray, 12, of Sparkman was second at 17:54. He was followed by No. 3 Patrick Moody, 9, Sparkman, 18:33, No. 4 Adam Thomas, 12, Sparkman, 19:05 and No. 5 Lee Smira, 12, Sparkman, 19:12.
In Madison County Girls, Sparkman had three finishers among the top 10. Those were No. 8 Samantha Menikheim, 7, 22:49, No. 9 Lauren White, 11, 23:08 and No. 10 Caroline Moody, 12, 23:18. Buckhorn took first in the team standings with 17 points followed by No. 2 Sparkman, 49, and No. 3 Hazel Green 70.
Huntsville (31) took the Junior High Boys and Girls titles. In Boys, James Clemens was second (36) and Bob Jones third (56). In Girls, Huntsville took home the first place trophy with 19 points.
Individually, James Garrison of Bob Jones won the 2-mile race with a time of 11:08 a mere two seconds ahead of Aidan Brinkley, James Clemens, 11:10. Additional finishers were No. 5 Isaul Rubio Montan, James Clemens, 11:24, No. 6 Tyler Gohlich, James Clemens, 11:25 and No. 10 Nathan Bublitz, Bob Jones, 11:57.
In Junior High Girls, the finish grid featured No. 4 Madaline Digges, Bob Jones, 14:06, No. 5 Brittain Mattingly, James Clemens, 14:16, No. 8 Harley Samsil, James Clemens, 14:27 and No. 9 Anna Digges, Bob Jones, 15:06.
