State Cross Country Championships: James Clemens Among Top 15; John Paul II-Catholic Take Runnerup
OAKVILLE, ALA.- The 2018 State Cross Country Championships were held under sunny, bright skies, but with temperatures running slightly above the freezing mark. The 63rd annual event was held at the Oakville Indian Mounds Park & Museum near Moulton.
James Clemens boys and girls squads led the collection of the four local schools with a team finish of No. 12 in girls and No. 13 in boys among the Class 7A division. Among the individual finishes, the Jets’ Elizabeth Holcomb was tops as the senior took place No. 20 with a time of 19 minutes, 34.79 seconds, which was her season’s best. The top runner in her division was Hannah Dyal of Auburn with a winning time of 18:16.30. Auburn won the team title with 25 points earning its second straight team title.
Elsewhere in the girls’ race, which featured 177 participants, sophomore Hannah Thuss of Bob Jones was No. 96 with a time of 21:57.33 and Sparkman seventh grader Samantha Menikheim posted a time of 21:58.74 to finish 97.
In Class 7A boys, Huntsville was the top team with 52 points giving the Panthers its first Class 7A title and fifth overall, while James Clemens came in with 373 points. Individually, the overall winner was Ethan Strand, sophomore from Vestavia Hills with a time of 15:24.29. Jean Pierre LeRoux of Bob Jones came in with a time of 16:50.35 to give the junior a finish time of 44. Senior Alex Shah of James Clemens was 63 with a time of 17:16.37 and No. 101 was Sparkman senior John David Ray at 17:51.90. There were 175 runners in the division.
In Class 4A, among the top finishers was nearby Saint John Paul-Catholic with a second place finish in both boys and girls divisions.
In girls with 162 participants, Amaris Tyynismaa of Catholic-Montgomery was tops with a time of 17:44.21 winning the title for the fifth consecutive year making her just the third girls’ runner in AHSAA history to capture five titles. Meanwhile, senior Dianna Boyer of JP-Catholic was seventh at 20:18.08. Madison Academy senior Julianne Hill posted a time of 20:33.90 to finish 13. The team event was won by Catholic-Montgomery with 47 points while JP-Catholic had 76 points.
The boys division was won by Catholic-Montgomery with 46 points followed by JP-Catholic with 49. In the individual results, Charlie Lott, a senior for Trinity Presbyterian, was the winner with a time of 16:21.71. JP-Catholic placed second and third with Noah Lynn, senior, in the runner-up spot at 16:29.90 and teammate Adler Brininger, a junior, at 16:33.92 in third. Madison Academy senior David Matthews set a time of 19:09.89 for 95. There were 169 runners in the division participating.
