Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook vs Hoover Volleyball State Championship 2016
Mountain Brook's Emmy Kilgore (11) in a game between Mountain Brook and Hoover during the AHSAA Volleyball State Championship game on October 27, 2016 at the Birmingham Crossplex. The Mountain Brook Spartans defeated the Hoover Buccaneers 3-1 to become the state chammpions for the third year in a row.
Over the course of the year, Village Living will keep you up to date on the various Mountain Brook High School athletic teams. Here's the fourth installment. If you missed last week, click here.
FOOTBALL
The Mountain Brook High School football team was off last week, but returns to action this Friday, as it travels to Tuscaloosa County.
VOLLEYBALL
The Mountain Brook High School volleyball team earned a pair of wins during the week. The Spartans picked up a Class 7A, Area 6 win over Spain Park on Tuesday (25-11, 25-14, 15-25, 25-11) and swept Thompson on Thursday.
Over the weekend, the Spartans competed in the Southern Invitational in Alpharetta, Georgia, in a tournament featuring many of the top teams across the south. The Spartans went 1-4, defeating Calvary (GA) and falling to McGill-Toolen, Dorman (SC), Harrison (GA) and Brentwood (TN).
The Spartans have a pair of area matches this week, as they host Oak Mountain on Tuesday and travel to Huffman on Thursday.
CROSS-COUNTRY
The Mountain Brook cross-country teams flew to Portland, Oregon, to compete at the Nike Portland Invite on Saturday. Both the boys and girls ran well in the championship division.
Hunter Harwell and Charlie Slaughter led the Spartan boys to an 11th-place finish. Mountain Brook totaled 323 points and posted a 16 minute, 45 second team average for the 5K race. Harwell placed 37th in 16:17; Slaughter placed 43rd in 16:23.
Gram Denning (91st, 16:56), Joseph Pitard (101st, 17:02) and Brooks Reddy (113th, 17:07) rounded out the Spartans’ top five.
Mountain Brook placed 13th in the girls division, totaling 335 points and posting a 20:06 team average. Anna Balzli and Tessa Allen paced their squad. Balzli finished 59th in 19:40, while Allen finished 63rd in 19:47.
Lily Hulsey (81st, 20:09), Elizabeth Robertson (90th, 20:19) and Mary Alison Anderson (102nd, 20:35) rounded out the team’s top five.
Mountain Brook is scheduled to rest this coming weekend before returning to competition Oct. 14 at the Dew it on the Trails Invite in Decatur.
NOTABLE ALUMNI
Anna Grace Morgan, a freshman at Vanderbilt, clocked a 5K season-best of 18:06 at the Greater Louisville Classic on Saturday. She was the seventh Commodore across the finish line and placed 122nd overall.
Rachael Reddy, an Alabama junior, recorded a 5K time of 18:49 on Friday at the Joe Plane Classic in South Bend, Indiana. She was the ninth Crimson Tide runner across the finish line and placed 140th overall.
Anne Chapman Haynes, a freshman at Sewanee, ran 21:03 for 5K at the Greater Louisville Classic on Saturday. She was the Tigers’ top finisher, placing 93rd in the small school division.
Emmy Kilgore, a freshman at Birmingham-Southern, tallied 30 kills over two matches over the weekend, including a career-high 16 kills against Rhodes.
-- Who did we miss? What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnespublishing.com.
