Spartans nipped by Auburn at state

DANVILLE — For a few long minutes, the outcome of Saturday’s Class 7A girls state cross-country race remained unknown.

A number of blue Auburn High School jerseys trickled across the finish line near the front of the pack, and each one was matched by a runner wearing Mountain Brook green and white. 

The margin of victory was so razor-thin the winner couldn’t be determined by naked eye. Only when the online results page finally refreshed — and a group of Auburn runners, parents and coaches rejoiced — did the verdict crystallize. 

Amid chilly conditions at Oakville Indian Mounds Park, the Tigers won their third straight state title in a tiebreak that was decided by each team’s sixth runner. Mountain Brook and Auburn both totaled 41 points, but the Tigers' sixth finisher placed ahead of the Spartans’ sixth.

“They ran awesome, and we knew it was going to be close,” Mountain Brook head coach Michael McGovern said. “And it was just one of those things that, you know, sometimes that’s how the ball bounces. It’s a hard way to lose, but today Auburn was the better team.”

The loss was tough to swallow for a Mountain Brook squad that came in with confidence and ran its best race of the season. The Spartans placed four runners in the top 10 and five in the top 14.

Freshman Reagan Riley led the way by finishing third in a season-best 18 minutes, 22.09 seconds. Last year’s state runner-up, she entered Saturday’s race with aspirations of securing her first individual title. 

She gave herself a chance. 

Riley shadowed Auburn’s Samantha Rogers and Vestavia Hills’ Crawford West for most of the 5K race. The trio ran in a tight pack that only unraveled when West and Rogers surged near the 2.5-mile mark. 

West ended up winning with a strong kick in 18:07.92, with Rogers four seconds behind. 

“I was just going to hang on with the group until the 2 mile,” Riley said, “and then I was going to do a few surges to try to get away from them, which I did, but they fought back.”

Mountain Brook senior Lily Hulsey finished a few paces behind Riley in a personal-best 18:30.40. Junior Elizabeth Robertson and eighth-grader Mary Katherine Malone followed in 18:53.7 and 18:55.29, placing ninth and 10th, respectively. 

Malone was one of four athletes from Mountain Brook Junior High who ran at the state meet. The others were Greer Davis, Clark Stewart and Lucy Benton. 

McGovern said their addition to the high school squad in recent weeks helped the team turn a corner. 

“It was phenomenal to see that,” he said. 

Seniors Sabina Ortiz (14th, 19:03.43) and Alex Pitts (20th, 19:34.04) were Mountain Brook’s final scoring runners. Although the Spartans came up just short of their first state championship since 2015, they still had plenty to hang their hats on. 

During the season, they won the Randolph Cross Country Classic, Dew it on the Trails Invitational and Husky Challenge, along with the Section 3 Championship. 

“We’ve all worked so hard, and we’ve all just done our entire best and pushed each other all year,” Riley said. “I’m proud of what we did today...I’m just proud of the entire season and how we’ve become one.”

Mountain Brook’s boys placed fourth at state, which was a stellar finish for a team that entered the season just hoping to qualify. 

The Spartans finished behind Huntsville, Vestavia Hills and Auburn in the team standings. 

“They blew it out of the park,” McGovern said. “As I was talking to them all season, my expectations for them rose. I think third was a possibility, but we are happy with fourth.”

Mountain Brook lost three of its top four runners from a year ago, including 2018 state runner-up Hunter Harwell. The departures left junior Parker Balzli in position to become the team’s frontrunner.

He filled that role well throughout the season and on Saturday raced to a 17th-place finish in 16:10.13. 

“I mean, I felt good through the 2 mile, and then after that, I started to get all tight and I couldn’t quite get all-state,” he said. “But I’m fine with it, just because I know I put it all out there."

Ben Hill and Jones Dyleski were the next two Mountain Brook runners across the line, finishing in 16:32.73 and 16:35.1, respectively. Hill placed 27th, while Dyleski placed 29th.

Eric Alexander (35th, 16:43.26) and Duncan Hulsey (36th, 16:43.31) rounded out Mountain Brook’s scoring. 

"If you had told me a year ago that we’re going to lose three guys to college track and field and we still come back and finish fourth, I would say there was no way,” McGovern said.