Spartans win state track and field championship
BIRMINGHAM — Michael McGovern thought his girls track and field team had a good chance to win its first state indoor title since 2013.
Turns out he was right.
Over two days of competition, the Spartans outdistanced the Class 7A field at the AHSAA state championships, held Friday and Saturday at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
They accumulated 71 points to finish ahead of runner-up Baker, which scored 60.5 points.
Mountain Brook's triumph snapped Hoover's five-year winning streak.
"We overcame a lot of adversity, especially this week, to get to this point,” said McGovern, the Spartans head coach. “I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
The Mountain Brook girls entered the meet’s second day tied for second but moved steadily up the leaderboard.
Tessa Allen and Lily Hulsey scored 14 points in the 1,600-meter run, finishing second and third, respectively. Allen ran 5 minutes, 12.15 seconds, while Hulsey ran 5:13.97.
Neither were expected to place as highly as they did.
“I was very aware that we had a good chance of winning this year, so basically that was the only thought on my mind: Do this for the team, do this for the girls,” said Hulsey, who also placed third in the 800 meters and contributed to the Spartans' third-place 4x800-meter relay. “It was just adrenaline that took over."
Mountain Brook also received important contributions on Saturday from Grayson Scott and Ella Cobbs. Scott took third in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 2 inches. Cobbs also jumped 5-2 but placed sixth based on her number of attempts.
Scott’s top three finish came after her fourth-place showing in Friday's long jump. She jumped 16-11.5, placing two spots ahead of teammate Anne Carlton Clegg.
McGovern said Scott battled through injuries during the competition.
“Grayson’s one of the toughest young ladies I’ve ever seen,” McGovern said. “We weren’t even sure she was going to make it to the meet, and she came up big.”
Holli Chapman provided a boost in the sprints, running 56.86 to place second in the 400 meters and anchoring her team's fourth-place 4x400-meter relay.
Other key meet contributors for the Mountain Brook girls included Alex Pitts and Elizabeth Robertson, who took fourth and fifth in the 3,200 meters, and Sophie Jane Knott, who tied for third in the pole vault.
McGovern said Knott and Chapman, both seniors, have been a part of the varsity program for six years.
“For them to cap it off with a state championship, I’m pretty excited for them," McGovern said.
Hunter Harwell emerged as the top performer for the Mountain Brook boys, who placed eighth with 27.5 points.
Harwell pulled away in the closing stages of Friday's 3,200 meters to capture his first individual state title.
He set a state meet record in 9:24.65.
“It’s honestly just one of those things that I think God has finally put in my hands,” Harwell said. “I just worked for it for so long, and I’m just so glad He’s blessed me with the talent and the opportunity to win.”
Twice Harwell had finished as the runner-up at previous state meets, once in cross-country and once in outdoor track. He fell by razor-thin margins to Vestavia Hills’ Ethan Strand both times.
Harwell didn’t let that happen again.
He led for much of the race, withstood a late surge from Smiths Station’s Silas Franklin and unleashed a blistering final lap.
He closed the last 200 meters in 29 seconds to finish well ahead of Franklin, who took second in 9:28, and Strand, who took third in 9:30.
“It felt incredible,” Harwell said. “It was pretty magical, honestly.”
Harwell came back on Saturday and placed fifth in the 1,600, running 4:26.51. He also contributed to the Spartans’ runner-up 4x800 relay.
“He’s been chasing that individual one for several years,” McGovern said. “I was happy he did it.”
Thomas Renneker tied for fourth in the pole vault.