State track and field: Spartan girls hold on for 2nd
GULF SHORES -- The Mountain Brook High School girls track and field team won its battle for second place at the Class 7A state outdoor meet.
On Saturday's third and final day of competition, the Spartans scored critical points to preserve their runner-up finish. Hoover prevailed, 128.5 to 83.5. Auburn placed third with 71 points.
"I figured Hoover was going to be pretty far out," Mountain Brook head track and field coach Michael McGovern said. "Then I knew it was going to be between us, James Clemens, Auburn and McGill-Toolen for second."
Mountain Brook also placed second to Hoover at February's state indoor meet. It had to fight to retain the position.
After slipping from first to third over the course of the day, the Spartans rallied in their final two events. Lily Hulsey and Anna Grace Morgan came through when it counted.
Hulsey took second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes, 16.07 seconds. Morgan, a senior, posted a personal best of 2:17.87 to finish sixth. It was Morgan's final event as a Spartan and her fourth of the meet.
"We had to have the points in the 800 to seal up the second place, and she knew it," McGovern said of Morgan. "That's the kind of person she is for us, the type of leader she's been for us. She's going to do whatever it takes."
Hulsey rebounded an hour later for the 4x400-meter relay. She teamed up with Anne Coleman Bradford, Sophie Jane Knott and Holli Chapman to earn a fifth-place finish in 3:59.8. Chapman ran a strong anchor leg, enabling Mountain Brook to glean four points despite competing in the second of three heats.
"We talk about it all the time. As soon as you're into a state meet situation, people have to be ready to step up," McGovern said.
In the field, Janie Branch finished fifth in the shot put with a heave of 36 feet, 2 inches. Jack Grant placed third in the javelin for the Mountain Brook boys, who finished 11th in the team standings. Grant threw 176-3 to reach the podium.
Griffin Riley made it there, too. The Spartan senior notched a runner-up finish in the 800 meters, crossing the line in 1:55.01. Hoover's Trent Hamner pulled away in the closing steps and won in 1:54.78.
Mountain Brook sophomore Gram Denning finished sixth in 1:56.65.
"All glory to be God. I was proud of my effort. I gave it all," Riley said. "I'm not so happy with the placement, but I mean, Trent's a great racer. There's not much you can do when you're giving it all you've got."
Click here to read about Mountain Brook's performance on the state meet's first day and here to read about its performance on the second day.