The Reset: Fall sports begin

Over the course of the year, Village Living will keep you up to date on the various Mountain Brook High School athletic teams.

FOOTBALL

The Mountain Brook football team has started out the season with two solid wins. In the first week, the Spartans knocked off Northridge, 30-14. Last Thursday, the Spartans celebrated Senior Night with a 43-0 thumping of Center Point.

This week, Mountain Brook opens Class 7A, Region 3 play with a trip to Tuscaloosa County on Friday.

VOLLEYBALL

Mountain Brook opened its volleyball season on Tuesday, Aug. 28, with a four-set win over Bob Jones. The Spartans defeated the Patriots by a score of 25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 25-17. The Spartans lost to McGill-Toolen on Thursday, falling to the defending Class 7A champion in four sets (21-25, 21-25, 25-22, 11-25).

Over the weekend, Mountain Brook competed in the Juanita Boddie Tournament, hosted by Hoover at the Finley Center. The Spartans completed pool play with a perfect 4-0 mark, with wins over James Clemens (25-10, 25-16), Woodlawn (25-7, 25-11), Bayside Academy (25-14, 24-26, 15-11) and Bob Jones (25-12, 25-17). The Spartans advanced to the Gold bracket, but lost to eventual finalist Brentwood (TN), 23-25, 13-25.

This week, the Spartans host Thompson on Tuesday and Vestavia Hills on Thursday in their first area match.

CROSS-COUNTRY

Mountain Brook opened its cross-country season on Thursday at the Warrior 2 Mile Challenge in Alabaster, with the Spartans sweeping the boys and girls varsity events. Each team scored 30 points to win. For the girls, Anna Balzli placed third overall with a time of 12:40.36. Lily Hulsey (13:00.27), Reagan Riley (13:22.43) and Tessa Allen (13:32.15) swept fifth through seventh. Sabina Ortiz and Elizabeth Robertson also placed in the top 10.

On the boys side, Hunter Harwell won the event with a time of 10:21.78, eight seconds quicker than the next competitor. Joseph Pitard (fourth, 10:39.32), Parker Balzli (sixth, 11:10.56) and Gram Denning (eighth, 11:20.96) also notched top-10 finishes.

The Spartans will compete at the Chickasaw Trails Invitational on Saturday.

— What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnespublishing.com.