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Photo courtesy of Mountain Brook Schools.
Mountain Brook High School’s girls and boys cross-country teams swept the AHSAA Class 6A state meet in Oakville on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. Photo courtesy of Mountain Brook Schools.
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Photo by Deangelo McDaniel.
Mountain Brook's Mary Katherine Malone finished 5th overall during Saturday's state championship cross-country meet in Oakville on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. Photo by Deangelo McDaniel.
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Photo by Deangelo McDaniel.
Mountain Brook's Lucy Benton finished 6th overall during Saturday's state championship cross-country meet in Oakville on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. Photo by Deangelo McDaniel.
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Photo by Deangelo McDaniel.
Mountain Brook at the start of the Class 6A state championship cross-country meet in Oakville on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. Photo by Deangelo McDaniel.
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Photo courtesy of Mountain Brook Schools.
Mountain Brook High School’s girls and boys cross-country teams swept the AHSAA Class 6A state meet in Oakville on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. Photo courtesy of Mountain Brook Schools.
For the second straight year, the Mountain Brook High School boys and girls cross-country teams swept the Class 6A state championships.
The state meet was held Nov. 11 at Oakville Indian Mounds Park. Mountain Brook swept both titles for the second straight year and it was the third consecutive state title for the girls.
The boys program has now won 16 state championships, while the girls secured their 26th.
Mountain Brook’s boys and girls won in dominant fashion. In cross-country, the lowest point total wins, as points are credited by finishing order.
The girls team posted a score of 46, well ahead of second-place Briarwood, which scored 86 points. Homewood (111), Athens (192) and UMS-Wright (196) rounded out the top five.
The boys team scored 74 points, but won by a bigger margin. Homewood was second with 129 points, with UMS-Wright (132), Northridge (167) and Helena (188) completing the top five.
All five of the Mountain Brook girls scorers qualified for all-state after finishing in the top 15. Mary Katherine Malone led the way for the Spartans, finishing fifth overall with a time of 18 minutes, 24 seconds. Lucy Benton was not far behind, finishing sixth in 18:29. The seniors finished their cross-country careers at Mountain Brook on a high note.
Kennedy Hamilton was 10th in 18:59, Georgia Jayne Stuckey placed 12th in 19:13 and Anna Erdberg was 13th with a time of 19:14.
Kayman Hamilton (17th) and Emelia White (18th) were high finishers for the Spartans, with Callie Kent, Lizzie Colgate and Holland Finch also running.
“For the girls, to put five on the all-state team is a big accomplishment,” Mountain Brook coach Michael McGovern said. “This makes three in a row for this group, and there were a lot of young faces mixed in with our two scoring seniors.”
Senior JK Roberts was the top runner for the boys team, as he finished eighth overall in 16:04. Braden Little also made the all-state team with a 13th-place run, posting a time of 16:10.
“It was an unbelievable run for JK Roberts,” McGovern said. “He had been injured almost the entirety of his high school career and was only running his fourth race of the season.”
Brooks Bazemore was 19th in 16:17 and Hudson Rukstalis-William was 21st in 16:22. Jack Chapman (27th) was the fifth scorer, with Joseph Spencer, Tate Hoffman, Branum Lloyd, Harrison Dobbins and Stewart Griswold not far behind.
“The boys were truly an unselfish group that didn’t care what order they finished in from week to week. It showed in the way that they raced for each other,” McGovern said.
