Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
Mountain Brook High School senior distance runner Charlie Slaughter signed a letter of intent to continue his career at the University of South Alabama during a Nov. 16 ceremony.
Five days after his final high school cross-country meet and five months after he began to rehab from season-ending hip surgery, Charlie Slaughter put pen to paper.
The Mountain Brook High School senior distance runner signed a letter of intent to continue his academic and athletic career at the University of South Alabama during a ceremony held at MBHS on Nov. 16.
“It’s a huge weight off my shoulders,” he said. “It’s nice to have it done and be able to tell people I’ll be a Jag next fall.”
Slaughter chose South Alabama over Auburn, a decision that he said was made based on his gut instinct. He meshed well with the Jags on his visit, established a relationship with the coach and liked the coastal location.
“To be able to sign with a team that’s as good as South Alabama, it means the world,” Slaughter said. “It’s such a blessing.”
Especially considering the hurdles hehas overcome.
Slaughter’s signing took place the week after the state cross-country meet, where he notched a runner-up finish in the Class 7A boys race. He set a 5K personal-best in 15 minutes, 50 seconds to lead the Mountain Brook boys to their first state title since 2011.
The performance wasn’t supposed to happen.
Doctors told Slaughter in May, after he was diagnosed with a torn labrum in his right hip, that he would most likely miss his senior cross-country season. The surgery he needed to repair the tear required a prolongedrehab process.
“To his credit, he wasn’t going to take that answer,” Mountain Brook head coach Michael McGovern said. “He was going to do whatever it took to get ready and be ready for his team.”
He did.
Slaughter devoted countless hours to cross-training over the summer in order to maintain his fitness. He then returned to the course for his first race in late September. Six weeks later, he stood on the state podium with a smile across his face.
“It was a pretty special day to see him finish his last cross-country race in his fastest time ever, and then finding out 10 minutes later it was good enough to help us win the state championship,” McGovern said.
But Slaughter’s determination, grit and talent were evident from the beginning. Susan Molloy, his coach at Mountain Brook Junior High, remembers watching his first race: 800 meters on the indoor track. He ran a respectable time of 2:27.
“I knew at that point he was going to be a really special kid,” Molloy said.
She was right.
Slaughter got pulled up to run with the Mountain Brook varsity teams as a freshman. He has since grown into a three-time All-State performer in cross-country, and he has scored points at state track and field meets as both an individual and relay team contributor.
Slaughter also was a member of the Spartans 4x800-meter squad that in 2016 earned All-America status by finishing second at New Balance Nationals Indoor. The relay posted a school-record time of 7:45.
McGovern said Slaughter has provided Mountain Brook with competitiveness and leadership that will be difficult to replace.
“He is always going to be out there doing the right thing, doing it the right way,” McGovern said. “I am so happy for him today, but obviously there’s already a hole in my heart for what this team’s going to be missing.”
