Sam Chandler
Mountain Brook Cross-Country
The Mountain Brook High School girls cross-country team won the Hoover Invitational, held Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017, at Veterans Park in Hoover.
Over the course of the year, Village Living will keep you up to date on the various Mountain Brook High School athletic teams. Here's the seventh installment. If you missed last week, click here.
FOOTBALL
The Mountain Brook High School football team knocked off Oak Mountain, 31-28, last Friday night in a back-and-forth affair. Click here for a full recap of the game.
This week, the Spartans wrap up Class 7A, Region 3 play with a trip to Huffman.
VOLLEYBALL
The Mountain Brook High School volleyball team concluded its regular season with a pair of matches against fellow 7A opponents. On Tuesday, the Spartans swept Vestavia Hills, 3-0 (25-10, 25-5, 25-10), in a dominant performance.
In the match, Libby Grace Gann had 46 assists, nine digs and two kills. Grace Carr racked up 14 kills, 10 digs, two aces and a block. Ellie Dayhuff had 17 kills, and Liz Vandevelde finished with 20 digs.
On Thursday, the Spartans didn’t fare as well, falling to Bob Jones, 3-1 (20-25, 19-25, 25-19, 23-25).
Spain Park knocked off Oak Mountain on Tuesday, leaving a three-way tie atop Area 6. The Spartans got the nod in the tiebreaker and earned the right to host the area tournament on Tuesday. Mountain Brook faces Huffman in the opening round of the tournament, needing a single victory to seal its spot in the regionals.
CROSS-COUNTRY
The Mountain Brook High School girls cross-country team collected its fourth victory of the season on Thursday at the Hoover Invitational. The Spartans held off the host Buccaneers, 38-44, on a sunny afternoon at Veterans Park.
“I saw an aggressive nature right from the gun,” Mountain Brook head coach Michael McGovern said. “It was kind of a return to what the Mountain Brook girls are all about — taking charge of a race instead of letting other people take charge.”
The Spartans placed their top five runners in the top 13 to clinch the team title. Anna Balzli set the pace with a third-place finish in 19 minutes, 50 seconds. She was trailed by teammates Lily Hulsey (fifth, 20:14) and Tessa Allen (sixth, 20:19). Elizabeth Robertson (11th, 20:56) and Amanda Jones (13th, 20:59) rounded out the scoring pack.
It was the second week in a row the Spartan girls won a meet. On Oct. 14, they captured a first-place finish at the Dew it on the Trails Invitational in Decatur.
The Mountain Brook boys, meanwhile, secured a runner-up finish at the Hoover Invite. Vestavia Hills edged them by three points, 57-60.
“We’re moving in the right direction,” McGovern said. “We have guys that are stepping up.”
The front-running tandem of Hunter Harwell and Charlie Slaughter recorded top five finishes. Harwell clocked a time of 16:48 to place third, and Slaughter clocked a time of 16:50 to place fourth. Joseph Pitard (14th, 17:18), Nelson Fields (16th, 17:21) and Eric Alexander (23rd, 17:32) also contributed to the team score.
The Hoover Invite was Mountain Brook’s last competition before the Class 7A, Section 3 meet, which will be held at Veterans Park Nov. 2.
“That’s what we build this into the schedule for,” McGovern said, “to get us ready for sectionals, build our confidence and be ready to peak these few last races.”
MBJH Spartans win Metro
Reagan Riley stole the show at the Metro South Middle School Championships, held Saturday in Trussville. The Mountain Brook Junior High seventh-grader won the girls 2.1-mile race in 12:13. She crossed the finish line more than 20 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.
Riley’s first-place finish propelled the Spartans to the team title ahead of runner-up Homewood. She was one of five Mountain Brook runners to finish in the top 11.
Linley Simmons, Clark Stewart, Libby Sims and Ellen Anderson placed seventh, eighth, ninth and 11th, respectively.
NOTABLE ALUMNI
Mountain Brook alums Sara Carr and Emmy Kilgore squared off in Birmingham over the weekend, with Carr's Emory volleyball team taking down Kilgore's Birmingham-Southern squad in five sets.
Both were impressive in the match. Carr led her team with 19 kills in the match and added 18 digs, while Kilgore finished with 14 kills.
-- Who did we miss? What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnespublishing.com.
