Spain Park closes regular season with XC wins

Published 8:30 am Tuesday, October 26, 2021

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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

HOOVER – In their final regular-season meet of the season on Thursday, Oct. 21, the Spain Park Jaguars finished with a bang.

Hosting the Spain Park Last Chance at Veterans Park, the Jags were able to win both the boys and girls races to enter the postseason with confidence.

The girls had a remarkable day, coming close to sweeping the top five spots. The Jags took the first four spots in the standings with Mackenzie Culpepper highlighting those finishers as the winner.

She finished the race with a time of 20:54.01 to take the top spot, while Savannah Hodgens finished second with a time of 21:18.93 and Delaney Vickers finished third with a time of 21:41.02.

Peyton LeCroy finished out the top four by claiming fourth with a time of 22:16.09.

With those four high finishes, the Jags had already done more than enough for the team win, as they finished with 17 points compared to 54 of Vestavia Hills in second.

It didn’t hurt that Spain Park had two more finish inside the top 10 and an additional 10 inside the top 25.

Gianna Thornton and McKnezie Coburn closed out the top 10 with finishes of ninth and 10th, respectively. Thornton finished with a time of 23:59.60, while Coburn finished with a time of 24:09.40.

Chloe Finnocchiaro claimed 12th in the standings, while Remy Richards, Sophie Horton, Sarah Kate Phillips, Reece Williams and Madison Harvey finished 14th-18th, respectively.

Laney Browder and Anna Hoffman finished back to back in 21st and 22nd, while Camden Moore and Madalyn Serio did the same in 24th and 25th.

Also competing in the girls race were runners from Indian Springs and Montevallo.

Indian Springs was led by Sohana Caplash, who finished 19th with a time of 25:41.68, while Montevallo was highlighted by Yuliana Gutierez in 26th behind a time of 27:16.26.

In the boys race, it was almost just as dominant for the Jaguars, who had 15 finish inside the top 30, including six inside the top 10.

That gave the Jaguars 23 points in the event, which was 20 points ahead of Wetumpka for the win.

They were highlighted by Kenneth Bishop and Weston Higginbotham, who took second and third, respectively. Bishop finished with a time of 18:10.25, while Higginbotham was 14 seconds behind that.

Garrett Bishop, Webb Harper, JT Brownlee and Mac McPeters finished fifth through eighth in that order. All finished with times between 18:31.54 and 18:40.45.

Mario Levins, Bryce Caton, Cage Kizzire and Hudson Campbell each finished 13th-16th, respectively, with a time range of 19:23.34 and 20:02.59.

Brody Ahlemeyer also finished inside the top 20 in 19th thanks to a time of 20:14.25.

The Montevallo Bulldogs, Vincent Yellow Jackets and Indian Springs all had athletes running in the event as well.

Montevallo was highlighted by Sam Adams and Dante Juarez. The two finished in 21st and 22nd, respectively, with Adams posting a time of 20:19.76 and Juarez posting a time of 20:22.50.

Vincent was led by Lee Robertson, who finished 38th thanks to a time of 21:33.76. Daytreus Norwood wasn’t too far behind in 48th with a time of 22:49.03.

Indian Springs was highlighted by Thomas French, Hayes Blackstone and Porter Spicer. French and Blackstone finished 52nd and 53rd, respectively, while Spicer claimed 57th.