Westminster OM, Indian Springs among top finishers at 5A, 4A, 3A states

Published 5:20 pm Monday, November 13, 2023

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

OAKVILLE – The Westminster at Oak Mountain Knights, Shelby County Wildcats, Montevallo Bulldogs and Indian Springs School all turned in solid times at the AHSAA Cross-Country State Championship on Saturday, Nov. 11 at Oakville Indian Mounds Park, highlighted by a pair of great individual times from Indian Springs and two fourth-place team finishes by Westminster OM.

Indian Springs turned in two of the top performances across all county runners as Catherine Hinson came in fourth place in the girls 3A championship with a time of 19:38.99 and Quinn Conroy finished in 14th place in the boys race with a time of 17:28.56. Both earned All-State honors for their efforts.

In the Class 5A boys meet, Westminster OM put together a strong fourth place finish despite competing three classifications higher than it does for other sports. Weaver Caldwell led the Knights with a 12th place finish and a time of 16:37.62 for an All-State place.

In addition, Alexander Montgomery came in 27th place with a time of 17:20.51, Micah Adams finished in 33rd with a time of 17:26.14, Charlie Davis came in 39th place with a time of 17:33.57 and Daniel Vansant rounded out the scoring runners in 48th place with a time of 17:47.36.

Also in the 5A boys race, Shelby County’s River Horton came in 72nd with a time of 18:18.99, and MaKonnen Falcon finished in 81st with a time of 18:34.75.

The other runners to score for the Wildcats were Alex Fleming in 92nd place with a time of 18:52.25, Nick Sykes in 113th place with a time of 19:31.08 and Tucker Busby in 115th place with a time of 19:38.47.

For the 5A girls race, Emily Mungai was the fastest Knights runner, as her 18th place finish and time of 20:00.32 powered Westminster OM to finish fourth in the state as a team. Pippa Hussar came in 25th place with a time of 20:32.49 and Kayleigh Dowis finished in 41st with a time of 21:35.04.

The trio of McKenzie Bell, Savannah Schleicher and Natalie Porterfield finished alongside each other in 43rd, 44th and 45th. They all finished within a second of each other as Bell had a time of 21:40.01, Schleicher finished with a time of 21:40.55 and Porterfield had a time of 21:40.64.

For Shelby County, Kathryn Peterson came in 70th place with a time of 22:49.55, Katelynn Greene finished in 102nd with a time of 24:15.64 and Gracie Wible finished in 112th with a time of 25:08.64.

Jennie Owens came in 120th for the Wildcats with a time of 25:47.45 and Josie Payne finished 121st with a time of 25:51.87.

In the 4A races for Montevallo, Gunner Partridge came in 98th place of the boys race with a time of 19:59.02 and Syndi Salazar finished in 140th in the girls race with a time of 28:29.87.