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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

BIRMINGHAM – Athletes from around Shelby County got one last opportunity to put in times ahead of the state championship in the aptly named Last Chance meet on Jan. 24 and 25 at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

The meet was divided into three sections. Helena, Indian Springs, Oak Mountain, Pelham, Spain Park and Westminster OM competed in Last Chance #1, Shelby County and Vincent were in Last Chance #2 and Calera took part in Last Chance #3.

Briarwood and Chelsea had competitors in all three sections and Thompson competed in both Last Chance #2 and #3.

Multiple athletes brought home individual wins, including Oak Mountain’s Cooper Jeffcoat and Catarina Williams, Briarwood’s Mary Grace Parker, Indian Springs’ Cara Huff, Chelsea’s Ty Cason and its 4×800-meter relay team and Thompson’s Akasha Dudley.

Also, with the New Balance Indoor Nationals quickly approaching, Pelham’s Emily Wester booker her spot as an automatic qualifier in the girls 800-meter run, breaking her own personal record to secure the 83rd-best indoor time in the country.

In addition to the individual events, there was a pentathlon competition in preparation for the state championship. Helena’s Anden Armstrong came in fourth place overall in the boys competition and second in Class 6A with a score of 3,049 points.

Armstrong won the boys long jump portion of the competition with a mark of 20-05.25 and earned third in the high jump with a mark of 5-09.75.

Oak Mountain’s Blake Harry earned eighth place after finishing with 2,503 points.

Pelham’s Emma Grace Howard secured fifth in the girls pentathlon competition with 2,749 points, earning second in the shot put portion and third in the high jump.

Here are the Shelby County athletes who finished in the top 10 of their respective events:

 

Last Chance #1:

Oak Mountain’s Cooper Jeffcoat made history in the boys 800-meter run, breaking his own school record with a time of 1:53.86 to win the race. His teammate John Shoemaker came in third with a time of 1:55.34.

Oak Mountain got another win from Catarina Williams in the girls 400-meter dash as she set a personal-record time of 58.36 seconds to earn first place.

Briarwood’s Mary Grace Parker won the girls 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:07.36, finishing eight seconds faster than Mountain Brook’s Kennedy Hamilton.

Chelsea’s Ty Cason came in fourth in the same race with a time of 11:29.74 and the Lions’ Allie Hale earned eighth place with a time of 11:37.67.

Indian Springs’ Cara Huff won the girls shot put with a mark of 39-09.00. Pelham’s Kennedy Taylor came in sixth with a mark of 32-07.50.

Pelham’s Emily Wester came in second in the girls 800-meter run with a time of 2:18.88 and Briarwood’s Mary Grace Parker took fifth with a time of 2:24.71.

Helena’s Michael Sesteli came in a tie for third in the boys pole vault with a mark of 13-00.00. Spain Park’s Graydon Moran earned seventh place with a mark of 12-00.00 and Oak Mountain’s Oliver Griffin secured ninth place with his own mark of 12-00.00.

Oak Mountain’s Harper Richey came in fourth in the girls pole vault with a mark of 10-06.00 and Helena’s Abigail Parsons earned seventh place with her mark of 9-06.00.

Oak Mountain’s Savannah Clausell earned fourth place in the girls long jump with a mark of 16-03.25. Her teammate Samiah Jones came in seventh place with a mark of 15-10.00 and Briarwood’s Ava Doss finished in eighth place with a mark of 15-08.25.

Spain Park’s girls 4×800-meter relay team earned fourth place with a time of 10:39.50.

Chrislyn Gray of Oak Mountain came in fifth in the girls 60-meter dash with a time of 7.97 seconds.

Spain Park had two top 10 finishes in the boys shot put as Jovan Taylor earned fifth with a mark of 44-08.25 and Aden Walker took ninth with a mark of 41-10.50.

Doss earned fifth place in the girls triple jump with a mark of 34-10.25 and Oak Mountain’s Jones finished just behind her in sixth place with a mark of 33-11.50.

Parker also finished fifth in the girls 800-meter run with a time of 2:24.71.

Three Pelham athletes placed in the top 10 of the girls high jump as Jocelyn Elliott came in fifth with a mark of 4-10.00 and Sofia Ballesteros and Londyn Wynn tied for eighth with a mark of 4-08.00.

Briarwood’s Livi Reebals came in seventh place in the girls 60-meter hurdles with a time of 10.00 seconds on the dot.

Spain Park’s Isaac Battles finished in seventh in the boys 400-meter dash with a time of 50.68 seconds.

James Thompson earned seventh place for Spain Park in the boys long jump with a mark of 20-10.00.

Hale came in eighth place in the girls 1,600-meter run for Briarwood with her time of 5:29.18.

Indian Springs’ Quinn Conroy secured ninth place in the boys 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:31.38.

Oak Mountain’s girls 4×400-meter relay team secured fifth with a time of 4:18.12. Their girls 4×200-meter relay team earned sixth with a time of 1:49.33, beating out Pelham’s seventh-place time of 1:49.45.

Spain Park’s boys 4×800-meter relay team earned fifth place with a time of 8:34.89. The Eagles earned seventh place with a time of 8:46.27, also narrowly beating out Pelham’s eighth-place time of 8:46.66, and their boys 4×200-meter relay team came in ninth with a time of 1:34.44.

Oak Mountain’s Paxton Haley and Spain Park’s Zachary Bryan tied for 10th place in the boys high jump with a mark of 5-08.00.

 

Last Chance #2:

Ty Cason won the girls 1,600-meter run for the Hornets with a time of 4:54.66, and her teammate Juliette Edwards came in ninth with a time of 5:28.67.

Chelsea’s Mia Dunavant earned second place in the girls 400-meter dash with her time of 57.24 seconds. Her teammate Addison Foster came in ninth with a time of 1:01.98.

Niles Cummings of the Hornets took home second place in the boys triple jump with a mark of 43-03.25 and third place in the boys long jump with a mark of 20-02.00.

Both of Thompson’s 4×400-meter relay teams came in second place as the boys just missed the win with a time of 3:27.92 and the girls were two seconds off first place with a time of 4:03.42.

Chelsea’s Tamarah Rice came in third in the girls triple jump after earning a mark of 35-01.75 and sixth in the girls long jump with a mark of 16-02.50.

Chelsea’s Jacob Adeema finished in a tie for fourth place in the boys high jump after clearing a mark of 5-10.00.

Chelsea’s girls 4×200 meter relay team came in fifth with a time of 1:46.22.

Briarwood’s 4×800-meter relay team earned sixth place with a time of 8:47.44.

Chelsea’s Wyatt Irvin took sixth place in the boys pole vault after clearing a mark of 12-06.00 along with six other competitors.

Conner Campbell earned sixth place for Chelsea in the boys 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:35.09.

Foster earned seventh in the girls 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.73 seconds.

Chelsea’s Hudson Williams came in seventh in the boys 800-meter run with a time of 2:01.88.

Kamryn Hudson gave Chelsea a seventh-place finish in the girls 60-meter dash with a time of 7.96 seconds.

The Hornets’ Evie Scroggins came in ninth in the girls 800-meter run with a time of 2:30.33.

Chelsea’s Julie Jimenez finished in ninth in the girls pole vault with a mark of 8-00.00.

 

Last Chance #3:

Thompson’s Akasha Dudley won first place in the girls shot put with a mark of 40-04.50. Calera’s Reignan Evans secured third place with a mark of 37-08.75.

Chelsea’s girls 4×800-meter relay team won with a time of 10:16.41, beating out Thompson, which came in second with a time of 10:32.79. The Hornets’ boys 4×800-meter relay team earned third with a time of 8:47.90.

Thompson’s Micah Fleming tied for second place in the boys 60-meter dash with a time of 6.91 seconds. His teammate Kayden Washington came in ninth with a time of 7.01 seconds.

Keanna Hart earned second place for Calera in the girls 800-meter run with a time of 2:30.27.

Briarwood’s Emma Kerley finished in second in the girls high jump after clearing a mark of 5-00.00, the same as Thompson’s Arianna Hall, who came in third place.

Kerley came in second in the girls triple jump with a mark of 36-03.00, and Thompson’s Jaliyah Bryant earned fifth place with a mark of 34-01.75.

Kerley also earned fifth place in the girls long jump with a mark of 16-01.00.

Thompson’s Hanna Sheffield came in third place in the girls 3,200-meter run with a time of 13:29.91 and her teammate Alyssarae Bustamante earned fourth place with a time of 13:40.85.

Thompson’s 4×200-meter relay team earned third place with a time of 1:31.45.

Two Thompson athletes were next to each other on the boys triple jump leaderboard as Khalid Boykins was third with a mark of 43-10.50 and Ty Edwards earned fourth with a mark of 43-02.75.

Thompson’s Cherish Brewer finished seventh in the girls 60-meter dash with a time of 7.93 seconds.

Ty Edwards of the Warriors earned eighth place in the boys long jump with a mark of 19-04.00.

Thompson’s Loen Boackle came in eighth place in the girls 400-meter dash with a time of 1:00.99.

Calera’s Elijah McKoy took ninth place in the boys 400-meter dash with his time of 50.85 seconds.