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The Chelsea Hornets won the Class 6A girls outdoor track and field state title and headlined All-State performances from Oak Mountain, Thompson, Briarwood, Calera, Helena, Pelham, Spain Park, Montevallo, Shelby County and Indian Springs. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

GULF SHORES – After the Chelsea Hornets girls track and field team secured the indoor championship earlier this year, they took their success outside and repeated their dominant feat.

Chelsea won the Class 6A girls state title at the AHSAA Track and Field State Championship on Saturday, May 3 at the Gulf Shores SportsPlex with 87 points, beating out Mountain Brook and Homewood for the title.

The Hornets’ success headlined a big week for teams in the Class 4A-7A championships as the Thompson Warriors, Oak Mountain Eagles, Briarwood Christian Lions, Calera Eagles, Helena Huskies, Spain Park Jaguars, Montevallo Bulldogs, Shelby County Wildcats and Indian Springs School all secured All-State honors with athletes in the top eight of their events.

In addition to Chelsea’s girls title, Oak Mountain came in sixth in the 7A boys standings, Thompson was seventh in the 7A girls standings, Briarwood’s girls earned seventh in 6A and Chelsea’s boys came in 10th place in 6A.

Oak Mountain’s John Shoemaker won the state championship in the Class 7A boys 1,600-meter run. He finished with a time of 4:08.46 to win in a photo finish at the line over James Clemens’ Luke Alverson who was 0.28 seconds behind him.

Shoemaker’s teammate Cooper Jeffcoat came in third in the same race with his time of 4:12.93.

The Eagles swept the 1,600-meter run titles as Ava Fields won the Class 7A girls race with her time of 4:57.31.

Shoemaker also took the championship in the Class 7A boys 3,200-meter run, earning a time of 9:10.32 to fend off Alverson at the line again to win first place.

Chelsea’s Tamarah Rice won the Class 6A girls triple jump state title. She narrowly defeated Saraland’s KarlEzra Payton with a mark of 11.61 meters to secure the championship. Briarwood’s Emma Kerley came in fifth with a mark of 11.26 meters and Ava Doss took sixth with a mark of 11.15 meters.

Rice also emerged victorious in the Class 6A girls long jump, winning the state title by another tight margin over Payton with an attempt of 5.51 meters.

Indian Springs’ Cara Huff won the Class 4A girls shot put with a personal-record mark of 13.91 to dominate the field and win a state title.

Chelsea’s Gabe Pendley secured the Class 6A boys javelin championship after he tied for the longest throw of the event at 56.08 meters.

Niles Cummings of Chelsea won the Class 6A boys triple jump state title. He jumped 14.21 meters to set a personal record and win the championship.

Chelsea’s Ty Cason and Mia Dunavant finished one-two in the Class 6A girls 400-meter run. Cason earned the state title with a time of 57.49 seconds, narrowly beating Dunavant’s time of 57.85 seconds.

Cason and Dunavant also finished back-to-back in the Class 6A girls 800-meter run. Cason won the state title with a time of 2:11.34 while Dunavant came in second with a new personal record of 2:13.47.

Jeffcoat won the Class 7A boys 800-meter run for Oak Mountain, securing the state title with a time of 1:53.95.

Thompson’s Akasha Dudley won the Class 7A girls shot put state title with a new state meet record throw of 13.61 meters. Her teammate Myers came in fourth with a throw of 11.46 meters.

Chelsea finished off the meet with a win in the Class 6A girls 4×400-meter relay, posting a time of 3:56.91.

Oak Mountain’s ambulatory athlete Chase Lovell finished the Class 7A 400-meters in a personal-record 1:30.70, threw for a personal-record 7.16 meters in the javelin, ran a personal-record 18.32 seconds in the 100-meter dash and earned a time of 39.31 seconds in the 200-meter dash.

Spain Park’s Zachary Erickson secured second place in the Class 6A boys discus with a mark of 48.69 meters. Pelham’s Trenton Bennett also earned All-State honors with a seventh-place throw of 42.80 meters.

Thompson’s Dudley earned second place with a personal-record mark of 39.32 meters in the Class 7A girls discus event.

Briarwood’s Mary Grace Parker came in second place in the Class 6A girls 3,200-meter run with a time of 10:55.29, and her teammate Allie Hale earned seventh place with a time of 11:41.70.

Thompson’s Arianna Hill finished in second place in the Class 7A girls high jump with a personal record of 1.63 meters, which was tied with three other athletes for the highest mark in the meet.

Oak Mountain’s Catarina Williams earned second in the Class 7A girls 800-meter run with a time of 2:15.24, beating out three other runners at the line for second place, including Fields’ time of 2:15.82 in fifth place.

Spain Park’s Jonathan Fonbah came in a tie for third in the Class 6A boys high jump after clearing a mark of 1.93 meters.

Indian Springs’ Quinn Conroy finished in third in the Class 4A boys 3,200-meter run. He secured a time of 9:56.24 to earn a podium spot by one second.

Briarwood’s girls 4×800-meter relay team earned third place in Class 6A with a season-best time of 9:51.93 while Chelsea finished fourth with a time of 9:56.73.

Thompson’s girls 4×100-meter relay team took third in the Class 7A race with a time of 47.69 seconds.

Briarwood’s John Campbell came in third in the Class 6A boys 200-meter dash finals with a time of 21.69 seconds, a new personal record.

Briarwood’s Mary Grace Parker took fourth place in the Class 6A girls 1,600-meter run. She earned a time of 5:00.51. Three other county runners earned All-State honors with Chelsea’s Ty Cason earning fifth with a time of 5:07.54, Pelham’s Emily Wester securing seventh with a time of 5:14.39 and Pelham’s Janelle Ramos taking seventh with a time of 5:14.39.

Oak Mountain’s girls 4×800-meter relay team finished in fourth place in Class 7A with a time of 9:29.83.

Chelsea’s girls 4×100-meter relay team came in fourth in the Class 6A race with a time of 48.73 seconds.

Helena’s Michael Sesteli came in fifth in the Class 6A boys pole vault after clearing a height of 3.96 meters.

Pelham’s Emma Grace Howard finished in fifth in the Class 6A girls high jump as she and three other athletes cleared a mark of 1.57 meters, which was tied for her season best.

Calera’s Reignan Evans came in fifth in the Class 6A girls discus with a mark of 34.09 meters.

Indian Springs’ Conroy finished fifth in the Class 4A boys 1600-meter run with a time of 4:33.44.

Chelsea’s Addison Foster earned fifth place in the Class 6A girls 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.64 seconds.

Pelham’s Anthony Sanders took home fifth place in the Class 6A boys 110-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 15.20 seconds.

Thompson came in fifth place in the Class 7A girls 4×400-meter relay race with a time of 4:03.01, just beating Oak Mountain’s seventh-place time of 4:03.44.

Montevallo’s Kyler Mitchell secured sixth place in the Class 5A boys shot put with a mark of 45-10.

Thompson’s Fabienne Shuler earned sixth in the Class 7A boys shot put with a mark of 15.38 meters.

Shelby County’s Emily Dixon came in sixth place in the Class 6A girls javelin throw as she secured her best mark of 31.47 meters.

Spain Park’s Isaac Battles earned sixth place in the Class 6A boys 400-meter run with a time of 49.71 seconds.

Jeffcoat came in sixth for Oak Mountain in the Class 7A boys 400-meter run with a time of 48.97 seconds.

Chelsea’s Conner Campbell came in seventh in the Class 6A 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:19.80 and also took seventh in the Class 6A boys 3,200-meter run with a time of 9:44.20.

Oak Mountain’s Oliver Griffin took seventh place in the Class 7A boys pole vault after clearing a mark of 4.11 meters.

Pelham’s Kennedy Taylor secured seventh in the Class 6A girls shot put with her best mark of 10.97 meters.

Chelsea’s Kamryn Hudson earned seventh in the Class 6A girls 200-meter dash with a time of 25.61 seconds.

Chelsea’s Sydney Carroll came in eighth place in the Class 6A girls javelin throw with a mark of 34.52 meters.

Oak Mountain’s Samiah Jones earned eighth place in the Class 7A girls triple jump with a mark of 10.76 meters.

Shelby County’s Jane Matthew Reed came in eighth in the Class 5A girls 400-meter run with a time of 1:00.67.

Chelsea’s Cummings earned eighth in the Class 6A boys long jump with a personal record of 6.80 meters.

Thompson’s Kayden Washington reached the finals in the Class 7A boys 100-meter run and finished in eighth with a time of 10.90 seconds.

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