With the sun beating down and the dryness in the air, anticipation and excitement were still at a high as teams began arriving at the UAH Campus for the annual Randolph School Cross Country Classic! Definitely a favorite meet – both for the runners and the spectators!
Positioning myself where the kids come out of the creek near the finish line ensured me some great photos and reactions from the crowd. Even if you couldn’t get close enough to see the action, you knew when someone went down in the creek just from the collective groans from the spectators. Precious ground could be gained or lost at the creeks. Other things lost at the creek include….shoes and glasses! But it wouldn’t be the Randolph Classic without those things.
The Middle School race was dominated by Pizitz – the boys saw 216 finishers with Pizitz winning with a team score of 46, followed by Randolph (78) and Sparkman (82). The girls race had 139 finishers and the team results were much closer with Pizitz taking the title with a score of 35, followed by Huntsville HS (37) and Sparkman (85). It will be exciting to watch these younger athletes in the years to come – many already holding their own with varsity runners!
The varsity races were divided into small school (1A-4A) and large school (5A-6A) and there seemed to be a mix of competitiveness and fun. The athletes from Pope John Paul II Catholic ran together as a pack and had fun at the creek each time they came through. Finishing the majority of their runners together this race was more about fun and not about time or place. It was great to see the fun side of these athletes! Randolph School, the meet host, took the title of the small school boys race with a score of 62. They were followed by Rogers (118) and Elkmont (126) – who had 3 athletes in the top 10 finishers. The large school boys were led by Huntsville HS (31), James Clemens (71) and Briarwood Christian (94).
All the races were great but my favorite was the last race of the day. Although scored as small school (1A-4A) and large school (5A-6A), all the girls ran in the same race. 285 finishers in this race and from the very beginning, there were several “packs” which made for some exciting racing! The Randolph ladies took the 1A-4A title with 3 top 10 finishers and a team score of 53. They were followed by Pisgah (69) and Rogers (82). In the 5A-6A division, Huntsville HS, having 5 top ten finishers, won with an impressive score of 26! They were followed by Briarwood Christian (72) and Buckhorn (96).
In all, there were over 1000 finishers and 48 school represented at the 2013 Randolph School Cross Country Classic! For a list of complete results please go to https://al.milesplit.com/meets/147762-randolph-school-cross-country-classic