Jay Avery from Hoover did his normal thing in the triple jump winning the 7A classification in 47-00.75. He got second in the long jump in 22-03.50. His biggest event of the day was winning the 60m Dash in a PR of 6.96 from Lane 1. He said, "This past weekend I felt pretty good about going into the meet with only three events. But I was still concerned about my back from an injury earlier in the season. So after running the prelims in the 60m I started to feel the pain and I had triple jump immediately afterwards and that really stressed my back out. So when I had to come back and run in the finals, I wanted to change my strategy from my previous races. The start is my strongest part of my race, so as I was getting ready for the finals all that was going through my head was "drive, drive, drive". When I popped my head up I was in front of everyone and I was in shock when I crossed the line."
Brooke Walden from Homewood broke her own 6A State record and got a new indoor personal best in the pole vault clearing 12'03". The senior concluded her indoor career and had this to say: "It feels great to be able to leave with a new state record. I wouldn't have wanted it to end any other way! I am so thankful for the past five years being able to compete in an indoor facility with an amazing community around me. I am sad it is over but excited for what is to come!"
Cameron Ossler from Elberta made school history on Saturday winning not one but two of the school's first State championships. He cleared 6'00" in the 4A-5A High jump and ultimately won in a jump off. In the 4A-5A 60m Hurdles, he clocked a personal of 8.73 for the win. Coach Mitchell Bennefield said, "It was so exciting to see Cam win the first ever state championship by winning the high jump and the hurdles. He has put so much effort into these two events the past year and a half. We couldn't be more proud of him at Elberta!"
Lawrence County girls achieved the unthinkable by winning the 4A-5A team title with only four girls. Savannah Williams, Taylor Williams, Katie Mae Coan, and Katie Dumas competed in the 800m, 1600m, 3200m, and the 4x800 and scored 47 points. Coach Julie Coan talked about the accomplishment saying, "It still doesn't seem real. We never dreamed that it was a possibility with only four girls."
Ethan Edgeworth from Cold Springs continues his reign in Class 1A-3A. He took second in the 800m running a PR of 1:56.70 and came back later to win the 1600m in 4:14.55 (another PR) and the 3200m in 9:22.31. This only sets him up to continue his success into the outdoor season. He said, "Straight up it makes me feel like I can run sub 9:00 in the 3200m and sub 4:10 in the 1600m!"
Macauley Flanagan from Houston Academy had herself a day winning the 1A-3A 400m in 1:00.06, second in the 60m dash in 7.91 and anchoring her 4x200m and 4x400m teams to wins. Both individual events were personal bests.
Alex Leath from Vestavia was coming off his historic performance from the Last Chance Invitational and took care of business. He won the 7A Boys 800m in 1:53.41. He had a vicious 26.1 final 200m to win the 1600m with a new State record. He anchored Vestavia's State record performance of 7:57 in the 4x800m and led off for a second place 4x400m finish. Describing his overall weekend, he said, "I feel very happy with how everything went. The mile stands out the most. I knew going in it was going to be a dog fight and that it was going to hurt but I had to be mentally strong."
Cady McPhail from Chelsea completed the 4/4 sweep in Class 7A winning the 800m, 1600m, 3200m, and anchoring the 4x800m. Her favorite race of the day was the 3200m with her future Auburn University teammate, Ava McIntosh from Huntsville. The two traded the lead back and forth late in the race with McPhail ultimately winning. Cady said, "I proved to myself on the fourth event of the day I can still be tough mentally and physically. It just showed how determined I was."
Stone Smith from St. Paul's finally got his first ever State Championship on Friday. The Ole Miss commit ran 4:16.09 to win the 6A 1600m. He later came back to win the 3200m in 9:18.52. Stone said, "It felt like receiving a package from Amazon. I knew I was getting what I wanted and had already paid for it through consistent hard work."
Ava McIntosh may have had her best overall racing day in her career getting three PRs in the 800m, 1600m, and the 3200m. In the 1600m it was her first time breaking 5:00. "Saturday was definitely a core memory for me. It was a fabulous way to wrap up my high school indoor track experience. I've been trying to break 5:00 in the 1600m for about a year now and my teammates were so supportive when I finally did."
Evan Hill from Scottsboro was second in the 4A-5A 800m in 1:58.13, narrowly set a new State record in the 1600m in 4:21.47 and won the 3200m in 9:24.88. He said, "Going into the State Meet I knew we had a good shot at winning so I wanted to get as many points as I could. Going into the 800m I was just aiming for a medal since it wasn't my strongest event, so I was very happy with the runner-up and even got a PR. In the 1600m, I knew I had to win it but I also wanted to save as much for the 3200m as possible. I kept it pretty controlled the first 7 laps and then kicked hard the last lap to secure the win. In the 3200m, I ended up running a pretty even and solid race that I was happy with and got the win there too. Overall, everything went according to plan and I was really happy with how I performed. It was super exciting to bring home the team State title as well as two individual ones.
Shonedra Richardson from Demopolis was perfect on Saturday winning the Class 4A-5A 60m in 7.72, the long jump 17-11.00 and the triple jump in 36-04.25. The Auburn commit won thirteen times during the Indoor season and will look to continue her success in Outdoor. She said, "I am very grateful and pleased with everything I did. I had bigger goals in mind but God had other plans for me. Overall, I was very pleased with my performances."
Shemar Welch led the way for McGill-Toolen winning the 6A Boys team title. In his three events, he not only won but he also set three personal bests. He cleared 6'07" in the high jump. He jumped 45'07" in the triple jump and 21'11" in the long jump.
Elise Picard from Indian Springs completed the triple crown winning the 1A-3A 800m, 1600m, and 3200m. She said, "it was honestly the most tiring but rewarding day that I have ever experienced! [In the 800m] I was just aiming to podium. [In the 1600m] my goal was just to stay even and save some juice for the 3200m. The best part of this race was watching my teammate Catherine Hinson come through the line next for a 1-2 finish. The 3200m has been my favorite event this season. Once I got into a rhythm, I felt strong. I came into this indoor season with a small calf injury that caused me to step back a little bit from training, so I was grateful to be able to compete in all of these races while feeling healthy again."