Mountain Brook, Hoover take different roads to top
The Mountain Brook women's and Hoover men's teams repeated as indoor Class 6A champions this weekend. Though the two Birmingham suburban teams scored similar point totals, the methods of getting there were as different as green and orange.
Mountain Brook's relay teams and meet MVP Whitney Marsh, a senior slated to compete for the University of Virginia next year, led the Lady Spartans to their fourth straight indoor title. Marsh won the long jump (18-2), placed second in the 55m and 400m dashes, and anchored the winning 4x200m and 4x400m relay teams. The 4x800m team also won, giving Mountain Brook a clean sweep of the relay events.
McGill-Toolen senior Elizabeth Wancowitz was the only two-event champion among 6A women. Wancowitz ran state record times of 2:18.23 and 5:12.11 in the 800m and 1600m runs, respectively.
Not surprisingly, the Hoover team that came just two points away from a perfect score at the state cross country meet relied on its distance squad to rack up points on the track. The Bucs solid top five from cross, Phillip Moore, Jamie Oliver, Michael Brown, Robert Bedsole, and Scott Novack, contributed to 62 of their team's 90 points. Bedsole and Brown started the charge by finishing first and second in the 3200m run, the first event of the first day of competition. Later that night, Moore and Oliver placed second and fourth in the 800m dash behind state record holder Chris Patrick of Smiths Station.
On Saturday, Oliver won the 1600m run with Moore in third, the senior teammates separated only by Patrick. They then joined Brown and Novack to handily win the 4x800m relay. Oliver, Novack, Joel Caldwell, and Moore closed the night with a third-place finish in the 4x400m relay to secure the win.
Accompanying MVP Whitney Marsh on the awards stand was Rhiannon Jaet of McGill-Toolen, who won the Outstanding Performance award for her 11' 6" vault. Markus Manson won the male MVP award for winning the 55m and long jump, finishing fifth in the high jump, and running on the third place 4x200m sprint relay as Hillcrest of Tuscaloosa finished a surprising third overall in 6A team scoring. The Male Performance of the meet went to Smiths Station junior Chris Patrick for his 1:55.47 clocking in the 800m dash. Patrick, who set the state record last year in a close race against Phillip Moore, won by more than four seconds after crossing the 600m mark in 1:24 before easing off record-setting pace.
The Mountain Brook women's and Hoover men's teams repeated as indoor Class 6A champions this weekend. Though the two Birmingham suburban teams scored similar point totals, the methods of getting there were as different as green and orange.
Mountain Brook's relay teams and meet MVP Whitney Marsh, a senior slated to compete for the University of Virginia next year, led the Lady Spartans to their fourth straight indoor title. Marsh won the long jump (18-2), placed second in the 55m and 400m dashes, and anchored the winning 4x200m and 4x400m relay teams. The 4x800m team also won, giving Mountain Brook a clean sweep of the relay events.
McGill-Toolen senior Elizabeth Wancowitz was the only two-event champion among 6A women. Wancowitz ran state record times of 2:18.23 and 5:12.11 in the 800m and 1600m runs, respectively.
Not surprisingly, the Hoover team that came just two points away from a perfect score at the state cross country meet relied on its distance squad to rack up points on the track. The Bucs solid top five from cross, Phillip Moore, Jamie Oliver, Michael Brown, Robert Bedsole, and Scott Novack, contributed to 62 of their team's 90 points. Bedsole and Brown started the charge by finishing first and second in the 3200m run, the first event of the first day of competition. Later that night, Moore and Oliver placed second and fourth in the 800m dash behind state record holder Chris Patrick of Smiths Station.
On Saturday, Oliver won the 1600m run with Moore in third, the senior teammates separated only by Patrick. They then joined Brown and Novack to handily win the 4x800m relay. Oliver, Novack, Joel Caldwell, and Moore closed the night with a third-place finish in the 4x400m relay to secure the win.
Accompanying MVP Whitney Marsh on the awards stand was Rhiannon Jaet of McGill-Toolen, who won the Outstanding Performance award for her 11' 6" vault. Markus Manson won the male MVP award for winning the 55m and long jump, finishing fifth in the high jump, and running on the third place 4x200m sprint relay as Hillcrest of Tuscaloosa finished a surprising third overall in 6A team scoring. The Male Performance of the meet went to Smiths Station junior Chris Patrick for his 1:55.47 clocking in the 800m dash. Patrick, who set the state record last year in a close race against Phillip Moore, won by more than four seconds after crossing the 600m mark in 1:24 before easing off record-setting pace.