Twelve of the sixteen teams that scored at last year's Class 1A-2A state meet are still here. The four that left were all private schools: champion Athens Bible, fourth-place Holy Spirit Catholic, seventh-place Mars Hill Bible and Faith Christian, all pulled into the new Single A division. Everybody else stayed put.

So the field that lines up at Oakville on Nov. 7 is largely the same field that raced there last November. Cold Springswas second, Pleasant Valley third, Sand Rock fifth, Marion County sixth, Pisgah eighth, Horseshoe Bend ninth, Cleveland 10th, Cedar Bluff 11th, Tharptown 12th, Florala 13th, Pleasant Home 14th, Zion Chapel 15th. All twelve return.

One team came down. J.B. Pennington finished fourth at the Class 3A state meet and is here now. Ohatchee, Collinsville, Colbert County and Saks arrived from 3A as individual qualifiers.

And the individual champion is gone. Horseshoe Bend's David Layfield won the 1A-2A race at 16:15 and has graduated.

What's left is the most familiar classification in the state, and one where five contenders didn't lose a single scorer.

The graduation math

The single losses aren't equal. Cold Springs lost Garrett Scheer, its No. 2. Horseshoe Bend lost the state champion. Marion County lost Carter Stephens, who finished second overall, plus two more seniors.

Lexington, Tanner, Falkville, Section, Vincent, Ohatchee, Collinsville and Colbert County appear in one state meet or the other as individuals only. Kinston, Sheffield, University Charter, North Sand Mountain and Luverne are ranked on season bests with no state in 2025.