6A Girls & Boys Scouting Report: Mountain Brook

AlabamaRunners:  Your girls team won 6A last year and both girls and boys are pre-season ranked #1 this year.  How has their summer running and mileage gone?  
 
Coach Echols:  Summer went well. Most of our hope kids have had great summers. We try to find a balance between giving them a break from us and making sure they are running. We require ten days over the summer for  everyone, but most come more and/or run on their own. Our top boys and girls get a pretty good base in during the summer and are ready to roll. 
 
AlabamaRunners:  How does the team look after summer running?
 
Coach Echols:  The boys team will be thin this year. We are strong up top, but not as deep as our usual teams, but we have several guys working hard trying to slide up and fill the gaps. Peyton Ballard, Davis Kelly and Nick Halbach have had a great summer and appear to be ready to push the pace and hopefully be two of top runners in the state. We have no additions aside from upcoming sophomores and freshman who at this point, I am not sure what to expect.
 
AlabamaRunners:  Any new additions or surprises?
 
Coach Echols:  The girls team should be strong. They should be deep and talented. Hopefully they will come together as a team and become something special. We have a nice mixture of seniors and younger girls, so hopefully they all blend and push each other to improve each week. Their goal is NTN.  We have one new face. Jessica Molloy, who moved in from Arizona will be in the mix with our front pack.  Ann Sisson, Emily Bedell and Mary Catherine Ellard all had great summers and plan to lead the way along with Jessica. We also have a lot of returning younger runners, so the team should be really deep.
 
AlabamaRunners:  What are your goals or key meets?
 
Coach Echols:  We don’t really have a plan set as far as meets we will focus on to run fast. We will see how first few weeks before I set training as far as peaking for a specific meet. We will go to Orlando in early October, so obviously we will try to be ready to represent Alabama well in that meet.

THE TOP 7 GIRLS

Mountain Brook HS  
  1) Mary Catherine Ellard   18:43.28  
  2) Emily Bedell   18:47.67  
  3) Ann Sisson   18:52.00  
  4) Jessica Molloy   19:03.08  
  5) Bailey Martin   19:07.27  
  Average Time: 18:54.66 -- Total Time: 1:34:33.30 -- 1-5 Split: 23.99
  6) Sanders Reed   19:30.38  
  7) Brantley Sanders   19:44.32  

THE TOP 7 BOYS

Mountain Brook HS  
  1) Payton Ballard   15:48.40  
  2) Nick Halbach   16:15.00  
  3) Davis Kelly   16:42.80  
  4) Reese Mccall   16:47.40  
  5) Ben Carter   17:29.58  
  Average Time: 16:36.64 -- Total Time: 1:23:03.18 -- 1-5 Split: 1:41.18
  6) Paul Styslinger   17:32.24  
  7) Stewart Hawk   17:35.23