MONTEVALLO – St. Bernard Prep School took its cross country teams to the University of Montevallo Early Bird Twilight Classic on Friday evening, and the Lady Saints and Saints returned home with plenty to smile about and championship trophies to add to their collection from recent years.
Led by junior Leahrose Mami, the Lady Saints had their first five runners finish in the Top 10 in the 1A-4A division and run away from the competition. St. Bernard compiled a score of 32 points to 73 for runner-up Bayside Academy, 95 for third-place American Christian Academy and 99 by fourth-place finisher Ohatchee.
St. Bernard got points on finishes for 2nd, 5th, 11th, 16th and 17th that sent the Saints to the winner's circle with 51 points while the Loveless Academic Magnet Program (LAMP) claimed second with 68 points.
Mami crossed the finish line with a time of 20:08.81, beating out Mary Catherine Brannon of Bayside, who finished at 20:26.52.
But what lifted William Calvert's Lady Saints was Ivy Edge in fourth at 20:34.68, followed by freshman Lizbeth Medina, sophomore Adrian Smith and senior Jaden Edge eighth, ninth and 10th. Medina's time in her first race of the season was 21:50.19, Smith 22:12.95 and Edge 22:20.19.
Freshman Claire Sanders showed strong with a respectable 15th place finish, but did not count in the team scoring. Sanders wound up with a time of 23:02.53.
Tanner King of Northside prevented a St. Bernard sweep in the varsity division. King got past the Saints' Casey Guthrie with a winning time of 16:17.81. Guthrie stayed right on him, getting the runner-up spot with a finish of 16:32.05.
Then the Saints went to work to claim the team title as Andrew Sweeney captured fifth place at 17:10.68, Marco Tona in 11th place at 18:02.73, Isaias Robles 16th at 18:25.51 and Caleb Guthery 17th with a time of 18:29.68.
Casey Guthery, Tona and Robles are seniors for the Saints with Sweeney a junior and Caleb Guthery a freshman. Senior Jalen Lee claimed 25th with a finishing time of 19:08.15. Lee's scoring was not in the team totals with plenty of points already accumulated by the Guthery boys, Tona, Robles and Sweeney.
Cullman was entered in the 5K Purple and made an impact with a runner-up finish to Hoover. Both teams scored 55 points, but the Bucs had their top five to finish 3rd, 10th, 12th, 14th and 16th in comparison to 2nd, 4th, 5th, 20th and 26th for the Bearcats.
Junior Eli Wilhite came in second in the run at 17:19.02, finishing behind Guntersville freshman Sam Moultrie who won it with a time of 16:48.19.
Joey Franklin worked his way to a fourth place for the 'Cats at 17:23.00, Jackson Tucker was fifth at 17:38.59, Dylan Warner 20th at 18:24.55 and Abraham Gonzalez 26th at 18:43.51.
Cullman's Lady Bearcats were fifth in the 5K Purple as Rachel Collins came in eighth at 22:12.02, Kendall Adkison 13th at 22:35.81, Della Kelly 16th at 22:51.16, Alexandria Holt 19th at 23:01.12 and Mattie Green 20th with a time of 23:20.20.
Cullman will host the varsity 2-mile next Saturday with the race to start on the east side of the campus and finish on the track at Oliver Woodard Stadium.
Fourteen teams are entered in the varsity and varsity girls’ divisions with the girls to start at 7:30 a.m., followed by the varsity at 7:50 a.m. then the junior high girls at 8:10 a.m. and the junior high boys at 8:50 a.m.
Fairview, Holly Pond and Vinemont will compete in this event as well.
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