GOOD HOPE – From the team perspective, no one has been able to dethrone Cold Springs High School from being the best cross country program in Cullman County.
The tradition continued on Thursday when the Eagles and Lady Eagles captured the Cullman County Championship titles to continue their dominance of the past decade. The Eagles won their 13th straight county title and the Lady Eagles their 11th straight.
Cold Springs gained 24 points in the varsity competition, thanks to first-, second- and third-place finishes by Jared Stanley, C.J. Lang and Mason Harris. The veteran trio ran away from the rest of the field as Stanley composed a winning time of 17:58, Lang right behind at 18:19 and Harris with the third best time of 18:33.
Jacob Drane of Holly Pond took home fourth with of time of 18:45. Fairview, who was second to the Eagles with 45 points, put together a solid effort behind the fifth-place finish of Cody Fallin at 19:00 and Quinton Chambers sixth at 19:18.
The Eagles’ final two members scored points for the team with respectable finishes. Jonathan Collett earned a seventh-place finish at 19:18 and Aaron Spurger 12th with a time of 20:23.
Will Butler, Jacob Guthrie and Blake Hogan were 10th, 11th and 18th, concluding the Aggies’ team tally. Butler's time was 19:48, Guthrie 20:01 and Hogan 21:57.
Aaron Brown of Hanceville was able to work his way through a group of Eagles and Aggies to take the eighth position, coming in a 19:19. Zach Clayton of West Point was 11th, with the best time for the Warriors, crossing the line at 20:15.
Alex McDonald from Fairview was able to jump ahead of the Cold Springs Lady Eagles and earn the 2016 individual championship. McDonald's time of 22:14, beat out Brooke Crider of Cold Springs who had a 22:26.
But Cold Springs’ four top runners finished behind McDonald. Following Crider were Sadie Terry at 22:41, Alyssa Jackson 22:48 and Ava Akridge 23:26.
Fairview's Emma Gardner got sixth place at 24:22, getting past Taylor Willingham of West Point, who was seventh at 24:25. Willingham's teammate Leah Smith came in at 25:12. Tiffany Lodge from Fairview claimed ninth at 26:05 and Ashleigh White of Cold Springs squeezed out a Top 10 finish at 26:17.
The top five in the junior varsity division were:
- Will Rhodes of Vinemont 1st at 14:28
- Seth Walker of Springs 2nd at 14:51
- Cody Cox of Fairview 3rd at 15:14
- Peyton Bailey of Fairview 4th at 15:19
- Parker Sellers of Holly Pond 5th at 15:21
Fairview got 39 points to take the JV title with Good Hope second at 46, Holly Pond in third at 60 and West Point fourth at 89.
The top five girls in junior varsity competition were:
- Abigail Kusz of Holly Pond 1st at 18:44
- Madison Frnka of Holly Pond 2nd at 20:30
- Valerie Lee of West Point 3rd at 20:39
- Alexus Buckelew of Good Hope 4th at 20.53
- Leslie Boren of West Point 5th at 21:53
West Point was the winner with 15 points. The Lady Warriors were the lone squad to field a full team for the JV girls’ division.
Cold Springs and West Point will represent the county next Thursday in the annual Northwest Alabama Championships at Oakville Indian Mounds Park in Lawrence County. This is the site of the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) championships that will be in mid-November.
Cold Springs, Good Hope and Fairview will be hosting AHSAA sectionals on Nov. 3, looking to get their teams to the state meet the weekend after (Nov. 12).
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