Image: Coach Stephen Calvert, Casey Guthery, Coach William Calvert and Leah Rose Mami
ATHENS – The rain had no effect on the performance of the St. Bernard Prep School runners Thursday in the 40th Annual Athens Bible School Cross Country Invitational. Closing out the regular season, the Saints and Lady Saints ran their way to championship performances, readying themselves mentally and physically for the postseason. Both teams took first place in their division.
With Casey Guthery in his regular routine of leading the pack, the Saints blew past Hatton with 27 points, with four runners scoring in the Top 10. Hatton was a distant second in the 1A/3A division with 83, followed by Lauderdale County, Pisgah and Elkmont.
Four Lady Saints scored among the Top 12, as the girls turned back Hatton with a total of 33 points to 50 for the Lady Hornets.
Guthery crossed the finish line at Athens City Park with a time of 16:17, breaking the St. Bernard record held by Steven Mami. Not far behind was his running mate, Andrew Sweeney at 16:26. Marco Tona earned sixth place with a time of 17:13, Caleb Guthery ninth at 17:51 and Joey McCarthy in 13th place at 18:19.
The Saints showed how consistent they can be, with their five best coming in under 19 minutes in the 5K event that had 117 competing.
Leah Rose Mami was at her best with a winning performance of 19:05, finishing ahead of her running mate, Ivy Edge, who came in at 19:47, and breaking the St. Bernard record held by Logan Ayers.
Lizbeth Medina finished sixth at 21:31, Claire Sanders 12th at 22:12 and Katelyn Cowie 15th place at 22:42.
St. Bernard will compete in the 1A/2A Section 3 Meet at Good Hope on Nov. 3. The Lady Saints will run the 3.1-mile course at 10 a.m. while the Saints and their competition will be on the course at 11:30 a.m.
St. Bernard will be facing Addison, Berry, Cherokee, Covenant Christian, Falkville, Hatton, Marion County, Mars Hill, Meek, Shoals Christian and Vina in the sectionals.
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