Shelnutt leads Huskies at state meet
GULF SHORES — New year. Same result.
Homewood High School swept Class 6A for the second straight year at the state outdoor track and field meet, held Thursday to Saturday at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex.
The Homewood girls outscored runner-up Pelham 123-65.5 to win their sixth consecutive outdoor title, while the Homewood boys outscored runner-up Northridge 136-86 to win their second straight.
The Patriots also swept at this year’s state indoor meet.
“We never take it for granted because you never know what’s going to happen year after year,” head coach Tom Esslinger said.
While Homewood cruised to the top thanks to its all-around depth, the Hoover boys relied on their sprinters and jumpers to win their third 7A state outdoor title in as many years.
The Bucs totaled 105.5 points to runner-up Vestavia Hills’ 62.5. The Rebels edged Hewitt-Trussville by two points to snag second place.
“We were shooting for 100 points, and they got a little over that,” Hoover head coach Devon Hind said. “So we’re really happy with how they performed this weekend.”
The Hoover girls, meanwhile, saw their streak of seven straight state championships come to an end. They were far behind first-place James Clemens and took seventh. The Bucs emerged as the top 7A girls team from the Starnes Publishing coverage area.
Numerous individual performances keyed the success listed above and made for a memorable state meet. Below are a few of the highlights.
Stone goes out on top
Homewood senior Will Stone closed his high school career in style. He swept the 6A distance events for the second straight year, winning the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters while also anchoring the Patriots’ state champion 4x800-meter relay team.
Stone won the 1,600 on Thursday in a personal-best 4 minutes, 15.76 seconds; won the 3,200 on Friday in 9:21.68; and won the 800 on Saturday in 1:56.29.
He finished his Homewood career as a 14-time individual state champion in cross-country and track.
“I’m just really thankful for the four years I’ve had at Homewood High School,” he said, “just to succeed and run for such a great team.”
Unlike like last year, Stone enjoyed the company of a teammate at the front of his longer races. Patriots sophomore Crawford Hope finished second in both the 1,600 and 3,200. That result would have seemed inconceivable earlier this school year when he spent four months on crutches with a stress fracture in his hip.
The duo carried Homewood this weekend.
“He’s coming in clutch,” Stone said after their 3,200 sweep.
Payne leaves her mark
Nicole Payne came to the coast with lofty goals. The Oak Mountain senior didn’t just want to win her three individual events; she wanted to break the meet record in all of them.
Two out of three isn't too shabby.
Payne won the 7A girls 100, 200 and 400 meters, setting records in the latter two. She ran 23.74 in the 200 and 53.55 in the 400, an event in which she already held the fastest mark.
Her 400 time is currently No. 5 in the nation.
“There were some goals that I wanted to hit, but I mean, you can’t do it all the time,” Payne said. “I’m pretty happy with my performance.”
Payne only missed the 100 record by two one-hundredths of a second. She ran 11.75 in prelims and 11.82 in finals, which she won comfortably.
Payne capped her meet by contributing to the Eagles’ 4x400-meter relay that placed second. After the event concluded early Saturday afternoon, she accepted her medal and then left immediately. She needed to get back to Birmingham so she could play in Oak Mountain’s state quarterfinal soccer game against Vestavia Hills in the evening.
Payne will attend West Virginia University on a soccer scholarship next year and also will aim to run track. She leaves Oak Mountain as a 10-time individual state champion.
“She’s a once in a lifetime type athlete,” said her coach, Riley White.
Strand shows out
There are times when Ethan Strand gets to the final lap of a race and feels completely zapped of energy. The state meet was not one of those times.
Strand, a Vestavia Hills sophomore, showcased a matchless kick en route to sweeping the 7A distance races. He won the 1,600 in 4:18.63 on Thursday; won the 3,200 in 9:21.31 on Friday; and won the 800 in 1:54.52 on Saturday.
He outsprinted the competition down the homestretch to win each race.
“This weekend I really got to show everybody what I can do,” he said.
Although Strand posted personal bests in all three races, his performance in the 800 held a little extra gravity. Strand ran the event only a few times during the season and entered with minimal race experience to draw from.
It didn’t matter. He devised a plan that worked.
With his legs fatigued from his other events, he took the first lap easier than the front pack. Strand came through 400 meters well behind the leaders but worked his way up throughout the second lap.
He then made a mad dash toward the finish once he rounded the final curve. When he crossed the line, he smiled. Four seconds had fallen from his previous best.
How’d he pull it off?
“I have no idea,” he said afterward.
Stars power Patriots
Homewood senior Makiyah Sills dropped to the ground and rolled onto her back shortly after finishing the 6A girls 300-meter hurdles on Saturday morning. It was her third event in less than an hour.
“This last one wore me out,” she said a few minutes later.
But the reward justified the effort.
Sills collected three medals — two gold, one silver — for her sterling performances. She won the 6A girls 100-meter hurdles in 14.02 and the 300 hurdles in 45.08.
She also ran 12.03 to take second in the 100-meter dash.
“I still can’t believe that all of this is happening,” said Sills, a UAB signee. “It’s crazy.”
Homewood will be without its star sprinter next season, but it will return Lainey Phelps. The junior distance runner added to her collection of state championships, winning the 1,600 and 3,200.
She posted times of 5:02.94 and 11:00.96, respectively.
No sprinting down the Bucs
Jonathan Martin beat his right fist against his chest once he hopped on the podium Saturday afternoon. He was fired up.
The Hoover junior had just sealed the Bucs’ victory in the 7A boys 4x400-meter relay, the meet’s final event. He surged into first place in the closing meters of the race.
“To have people finish the way they did and finish the 4x4 like that and to come out on top the way we did it, it’s amazing,” Martin said. “It was a blessing.”
The 4x400 relay — consisting of Martin, John Watkins, Patrick Knight and Julian Fore — capped a productive meet for Hoover’s speedsters. Martin placed second in the 200 in 21.73, while Kennon Johnson took second in both the 100 and 300 hurdles.
Johnson missed part of the year with a balky hamstring. But he credited his coach, former Hoover star and current Baltimore Raven Marlon Humphrey, for helping guide him through it. Humphrey attended the state meet and shared in the postrace celebrations.
“It was just a minor setback for a major comeback like today,” Johnson said.
Johnson also ran a leg on Hoover’s winning 4x100-meter relay that included Martin, Dorian Austin and J’Marri McCall.
Shelnutt storms back
Hewitt-Trussville senior Stone Shelnutt contracted a stomach bug last week before the sectional meet. He lost 10 pounds in two days and did what he could to qualify for state.
Shelnutt felt much better at the beach. He won the 7A boys 400 meters in 48.26 and placed third in three other events: 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and long jump.
Shelnutt took first in the 400 even though he didn’t run in the fastest heat. His sectional mark wasn’t good enough to qualify for it, but that didn’t discourage him. He attacked the race as if he had nothing to lose and then watched the final heat with bated breath.
He raised his arms high in the air upon learning of his victory.
“I knew what I was capable of,” said Shelnutt, an Auburn signee. “I knew I could win.”
Other top performers
Jake Nunn, Briarwood: won the 5A boys 400 meters (49.0) and 800 meters (1:57.57)
Julian Collins, Hewitt-Trussville: won the 7A boys long jump (23-5) and took second in triple jump (47-7.75)
Aiya Finch, Homewood: won the 6A girls triple jump (39-9.25) and was second in long jump (18-4.75)
Josh Thomas, Homewood: won the 6A boys triple jump (47-0) and 110-meter hurdles (14.93)
Maggie White, Homewood: won the 6A girls discus (118-6)
John Watkins, Hoover: won the 7A boys triple jump (48-2)
Hunter Harwell, Mountain Brook: placed second in the 7A boys 3,200 (9:22.56) and third in the 1,600 (4:20.56)
Trey Allen, Oak Mountain: won the 7A boys high jump (6-8)
Harrison Dimick, Oak Mountain: set a state meet record to win the 7A boys discus (181-3) and placed second in shot put (55-5.5)
Matthew Gray, Spain Park: won the 7A boys shot put (58-8)
Starnes Publishing produces seven monthly publications (280 Living, Hoover Sun, Village Living, The Homewood Star, Vestavia Voice, Cahaba Sun, Iron City Ink) and its sports coverage consists primarily of high school athletics at Briarwood, Chelsea, Oak Mountain, Spain Park, Hoover, Vestavia Hills, Mountain Brook, Homewood, John Carroll, Hewitt-Trussville, Clay-Chalkville and Pinson Valley.