Photo by Richard Force.
Hewitt-Trussville's Brianna Beckham and Hoover’s Gabrielle Washington cross the finish line in the girls 100-meter dash final during the AHSAA Class 7A Section 3 track and field sectionals at Hewitt-Trussville Stadium on Saturday, April 29, 2023.
The Hewitt-Trussville High School boys and girls outdoor track and field teams concluded their seasons at the Class 7A state meet, held May 4-6 in Gulf Shores.
Hoover dominated the meet and swept the boys and girls team titles. The Bucs scored 146.5 points in the boys competition. Vestavia Hills finished in a clear second, scoring 89.5 points. The Huskies tied for third with Huntsville, each team accruing 54 points. Auburn was fifth with 51 points.
Chelsea edged the Huskies for the runner-up spot in the girls competition. Hoover’s 125 points led the way, with Chelsea scoring 79 points and Hewitt racking up 71 points. Auburn was fourth with 69 points.
Three Hewitt competitors on the girls side locked up individual state championships. Tori Mack won the 100-meter hurdles, as the junior ran the race in 14.44 seconds. Brianna Beckham took the top prize in the 200-meter dash, with a time of 24.3 seconds. Madisyn Hawkins was the top discus thrower in 7A, with a throw of 128 feet.
Avery Cahoon also reached the podium by finishing third in the 800-meter run, as she posted a time of 2 minutes, 11 seconds. The girls performed well in the relays, too. The 4x400-meter relay team finished second overall, running it in 4:02. The 4x100 team finished third in 48.42 seconds.
Other notable performances included Beckham placing fourth in the 100. Haven White improved upon her time in the preliminaries to finish fifth in the 100 hurdles. Arianna Fisher was seventh in the 300 hurdles. Cahoon finished eighth in the 400 and ninth in the 1,600. Haleigh Chambers was sixth in the javelin throw, Hawkins was ninth in shot put and White finished 10th in pole vault. The 4x800 relay team also placed sixth.
On the boys side, Michael Igbinoghene placed second in the long jump, reaching 23 feet, 2 inches. Tyrone Reese captured a third-place finish in the 300 hurdles, running it in 39.42 seconds. The 4x100 relay team finished second, running the race in 42.4 seconds.
Nathan Thomas had a solid showing in the 100, finishing fifth. Reese finished eighth in the 110 hurdles and ninth in the 400. Colin Wadsworth was 10th in the 200. Manny Cazeau came across seventh in the 300 hurdles. Wes Ellison finished seventh in the 800 and Tristan Teer was eighth in the 3,200.
DJ Carter was fourth in the discus throw, reaching 150-3 in his best. Blake Barlow took sixth in the javelin throw, Daniel James secured sixth in the pole vault and Igbinoghene was seventh in triple jump. The 4x400 relay team was fourth and the 4x800 team was seventh.
Hailey Tolbert, Emmie Goodell, Kinley Harris, Jayda Hammonds, Sarah Johnson, Berkeley Hawkins, Audre Benson, Kennedy Gill, Jadon Loving, Dylan Cope, Malachi Johnson, Rush Lachina, Skyler Carrillo, Will Owens, Brent Russell, Aaron Tan, Shaw Helfrich, Alex Jones and Braxton Armstrong were among the other competitors for the Huskies.
