Photo by Erin Nelson. Starnes Media
Hewitt-Trussville’s Kelsey Martin competes in the girls Class 7A triple jump during the Hewitt-Trussville Sectionals at Hewitt-Trussville stadium in Trussville on Friday, April 23, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
The Hewitt-Trussville High School outdoor track and field team finished off a stellar spring season, with both the boys and the girls teams finishing as the Class 7A runner-up at the state meet in Gulf Shores on May 1.
Hewitt’s girls gave heavy favorite Hoover a scare, pushing the Buccaneers to the very end of the competition. The Hoover girls accumulated 107.5 points to win 7A, while the Lady Huskies scored 102 points. Hewitt was 40 points clear of third place Vestavia Hills.
The Huskies boys were hopeful to win the title, but a great meet from Vestavia Hills saw the Rebels take the top prize, with 104.5 points to Hewitt-Trussville’s 91. Auburn finished third with 74 points.
All in all, it capped off a remarkable 2020-21 school year for the Hewitt-Trussville cross-country and track and field program.
“It’s been a magical year,” first-year coach Tom Esslinger said. “It’s definitely the most successful in the program’s history, so you come away feeling really good about it.”
The boys and girls teams swept the indoor state championships in the winter, giving the Huskies four trophies to add to its collection in a three-month span. Both teams posted top five finishes in cross-country in the fall as well.
“The championships make it a special year all along, and the two outdoor trophies make it even better,” Esslinger said. “The thing that means the most is how our kids did it. They did it with class, and they never gave up.”
At the state outdoor meet, four Huskies won the top prize in their individual events. Julian Collins and Kelsey Martin led the way for the team once again, after dominating at the state indoor meet and putting together brilliant outdoor seasons.
Collins won the long jump with a leap of 24 feet, 6.75 inches, nearly a state record. Collins scored plenty of points in the other three events he participated in, finishing third in the 100-meter dash, third in the triple jump and fifth in the 200 meters.
Martin cleared 17-11.5 in the long jump to win on the girls side. She supplemented that result with a second in the triple jump, second in the 400 and third in the 200.
Maci Mills’ victory in the 800 was one of the standout performances of the meet for Hewitt-Trussville. She ran the best race she’s ever run, according to Esslinger. She also placed fifth in the 400 and 1,600 races.
Lea Townsend continued her dominance in the shot put event, with a throw of 39-11.25 to win the competition. She also finished third in the discus throw.
Esslinger also commended Nathan Knox, who set school records in the 1,600 and 3,200 runs. His finishes of sixth and fifth in those events were indicative of the loaded class of competitors in those events.
Further proving that sentiment is the fact that the boys 4x800-meter relay team ran a 7:52. That time would have been good enough to win the race by two seconds in 2019, but was the third fastest time this spring.
Tanveer Raza finished second in the shot put event on the boys side, nearly taking home the title. He also finished fifth in the discus throw.
Tori Mack was fourth in the 100-meter hurdles. Sydney White finished fourth in the 300 hurdles. The girls 4x100, 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams were fourth, fourth and fifth, respectively. Madisyn Hawkins was fifth in the discus throw, and Haleigh Chambers posted a third-place finish in javelin.
Bobby Stanbery came across fifth in the 300 hurdles, Daniel James was fifth in pole vault, Jacob Copham placed fourth in the discus throw and shot put, and Will Diggs was fourth in javelin.
Jailah Loving, Brianna Beckham, Libby Armstrong, Avery Cahoon, Sophia Knox, Amelia Brady, Jazmine Hawkins, Erika Myrick, James Hammonds, Omari Kelly, Aaron Himes, Jacob Jones, Mitchell Phillips, Ethan Womack, Tyrone Reese, Jaggerd Moore, Tremaine Hobbs, Andrew Colburn, Eli Williamson, Will Cochran, Julian Cox, Cade Carruth and DJ Carter also competed for the Huskies.
“It’s hard to be upset about not winning outdoor because of how our kids did things, and that’s what I came away the most excited about. We can build on that. You’re not going to win every year, but I hope we can carry that on,” Esslinger said.
During the outdoor season, Hewitt-Trussville failed to win just one event, the Mountain Brook Invitational. The Huskies even went over to Georgia in early April and won the Fleet Feet Friday Night Lights event against a bunch of Georgia schools. They also won the Class 7A, Section 3 meet the week before state.
Hewitt had 11 of its seniors sign to compete at the collegiate level as well, with Blake Bailey (Huntingdon), Brady (UAH), Diggs (Spring Hill), Jones (UAH), Martin (Samford), Stanbery (UAH), Townsend (Alabama), White (Lee), Collins (Alabama), Himes (Lee) and Nathan Knox (UAH) all continuing their careers next year.
