Patriots Win Boy's and Girl's
State Track
& Field Titles
It was the best day in program history for the Homewood Patriots' track and
field teams this Saturday at the AHSAA State Championships in Gulf Shores. Both
the boys and girls teams won their first outdoor track and field titles. The
boys previously won three indoor track and field titles, but this was the
first time to win outdoor.
Winning outdoor gave the boys team the rare Triple
Crown, which is when a team wins Cross Country, Indoor Track, and Outdoor Track in a
single school year. The girls ended the amazing run of eight straight by St.
Paul's and beat them by one point in thrilling fashion. The girls were two
points behind St. Paul's going into the final event, which was the 4x400m relay.
Relay team members Mary Margaret Jackson, Hunter Midgett, Joy Korley, and Alex
Studdard had the race of their lives and beat St. Paul's by two places in the
final event, giving Homewood the one point win and the first girls championship
in school history. Head Coach Tom Esslinger stated, "That race was the perfect
way to end this season and get us the championship, because it took everyone on
the relay team doing their very best. That is the way the whole team beat a
tremendous team like St. Paul's. It took everyone staying focused and doing
their jobs."
Kiara Williams was the top scorer for the girls and won both the
long jump and 100m hurdles. She also placed 2nd in both the triple jump and the
200m. Ann Mosely Whitsett also had a tremendous day by winning the 800 meter,
placing 2nd in the 400m, placing 3rd in the 300m hurdles, and placing 4th in the
1600m. Sarah Blake led the throwers by placing 2nd in both javelin and discus.
The girls 4x100m relay team (Maiyah Lee, Jasmine Griffin, Alex Studdard, and
Elysa Griffin) also earned All-State honors by placing 2nd. Coach Esslinger
said, "Words can't describe how happy we all are about winning, especially since
we have been second to St. Paul's a couple of times before."
The varsity boys
easily won the 5A boys competition. Andy Smith led the team by winning both the
1600m and 3200m. Smith also placed 4th in the 800 and anchored the 4x800m relay
team that won. Other members of that relay team are Logan Sadler, Tristan
Lindsey, and Hunter Poole. Logan Sadler also won an individual title in the
800m. Dominique Linson placed 2nd in the high jump, Tristan Lindsey placed 2nd
in the 800m, Mike Rohdy placed 3rd in the 1600m, and Alex Ngei placed 3rd in the
3200m. All of them earned All-State honors by placing in the top three.
Head
Coach Tom Esslinger said, "By finally winning the outdoor title in the boys, we
feel like we finally got that missing piece of the puzzle. The kids have worked
so hard for their success, and I would also like to thank our amazing coaching
staff at both the high school and middle school. None of this could be
accomplished without their hard work and knowledge." The high school coaches are
Tom Esslinger, Lars Porter, Josh Donaldson, Rebecca Phillips, Michael Niezgoda,
John Schultz, Brittany Hines Steele, and Kenneth Hollis.
