Mountain Brook Girls Capture 20th State Title
St. Paul's, UMS-Wright Continue Winning Ways At Indoor Championships
BIRMINGHAM - Mountain Brook won its 20th girls state championship, Saint Paul’s Episcopal its 18th and UMS-Wright 12th boys title as the 34th AHSAA State Indoor Track and Field Championships concluded at the CrossPlex Saturday.
However, it was the down-to-the-wire finish in the Class 6A boys 4x400-meter relay that grabbed the spotlight in the final event of the championships.
Hoover and Mountain Brook were separated by just one point when the race started, and junior Marlon Humphrey, who set three state indoor records Saturday, was facing a 25-meter deficit when he got the baton on the final leg. He clawed his way even in the third turn and won the final race at the buzzer to give Coach Devon Hinds’ Bucs their fifth Class 6A state title since 1998.
Hoover clocked the 4x400 relay in 3:23.41 and Mountain Brook’s time was 3:23.97. The Bucs finished with 96 points and Mountain Brook was runner-up with 93. Auburn finished third with 60.
Coach Greg Echols’ Lady Spartans out-pointed runner-up Hoover 113.50 to 82.50 to improve its state championship record to 20. McGill-Toolen was third with 70 points.
Coach Jim Tate’s Lady Bulldogs totaled 137 points to beat runner-up Homewood, which had 86, to win the 5A girls state title. Scottsboro was third with 64 points.
UMS-Wright, coached by Pat Galle, won the 1A-4A boys crown with 128 points, 86 better than runner-up Westminster of Oak Mountain. The UMS girls also won the 1A-4A title with 108 points. Bayside Academy was second with 72 and Beauregard third with 67.
Homewood won the Class 5A boys championship, its second state crown. The Patriots totaled 100 points with Central-Tuscaloosa second with 83.
A total of 14 records fell Saturday and a total of 32 for the two-day meet. The highlight was Humphrey’s three records in the 400 and 60-meter dashes and the 60-meter hurdles. The final two records were set in a 15-minute span.
A complete list of Saturday’s records:
GIRLS
Class 6A
1,600-Meter Run: Carmen Carlos of McGill-Toolen Catholic closed her indoor career by capturing her third state record with a winning time of 4:49.17 in the Class 6A finals Saturday. She set the 3,200 record last year and the 800-meter record on Friday – now owning the fastest times in all three events in AHSAA indoor track championship history. Her winning time clipped the previous record held by Mountain Brook’s Catherine Diethelm since last year.
60-Meter Dash: Pelham junior Caitland Smith clocked 7.57 in the finals to surpass the record of Hoover’s Joy Maneice-Marbury (7.65) set last year. Smith clocked 7.55 in the prelims, however, to set the new standard.
60-Meter Hurdles: Freshman Brittley Humphrey of Hoover broke the previous record set by Hewitt-Trussville’s Jihone Tron in 1999 with a blazing time of 8.75 seconds. Tron’s mark of 8.93 had stood for 13 years. Humphrey ran 8.97 in the prelims Friday.
Class 5A
60-Meter Dash: Quanesha Burks of Hartselle beat her own record prelim time of 7.75 with a new 5A record 7.73 in the finals.
Triple Jump: Quanesha Burks of Hartselle leaped 38-06.5 to set a new 1A-4A record eclipsing the previous record of 36-05.50 set by St. Paul’s Lacey Dent last year.
Class 1A-4A
60-Meter Dash: Katie Brooks Bone clocked 7.75 in the finals – a notch better than her record-setting 7.76 in the prelims – to set yet another state record. Her time of 7.81 last year was the record coming into this year’s meet.
400-Meter Dash: Katie Brooks Boone of Westminster-Oak Mountain broke her own record set last year with a winning time of 58.36 seconds Saturday. She won in 2012 and set the record at 59.16.
1,600-Meter Dash: Kathryn Lazarchick set her third 1A-4A record of the state meet with a winning 5:07.36 time, besting the 5:10.79 mark Altamont’s Elisabeth Molen set in 2006.
4x800-Meter Relay: UMS-Wright clocked 10:07.26 to claim the 1A-4A state indoor record. Altamont owned the mark entering the meet with a time of 10:11.30 ran in 2006. The UMS relay team consisted of Claire Kennedy, Caitlin Huetteman, Kathryn Lazarchick and Mary Allen Mullins.
BOYS
Class 6A
60-Meter Hurdles: Marlon Humphrey’s set the state indoor meet record Friday in the prelims (7.95), then shattered it with a 7.80 time in the finals Saturday. Former Hoover runner Chris Butler ‘s record of 8.06 had stood since 1998.
60-Meter Dash: With less than 15 minutes rest between races, Humphrey won the 60-meter dash with an meet record time of 6.89 seconds to beat the mark set last year by Tracy McKinney of Smith Station (6.92).
400-Meter Dash: Coming into the event with no qualifying time this season, junior Marlon Humphrey of Hoover set his second state record of the 2013 meet with a winning time of 48.11 in the first heat of the 11-heat race. Points were determined on time with all heats considered final standings. The record (48.89) had been set previously by Smiths Station’s Chris Bilbrew in 2007.
Class 5A
60-Meter Hurdles: Lezyon Lagard of Central-Tuscaloosa ran 8.33 in the finals to surpass the record set by Barry Johnson of Wenonah last year of 8.36 seconds. However, Lagard ran 8.30 in the prelims to surpass both times.
Triple Jump: Lezyon Lagard of Central-Tuscaloosa broke his own record set in 2012 in the 5A triple jump Saturday. His 46-09.75 jump bettered last year’s record of 44-10.75.
Class 1A-4A
No records were set Saturday.