Aggies win 2024 state XC meet

OAKVILLE INDIAN MOUNDS — The Hamilton Aggies’ Boys’ Cross Country Team won the 2024 AHSAA Cross Country 4A State Championship on Saturday, Nov. 9.
According to the AHSAA, Hamilton’s victory marks the first time a public school has won the 4A state meet since 2016.
Scoring in cross country is based on the top five runners on each team, and the points are based on the position they finish in. The lowest score wins. Each race takes place on a 5-kilometer (3.1 mile) course.
The Aggies won the boys’ 4A race with 58 points, ahead of White Plains with 74 points and Bayshore Christian School with 104 points.
Hamilton had three runners place in the top 15. Joshua Webb placed fifth overall with a time of 16:41.46. Anderson Streetman placed 11th with a time of 17:06.33. Kaden Whitaker placed 15th in 17:11.73.
Cole McCarty (21st place in 17:33) and Holten Ables (24th place in 17:41) rounded out the scoring finishers for the Aggies.
The Lady Aggies were down a runner for the state meet and were unable to run as a team, but did have several individual runners to compete.
Jane Wiginton placed 26th overall in 21:13.34. Makayla Peoples placed 97th in 24:42.53. Brooklyn Ellis placed 100th in 24:52.51. Ava Gallagher placed 123rd in 25:57.89.
Head coach Scotty Sanderson attributed the boys’ success to last year’s relative lack of success compared to past seasons.
“I think the success of this season was because of the, for lack of a better word, failure—we were still top four or five last year, but the year before they were second in the state,” Sanderson said. “The year before we were second in the state, and we didn’t really lose anybody, so I think it started last year because training didn’t go as planned.
“They didn’t train like they were supposed to last summer, and you could see in the state meet that we weren’t as good as we were the year before. But this summer, they trained. They trained hard.
“They met as a group. Cross country has a lot of self-motivation, because you’re running a lot of miles. It’s not like the coach is out there running six miles with them.
“So, during the summer, they’re running six or more each day, some days they’re running 12 miles. But they, as a group, ran all summer. They would meet up, and they would run. That’s where this championship was won.”
Sanderson said that the girls’ team could use some numbers added to their ranks for next year.
“Girls were a slim team this year,” he said. “Two years ago, they were one point out of third place. Last year we were top 10. This year I had five girls, and you have to have five to make a team. Two eighth graders, two ninth graders and one 11th grader.
“They finished second at sectionals. One of our top two runners woke up sick the morning of state with a high fever, so we couldn’t compete as a team.
“But for a very young team, we saw improvements from each of those girls every single week. We had three girls who could have run this year which would have really helped us, so I’m looking to add more girls for next year to have more depth, which we need.”
Sanderson said a number of runners should be returning next year, and the future looks bright.
“On the boys’ side, great depth,” he said. “Four of the top five from state are back next year. We had three seniors. Two seniors have been in our top five most of the year, and then one moved back a little bit, and a junior moved up.
“We’ve got an eighth grader moving up quick who’s had a great year, and a ninth grader running for the first time this year, and he got better every week. That’s good for the future next year, too.
“Looking to next year, all the girls are back if they choose to run, but we’re looking to add some depth there. The girls had won two sectionals in a row until this year when they finished second, so we’re looking to add a few there, winning at sectionals and competing at state. We’ve got a good group there; we just need some depth.
“I think the boys want another one next year. That’s their mentality. They know they have to work hard, or there are a lot of teams that will beat them.”
Marion County
The Marion County High School Lady Red Raiders and two individual runners ran in the 1A-2A state meet. The Winfield Pirates’ boys’ and girls’ teams both advanced to the 3A state meet.
The Lady Red Raiders placed 9th overall with 230 points, just ahead of University Charter School with 233 points and just behind Holy Spirit Catholic High School with 229 points.
Braelyn Snow was the girls’ top finisher, coming in 45th place with a time of 23:53.51.
Claire LeDuke was next with a time of 24:13.81 in 53rd place. Bailey Woods was next in 65th place in 24:40.62. Haley Johnigan placed 78th in 25:30.87. Ava Bellew was the fifth finisher in 84th place with a time of 25:45.87.
Carter Stephens and Reagan LeDuke were the two male individual runners for the Raiders.
Stephens finished in ninth place overall with a time of 17:26.64. LeDuke placed 60th in a time of 19:44.57.
Head coach Bobby Bellew said he was proud of his team and the hard work each runner put in to overcome the challenges the season threw their way.
“Both our boys and girls really had successful seasons,” Bellew said. “We lost two of our top girls who were seniors last year. They went on to run at Shelton State this year and did really well.
“But we also lost our top runner to a move out of state, so we had to replace those three, and I thought the girls did really well, coming second in their section behind Cold Springs, who was ultimately the state champion for girls in 1A-2A.
“We were just a few points away from sixth place, but we ended up in the top 10. That’s two years in a row, and we hadn’t had a qualifying girls’ team until three years ago, so I think we’re making tremendous progress.
“Our girls really work hard, because a lot of them are multiple-sport athletes. They play volleyball, they cheer and to be able to finish in the top 10 was really a spectacular feat given the amount of work they do during the fall. I’m really proud of those girls, and I’m happy with the way they finished.”
Bellew said the boys’ team was up against fierce competition this year.
“For our boys, this was probably the most committed team we’ve had about doing the work they need to do to compete this year,” he said. “We really had a good season. Our boys were in the toughest section in the state, and we ended up fifth in the section, missing team qualification by just 15 points.
“Looking at the other sections around the state, we would have finished first or second in those other three sections.
“It was just luck of the draw that we were in a really tough section. Three of the teams that qualified from our section ended up being in the top 10 in the state. Mars Hill won, Cold Springs was third, Covenant Christian was also top 10. Tharptown was the fourth team that qualified.
“I thought we performed really, really well. This is probably the best team we’ve had since I’ve been coaching over the last four seasons. All of our top seven guys are returning for next year, so we’re really excited for that.”
Bellew said he wanted to thank the community for their support of the Red Raiders’ Cross Country Team.
“I want to thank our community for their support. Being a non-revenue-producing sport, it’s important to have a community who’s willing to support us through fundraisers and donations, and we’ve got a lot of really great businesses and community members who have stepped up to support us. We are a self-sustaining athletic program, but it does take a lot of fundraising to make that happen. So, I really want to let the community know how much I appreciate their efforts,” he said.
Winfield
The Winfield Lady Pirates placed eighth as a team with 179 points, just behind Colbert Heights by one point and ahead of Collinsville High School with 239 points.
Audrey Patton was the top finisher for the Lady Pirates, finishing 16th with a time of 21:57.46. Audrey Spillers placed 39th in 23:24.38. Jolene Ballard finished in 46th place in 24:08.36.
Stella Walker was next in 65th place with a time of 25:12.97. Jala Kate Gibbs was the Lady Pirates’ fifth finisher in 85th place in 26:55.92.
Winfield’s Boys’ Cross Country Team placed 15th with 401 points, behind 14th place Saks with 334 points and 13th place Glencoe High School with 269 points.
Noah Patton was the boys’ top finisher in 73rd place, completing the race with a time of 19:54.70.
Jaxon Rhudy was next in 106th place with a time of 21:13.70. Kane Hendrix placed 120th in 21:56.44. Max Muck placed 138th in 24:08.97, and Draven Bowles placed 140th in 24:20.36.
Head coach Billy Stovall said he was extremely proud of such a young team for what they accomplished.
“We are so far ahead of schedule,” Stovall said. “We only had one junior on our girls’ team. Our top six runners are seventh, eighth and ninth graders. That just lets you know how young we are.
“On our guys’ team, we don’t have a junior or a senior. We’re all seventh-tenth graders.
“The guys weren’t even supposed to make state. Going into sectionals, the guys were ranked sixth, and it was not a close fifth. We made up 30 points during sectionals to grab that fourth-place spot. There were two teams that were competing for that spot at state who ended up sitting at home because our guys came out of nowhere and knocked them off, which was awesome. I’m very, very proud of those guys.
“Our girls, we were strong right out of the gate. For the first several weeks, we were ranked in the top three or four, and then the private schools started running their meets and started pushing us down. They finished eighth overall at state, so a top 10 finish this year.
“We’ve got the base to be really good for the next 3-4 years. I really expect us, guys and girls, to compete for that sectional championship next year. The girls actually picked up several spots.
“We got beat by six points out of the sectional championship this year, and the same team that beat us by six only beat us by one at the state meet. We were one point out of seventh behind Colbert Heights, so we made up some ground on them during the state meet.”
Stovall said he expects both the guys’ and girls’ teams will be competing for the state championship in the next 3-4 years.
“Right now, there’s a lot of excitement,” he said. “Just look right down the road at what Hamilton’s done. There’s no reason why we can’t do it. Look at the state championships that Coach Reaves has won at Winfield. Our kids can run. We’ve got the kids who can do it. We’ve just got to keep working at it and getting faster. In the next 3-4 years, I really do believe we’ll be competing for the state championship in men’s and women’s cross country.
“Coach Sanderson has done a great job at Hamilton, and Bobby Bellew does a great job at Marion County. We’re just trying to get ours rolling.
“People are starting to get excited about it. Cross country is not something that gets a lot of publicity, because it’s not a huge spectator sport. But these kids...they work so hard. They put in miles and miles and miles.”
Stovall said he wanted to thank Ken Barnette and Karla Stovall for all their help during the season.