PREP CROSS COUNTRY: Cold Springs sweeps county titles once again; Hanceville’s Brown, Holly Pond’s Chambers win individual races
Published 6:10 pm Thursday, October 25, 2018
COLD SPRINGS — Cold Springs’ impressive streaks didn’t come to an end on Thursday.
Not that the Eagles expected that to happen.
The boys earned their 15th straight title, while the girls claimed their 13th consecutive crown following equally impressive performances at the Cullman County cross country meet in Cold Springs.
Trentan Williams, Cole Akridge and Jonathan Collett finished 2-3-4 to help the Eagles (19) ease past the field and add to their trophy case. Aaron Spurger (sixth) and Will Grimmett (ninth) also contributed.
Fairview (50), Holly Pond (73), Vinemont (108) and West Point (131) rounded out the competing programs.
“It’s just a huge relief to finish it off my senior year and continue the streak,” Williams said.
Hanceville’s Aaron Brown nabbed a first-place showing (17:13.19) to spearhead the All-County Team, which included Fairview’s Peyton Bailey (fifth) and Daniel Cook (eighth), Holly Pond’s Parker Sellers (seventh) and Cold Springs’ Seth Walker (10th).
Williams, Akridge, Collett, Spurger and Grimmett also landed spots on the honorary squad.
Vinemont’s Will Rhodes (15th), Good Hope’s Margarito Prado (21st) and West Point’s Nick Overton (23rd) claimed the speediest outings for their respective teams.
Brown, who placed second in last year’s race, was proud to come out on top this time around.
“I was excited about finishing first, but my goal was to break 17 (minutes),” he said. “I didn’t accomplish that, but there are better things in the future for sure. The fact I did get first in my county, which I’ve been trying to do for the past two years, is quite a relief.”
Good Hope’s Ethan Edgeworth (12:09:35) garnered the individual crown in the junior varsity race (2.1 miles) to propel the Raiders (24) to the team title.
West Point (51), Hanceville (83), Cold Springs (87) and Harmony (127) were next in line.
West Point’s Trynt Allen (second), Hayden Jones (seventh) and Kanaan Sutter (eighth), Good Hope’s Logan Self (third), Matt Self (fifth), Colton Lindsey (sixth), Austin Alexandar (ninth) and Carson Smith (10th), y and Cold Springs’ Jayden Allred (fourth) joined Edgeworth on the All-County Team.
The Lady Eagles notched stellar contributions from Ashleigh White (third), Ava Akridge (fifth), Reagan Parris (sixth), Emma Hancock (ninth) and Alyssa Jackson (10th) to finish with 26 total points.
Holly Pond (41) and Fairview (64) were second and third, respectively.
“Oh my gosh, I’ve been doing this since the seventh grade, and this year has probably been the best year,” White said. “I’ve grown so close to my teammates, and I get to run with my little sister, who’s in the seventh grade. It’s hard work making sure you get all your miles in to earn this streak and make sure it keeps going.”
Holly Pond’s Camilla Chambers dusted the field with a time of 19:41.93 to win her first-ever county race.
The sophomore, who broke her foot during the 2016 meet and ran with bronchitis last year, was all smiles crossing the finish line on Thursday.
“I’ve been trying to break 20 (minutes) since the eighth grade,” she said. “I finally did this year, and I was so happy. We’ve really improved as a team as well.”
Chambers, White, Akridge, Parris, Hancock and Jackson were named to the All-County Team along with Good Hope’s Bijou Phillips (second), Holly Pond’s Breanna Tankersley (fourth) and Abigail Kusz (seventh), and Hanceville’s Malia Howell (eighth).
West Point’s Grace Lee won the junior varsity competition with a time of 13:53.80.
The Lady Warriors (18) finished well ahead of Good Hope (53) and Hanceville (53) for the No. 1 spot.
Kali Marsh (third), Hannah Shedd (fourth), Ella Minck (fifth) and Bethany Minck (11th) also aided West Point.
Lee, Marsh, Shedd and Ella Minck joined Vinemont’s Kendall Harbison (second) and Brittany Parker (sixth), Hanceville’s Kerry Silvers (seventh), Good Hope’s Addie Stripling (eighth) and Mackensie Patterson (10th), and Harmony’s Lillie Martin (ninth) on the All-County Team.