Best of the spring

By Staff
Soccer and track athletes named to the 2005 Enquirer All-Area teams
Justin Schuver, Hartselle Enquirer
The votes have been counted and the results are in for the 2005 Hartselle Enquirer All-Area track and soccer teams.
Priceville nearly had a clean sweep of this year's top athletes. The Bulldogs' Ryan Kirschbaum took Player of the Year for boys soccer and Rachel Reed was named Player of the Year for girls soccer. Priceville's Kristy Barker took home honors for Athlete of the Year for girls track, and Falkville's Cody Sewell was named the Athlete of the Year for boys track.
Kirschbaum scored 63 goals and added 12 assists to help Priceville to a 13-7-2 regular season. His Bulldogs advanced to the playoffs but lost in the first round to Jacksonville.
Reed led Priceville in 2004 with 11 goals, and scored nine this season as a senior. Her goals helped the Bulldogs advance to the Class 1A-4A playoffs, where Priceville suffered a close 2-1 loss to Jacksonville.
Barker helped Priceville's girls track team to a fourth-place finish at the Class 2A meet at Oak Mountain High School, taking home two gold medals. She finished first in the long jump with a mark of 16 feet, and also took home the state javelin throw title for the second year in a row.
The senior's mark of 119-4 1/4 broke her own previous state meet record of 113 feet and was almost 23 feet longer than the second-place finisher.
She also helped Priceville's 4 x 400-meter relay team to a fourth-place finish and had a sixth-place finish in the 200-meter dash.
Sewell also took home two gold medals from the Class 2A state meet, finishing first in the high jump and running one of the legs of Falkville's first-place 4 x 400 relay team.
Sewell's efforts helped Falkville to a second-place team finish behind champion Altamont.
Sewell's jump of 6 feet, 4 inches earned him the gold medal, and Falkville's 3 minute, 36.13 second finish in the 4 x 400 just squeaked past second-place Altamont's 3:36.91.
Sewell also placed fifth in the triple jump and 10th in the long jump at the state meet.
Congratulations to all this year's All-Area team members.