Local athletes shine at state track meets

Todd ThompsonHartselle Enquirer
With 26 state qualifiers, Falkville came away with a fourth place finish for the girls and a 10th place for the boys at the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Class 1A-3A state meet last weekend at Birmingham-Southern College.Falkville’s girls had 10 individual top 10 finishes and the team added two more top tens in the relay events to come in 41 points behind American Christian. Mobile Christian was second, followed by Clements.Falkville’s boys finished 10th overall with 25 points, including 14 points coming in the pole vault event.The Lady Blue Devils were solid in the field events with five top 10 finishes, including Hillary Eason’s second place finish in the shot put.Eason’s best throw of 33 feet, 4.25 inches was just a half inch behind Clements’ Chelsea Haggermaker.Falkville’s girls also had three competitors finish in the top 10 in the pole vault at the state meet.Jaclyn Koerber finished fourth overall. Heather Smith was sixth, while Charly Holloway finished eighth overall.Angela Robbins finished sixth in the discus with a distance of 83 feet and six inches, while Myka McCarley was seventh in the triple jump at 30 feet, 5.75 inches.McCarley also finished well in two hurdle events. She was second in the 100 hurdles, just .25 of a second behind winner Haven Albright of Lexington and fifth in the 300 hurdles.Patricia Kilgore equalled the Lady Blue Devils’ best individual finish in the state meet when she took second in the 800-yard run with a time of 2:31.71.Kilgore added a third place finish in the 400-meter run.Falkville’s girls finished with two top fives in the relays. The Lady Blue Devils’ 4×400 relay team of Sarah Ayre, Clarissa Childers, Patricia Kilgore and Amber Riddle was third overall to pick up six points for the Lady Blue Devils.The Lady Blue Devils added a fourth place finish in the 4×800 with the foursome of Ayre, Childers, Kilgore and Riddle.Falkville’s 4×100 relay team of Clarissa Childers, Jaclyn Koerber, McCarley and Amber Riddle finished ninth in the preliminaries and did not qualify for the finals.Dylan Kyle won Falkville’s lone individual title when he claimed the pole vault title.Travis Sumeral was fifth in the pole vault.In the 300 hurdles, Tyler Anders finished eighth.The Blue Devils came away with a pair of fourth place finishes in the relay events. The 4×400 relay team of Heath Blanchard, Chris Holloway, Dyland Kyle and Travis Sumeral was fourth.Falkville’s boys were also fourth in the 4×800 with the group of Blanchard, Michael Hopper, Dylan Kyle and Alex Tuttle.Class 3ADanville’s boys finished fifth in the 4×100 and seventh in the 4×400 relays to finish 14th in the Class 3Astandings.Nathan Bridge, Jared Callahan, Jason Haynes and McKenzie Hicks teamed up to run a 3:43.72 in the 4×400.Clint McAbee was fourth in the 200 dash – the Hawks’ highest finish in the meet – with a time of 23.35.Levi George was sixth in the 400 after running a 52.24.The Hawks’ Darius Chapman completed Danville’s scoring with a seventh place finish in the high jump after he cleared five feet, eight inches.Ashley Nance scored all five points for the Lady Hawks after her best shot put distance of 34:06.25 put her at fourth overall.Class 5ABrewer’s girls finished sixth overall at the Class 4A-6A state meet in Gulf Shores with five top 10 individual finishes.Emily Trotter was third in both the 1600-meter run and the 3200-meter run for the Lady Patriots.The Lady Patriots’ Elizabeth Bromirski finished with a best of 33-01,25 in the triple jump to finish seventh.Jada Mooney gave Brewer another top 10 finish in the field events with a fifth place finish in the shot put. Her best throw measured 29 feet, 10.5 inches.Brewer’s 4×800 relay team of Katie Brakke, Lyndsey Collier, Trotter and Bree Watkins finished second.Hartselle was 13th overall in the team standings after Quanesha Burks finished fourth in the long jump (16-07.75) and eighth in the 200-meter dash (26.51).Katie Clark picked up a third place finish in the javelin after throwing a best of 106 feet, nine inches.