Priceville boys, Brewer girls both finish 10th in state meet

OAKVILLE – Brewer’s Clay Oden figured he had a shot for an all-state cross country award last year as a sophomore.
Oden had to wait another year before he earned the right to step to the podium for his medal at the 38th annual AHSAA State Cross Country Championships at the Jesse Owens Course at Oakville Indian Mounds and Museum State Park.
Oden ran a 17:28.82 to finish 13th overall in the Class 5A boys’ race. The top 15 finishers earned all-state medals.
“I had a real good start but people just started outracing me,” Oden said after the race. “I tried to stick with them through the race and I was happy to just be able to get into the top 15.
“I think a lot of people started off a little faster than they needed to, including probably me.”
Oden fought through an illness last year and still ran an 18:31.66 to finish 37th overall.
“I had a bad race last year and I was just glad to be able to have a fair race this year and get an all-state medal,” said Oden, who came into the state meet on the heels of two straight individual titles in the Northwest Alabama Championships and the Class 5A Sectional Meet in Florence.
Oden was near the front of the field at the beginning of the race before dropping back a few spots midway through the five kilometer course.
“I didn’t think there was many behind me that were going to pass me so I felt pretty good where I was,” Oden said.
Oden’s teamates – Sam Martin and Corey Phelps – finished 27th and 55th overall respectively.
Martin ran a 17:53.53 for the Patriots, 26 seconds faster than his state meet time from a year earlier. He closed out the season with two straight races with times in the 17:00s.
Phelps, who had sub-19:00 times in five of his nine races this season, ran an 18:38.31.
Hartselle’s Johnathan Duncan, one of just three eighth graders to finish in the top 50 Saturday, ran an 18:00.15 to finish 32nd.
Brewer’s girls were 10th overall with 280 points in the Class 5A race with five runners finishing in the top 90 spots.
Bree Watkins (22:51) and Trina Badger (22:56) finished 58th and 60th respectively for the Lady Patriots.
Katie Brakke was 62nd at 23:05.
Rounding out the scoring for Brewer’s girls were Lyndsey Collier (84th, 24:08) and Whitney Ash (89th, 24:22).
Also running for Brewer was Elizabeth Ash (94th, 24:50) and Yolanda Luna (146th, 31:44).
Hartselle’s Anna Craig, running as an individual, finished 52nd in the girls’ 5A race with a time of 22:34 in her final prep cross country race.
“I was proud of our kids,” said Brewer head coach Jeff Thompson. “They’ve done a good job all year long and they’ve worked real hard. I think that paid off for them today.”
Priceville’s boys were 10th in the Class 4A race after getting top 40 performances from Tim Rayman, T.J. Johnson and Jarad Gunn.
Priceville’s Caleb Ward was 104th with a time of 22:15.74, while Nathan George rounded out the scoring with a time of 22:24.74 at 106th place.
Also running for Priceville were Spencer Johnson (110th, 22:35.41), Thomas Johnson (116th, 23:15.70) and Jackson Morris (119th, 23:19.69).
In the 1A-2A boys’ race, Falkville had three runners finish in the top 90 spots.
Heath Blanchard, running in his final cross country championships, had his best time ever in the 1A-2A championships with a 19:41.78 to finish 55th overall.
Freshman Cade Wilemon, a freshman, was 78th overall with a 20:42.62 in his first state championship meet.
Michael Hopper, a junior, ran a 21:12.24 to finish 90th overall after qualifying for the meet for the first time.
Paige Terry and Alisha Burchell were the lone Priceville runners in the 4A girls’ race.
Terry ran a 25:14.11 to finish 58th. Burchell was 81st overall with a 27:26.46.