OAKVILLE, Ala. – Cold Springs seventh grader Gemma Swidecki won the Class 1A-2A girls cross-country championship Saturday, Nov. 7, and her older sister Reese, last year’s champion, finished second.
Their one-two finish at Oakville Indian Mounds Park helped the Eagles win their fourth consecutive state title.
Gemma covered the 5-kilometer course in a personal-best 18 minutes, 51.2 seconds.
Reese, a freshman, finished in 19 minutes, 27.4 seconds. Kynzlie Myrex gave Cold Springs a third runner in the top seven, and all five Eagles who counted toward the team score finished in the top 17.
Cold Springs won with 36 points to Sand Rock’s 55.
Sand Rock reversed the order in the boys race, winning with 80 points. Cold Springs took second with 88, six points ahead of Pleasant Valley.
Cullman’s boys placed fourth and its girls sixth in Class 5A.
Vinemont put a runner in the top 10 of each Class 3A race, and the Holly Pond girls finished 10th as a team.
In all, 56 runners from nine Cullman County schools recorded finishes.
Class 1A-2A
Myrex finished seventh in 21 minutes, 9.6 seconds. Claire Hancock took 11th in 21 minutes, 20.1 seconds and Allison Rice placed 17th in 21 minutes, 47 seconds to complete the scoring for the Cold Springs girls. Ally Mavers followed in 20th (21m 54.7s), Lila Cates in 47th (23m 15.5s), Leslie Jones in 51st (23m 24.1s) and Blair Belcher in 102nd (25m 45.6s).
Seniors Logan Perdue and Carson Rice both ran personal bests for the Cold Springs boys. Perdue placed eighth in 17 minutes, 18.4 seconds and Rice took 11th in 17 minutes, 25.6 seconds. Samuel Hunt was 21st (18m 02.5s), Caleb Dill 34th (18m 32.7s) and James Baggett 42nd (18m 43.9s).
Lucas Freeman finished 66th (19m 43.4s), Easton Freeman 83rd (20m 19.2s), Jacob Winfrey 136th (22m 25.2s), James Laurentius 154th (26m 02.5s) and Riley Adams 155th (26m 12.4s) for the Eagles.
Class 5A
Cullman seniors Henry Crocker and Avin Dempsey finished 2.5 seconds apart to lead the Bearcats. Crocker placed 10th in 15 minutes, 52.2 seconds and Dempsey took 13th in 15 minutes, 54.7 seconds. Cullman scored 129 points to finish fourth behind Mountain Brook (41), Homewood (48) and Florence (76).
Benjamin Stidham placed 29th (16m 26.2s), Mason Gobble 33rd (16m 36.1s) and Dawson Helton 58th (17m 24.5s) to round out Cullman’s scoring five. Ripkin Oliver finished 90th (17m 59.7s), Jacob Dunn 116th (18m 30.0s) and Lincoln Medina 190th (19m 44.9s). Officials disqualified Thatcher Lucas for interference.
Freshman Madeline Stidham led the Cullman girls with a 10th-place finish in a personal-best 19 minutes, 1.4 seconds. The Bearcats finished sixth with 203 points. Addison Vogelaar placed 41st (20m 34.0s), Tinley Alldredge 51st (20m 53.9s), Aubree Lawrence 66th (21m 22.7s) and Khloe Nalley 77th (21m 37.4s).
Mabry Free finished 92nd (22m 05.0s), Victoria Waldrop 95th (22m 11.9s), Sophie Robinson 98th (22m 24.2s), Katie Richter 115th (22m 41.6s) and Avery Laney 132nd (23m 17.8s) for Cullman.
Class 3A
Vinemont freshman Aurellia Powell broke 20 minutes to finish fifth in the girls race in 19 minutes, 56.2 seconds. Teammate Brooklyn Yarbrough finished 60th (23m 50.5s). In the boys race, Anakin Powell took seventh in a personal-best 17 minutes, 12.2 seconds and Abram Powell finished 83rd (20m 03.5s).
Kynleigh Wood and Bella Gambrill finished 2.6 seconds apart to lead the Holly Pond girls to 10th with 311 points. Wood placed 40th (22m 59.7s) and Bella Gambrill took 41st (23m 02.3s). Addison Gambrill was 50th (23m 29.4s), Kyleigh Floyd 124th (27m 00.4s) and Joplin Grimes 149th (30m 28.9s). Eli Morrow represented Holly Pond in the boys race, placing 56th in 19 minutes, 20 seconds.
Class 4A
Good Hope senior Drake Nichols finished 13th in the boys race in a personal-best 16 minutes, 29.2 seconds. West Point’s Lincoln Parker also ran a personal best, taking 57th in 18 minutes, 9.5 seconds.
Three-tenths of a second separated Good Hope’s Jada Alsup and Fairview’s Elliana Hunt in the girls race. Alsup placed 64th in 22 minutes, 34.6 seconds. Hunt was 65th in a personal-best 22 minutes, 34.9 seconds.
Private Single A
Cullman Christian seventh grader Meribelle Brock finished 92nd in a personal-best 24 minutes, 37 seconds. Senior teammate Elisabeth DeCicco crossed five seconds later in 93rd (24m 42.0s).
Calub Pruitt led the Cullman Christian boys in 79th with a personal-best 19 minutes, 36.7 seconds. Chasen Hampton placed 84th (19m 57.6s). St. Bernard’s Jesus Sanchez finished 89th in a personal-best 20 minutes, 4.2 seconds.
