Scottsboro’s Cross Country State Champs, Again
By Bonita Wilborn
The
Scottsboro Class 5A Wildcats are Cross
Country State Champions, again after their recent state competition. Anticipation and excitement was high as the
time drew near for the presenting of the trophies at the Indian Mound
Amphitheater on Saturday, November 16.
The varsity team for the Lady Wildcats received a trophy for their third
straight AHSAA Cross Country Championships state
title.
Following
that presentation, attention then turned to the varsity boys team that also
received a state championship trophy, but theirs was for a fourth straight
title. It is safe to say that Cross
Country certainly reigns in Scottsboro.
In
the words of Scottsboro’s Cross Country Head Coach, Luke Robinson, two state
trophies on the same day is as good as it gets.
It was no surprise to anyone involved in Cross Country that the
Class 5A boys’ race would be dominated by Scottsboro. Cooper Atkins, a junior at Scottsboro High
School, led a Scottsboro effort that ultimately gained him his first individual
state championship with a time of 15:50.16 by
edging Tallassee’s Woodrow Dean (15:51.85) for the gold medal.
The Wildcats from Scottsboro had the low score of 26 points
which had them in the lead as Randolph second place points earned were
102.
Over the years of Scottsboro’s Cross Country team history, they
have come home with 14 state championships.
That is a feat that is second only to Hoover High School that has 15
state titles, and is a tie with Mountain Brook, which also holds 14
titles.
Coach Robin was very proud of his teams as they ran a great race
with more than 50% of the team making the top ten list and the majority of the
team gained all-state honors.
Other top finishers were:
Hayden Judge finished fourth (16:18.50), Evan Hill was sixth (16:29.64),
Zach Avenel seventh (16:30.58), Benson Atkins eighth (16:32.39), Rex Green
ninth (16:32.71), Ben Gossett 13th (16:46.84), Brady Thomas 14th (16:47.57),
Noah Bonsall 18th (17:03.11) and Josue Vela Castillo 28th (17:31.91).
The Scottsboro girls had a low score of 52 points finishing 29
points better than runner-up Lawrence County.
The win brought the Lady Wildcats to a total of 23 state championships;
to also record a tie with Mountain Brook.
The Lady Wildcats stats were as follows: Eighth-grader, Ally Campbell, sixth-place
finish (19:45.90), Emma Bradford ninth (18:54.99), sophomore Maddie Gossett tenth
(20:00.09), eighth-grader Smith Bradford twelfth (20:19.86) seventh-grader
Mabry Bonsall 15th (20:34.17), seventh-grader Coley 16th place (20:39.50), Cambree
Bradford was 20th (20:48.33), Lauren Paradise 33rd (21:16.39), Makenna Howes
37th (21:22.56) and Anna Carlson 42nd (21:27.45).
