Young and getting it done

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: November 8, 2014

Nunnelly finishes second, Hearn fifth in respective girls state championship races

Alexandria’s Abby Nunnelly (27) watches the finish of the Class 5A girls race unfold with her mother Amy. On the cover, Nunnelly gets support from a race aide after finishing second.

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

MOULTON — No one wanted to say it out loud for fear of jinxing it, but everyone in Abby Nunnelly’s closest running circles anticipated the Alexandria eighth-grader doing well in the state cross country championship Saturday.

Most of the unspoken expectation was of a state championship or runner-up finish; certainly no worse than a third. The thing about expectations, though, is it’s one thing to say it, another to do it.

Nunnelly delivered on what everyone was thinking — in a big way — finishing a solid second in the girls Class 5A championship race in 19:26.16, blowing away her previous best time by some 20 seconds.

“I am so happy, so excited,” she said surrounded by equally excited family, teammates and well-wishers. “It’s mind-blowing.”

Nunnelly wasn’t the only Calhoun County runner with a high individual finish on the Oakville Indian Mounds Park course. Teammate Chloe Brown finished ninth and Jacksonville’s Rebecca Hearn was fifth in the girls 4A race with a personal-best 19:27.47.

Among the teams, Alexandria’s girls were fourth in 5A with the two runners in the top 10; Pleasant Valley’s girls were fifth in 3A with four counters setting personal bests; Jacksonville’s girls were sixth in 4A; Pleasant Valley’s and Ohatchee’s boys were eighth and ninth, respectively, in 3A; Faith Christian’s boys were 11th in 1A-2A and Oxford’s boys were 15th in 6A.

Nunnelly fell behind a pack of five runners at the beginning of the race, but she didn’t get discouraged because she felt the leaders went out a little too quickly and they’d eventually come back to her.

She moved into third midway through the race, then shortly pulled into second and maintained a comfortable hold on it coming home. She was nearly 40 seconds ahead of her closest challenger at the line.

Hearn, meanwhile, used a strong sprint over the final 150 yards to push past West Limestone’s Cassidy Winter at the wire for her Top 5 finish. Amaris Tyynismaa of Catholic-Montgomery won the race in a blistering 17:03.04, some 80 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.

“The whole time (Winter) was in front of me,” Hearn said. “I kept trying to make moves on her the entire race and she would kind of duck her head and do a burst of speed and stay ahead. She kind of started breaking away, but I knew I had to stay right there with her. It was back and forth the entire time.

“Right before we made the last turn she started sprinting. The whole time I knew she had been doing those bursts of speed. I didn’t think she could keep it up so I ducked my head and kept going. We’ve been working on the sprints a lot because I’ve been beaten on the last 100 before and it really helped today.”

Actually, Hearn had some “good incentive” to push hard for the Top 5.

“My brother told me before today that if I didn’t get Top 5 he’d never talk to me again,” she said, “so I knew I had to do it and I’m really happy that I did.”

Braden Hearn, a senior on the Golden Eagles’ boys team, said he had no intention of following through if his sister missed the mark. But he was confident he wouldn’t have to test it.

“I think she was slightly worried,” he said. “I knew she could do it and I really wanted her to.”

Jacksonville’s Rebecca Hearn (825) beats West Limestone’s Cassidy Winter to the line for fifth place in the Class 4A girls race. Then (below) she gives big brother Braden a big hug for winning his dare.