PV laps field in Scottsboro
- Updated: September 20, 2015
Lady Raiders, ranked second in Class 3A, win their first race of the season, placing four runners among top 11 counters
The Pleasant Valley girls cross country team celebrates its victory in Scottsboro. (Photo courtesy of Brad Hood)
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
SCOTTSBORO — The Pleasant Valley girls cross country team continued a solid season Saturday when it won the Class 1A-4A race in the Scottsboro Invitational – and it’s not even close to its peak yet.
When the Lady Raiders get there, coach Brad Hood said, “it’s gonna be fun.”
PV placed four runners among the top 11 counters and scored 51 points, better than half that of runner-up Westminster Christian. The second-ranked Lady Raiders were well ahead of Montgomery Academy, the No. 1 Class 3A team in the state.
Emma Hood (21:44.82) and Trinity Roberts were PV’s top finishers on the John R. Esslinger Trail of Champions, placing eighth and ninth overall. Rachel Faucett and Juliana Ballew were 10th and 11th among the counters, respectively.
“We just didn’t win it, we had 51 points and second place was 103,” Hood said. “Every girl had a personal best time, almost every girl improved a minute or more over (their time in Oxford’s Waffle House Invitational) – and we’re not even in prime shape yet. It’s pretty cool watching them running in the first mile or two; there’s just a pack.”
Jacksonville’s Rebecca Hearn was the fastest Calhoun County runner in the race, finishing fifth overall (third among the team counters) in 21:17.96. Her team finished seventh. Ohatchee was eighth.
The PV boys finished fourth in their race; Ohatchee was sixth, Faith Christian 12th and Jacksonville 15th. The Raiders’ Daniel Gladden was ninth overall individually (18:07.42), eighth among the counters.
Oxford finished ninth in the boys’ 5A-7A race, while its girls finished 12th.
The Raiders are taking this weekend off from competition because it’s their homecoming, but they’ll be far from idle. To some degree these open weeks are even more demanding because of the training Hood requires of them.
Brown leads Lady Cubs to the line
ODENVILLE – Eighth-grader Chloe Brown outpaced freshman teammate Abby Nunnelly to the line and together they helped Alexandria to a third-place finish in the girls large school race at the St. Clair County Invitational.
Brown finished fifth overall (21:02.00) and Nunnelly was seventh (21:30.51).
“I was very proud of Chloe,” Valley Cubs coach Phillip Hartsfield said. “She has been working hard to get faster and better; I think if she stays healthy she is going to get even faster.
“This was the first time she had been our first finisher, so I was very proud of and for her.”
Cubs finished fourth in the boys large school race, with Lane Trapp getting in under 18 minutes, finishing seventh (17:54.59).
White Plains dominated the limited field small school boys race, with Will Lee winning in 19:18.93. The Panthers had 11 runners in the 19-runner field.
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