Jesse Owens Classic
Oct 4, 2003

Houston TN boys 53, Hoover jr Robert Bedsole 15:42, Vestavia Hills soph Laurel Pritchard 18:22, Scottsboro AL girls 92 (Tupelo MS 96).

For complete results go to cfpitiming.com.

the Tupelo report

by Lynn Holland

The Tupelo High School cross country teams put themselves to the test Saturday against some of the best from Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia in Oakville, Alabama at the Jesse Owens Classic. The girls came close to taking the big prize of the day finishing second by four points in the Gold Division race to Scottsboro, Alabama. Robert Scribner of Tupelo finished fourth individually in the boys Gold race. Drew Kellum also finished in the top ten in the boy’s junior varsity race in eighth place.

Over 2,000 runners were entered in the eight races. The Bronze Division was for small schools and the Silver Division included large schools. Any school could enter the Gold Division, the elite race, considered the “Best of the Best”.

In the gold races, there were five 2002 state champions or runners up in the girls’ race and six in the boys’ race.

Scottsboro, the 2002 4A-5A Alabama State Champions, had their five runners finish seven, twelve, 18, 27,and 31, while Tupelo’s five were six, eleven, 23, 24, and 35. Emily Crow led the team running a personal best of 19:10 for 5K finishing sixth overall. Casey Vinson also finished under the 20 minute mark at 19:34 to finish in the eleventh spot. Lydia Rice and Natalie Holland finished in the top 25 at 23rd and 24th, respectively. Laurel Pritchard of Vestavia Hills won in 18:22.

Scottsboro finished with 92 points while Tupelo scored 96 points. Tupelo actually had the best average time of the day across all the races at 20:03, but were edged in the scoring.

In the boys gold race, two Houston (TN) High runners blazed out to a lead running the first mile under 5 minutes. Robert Scribner was boxed in early but got into the open and chased down the Houston runners by the halfway point. Several others in the field closed down the gap as well and it came down to a war of attrition. Robert Bedsole of Hoover eventually went to the front winning in a time of 15:42. Scribner finished in 15:59.

Tupelo boys finished eighth in the team competition with 217 points. Houston High was first with 53 points.

In the junior varsity races, Tupelo boys finished fifth out of 32 teams. The girls were seventh out of 24 teams. Sarah Ballard led the girls finishing in 42nd place in 14:43 for 2.1 miles. Drew Kellum was the first Tupelo finisher in the boys’ junior varsity race in 11:50 also for 2.1 miles.

Complete Tupelo results are as follows:

Varsity Girls 5 kilometers (3.1 Miles) 146 finishers

Team Scores: Scottsboro 92, Tupelo 96, St. Paul’s 134, Brentwood 138, Houston 139, Vestavia Hills 180, Hewitt Trussville 229, Lassiter GA 257, Hoover 266, McGill-Toolin 274, Fort Payne 278, Bob Jones 282, Altamont 283, Spain Park 298, Cordova 328, Decatur 352

Name Grade Overall Place Time

Emily Crow 9 6 19:10
Casey Vinson 12 11 19:34
Lydia Rice 10 23 20:24
Natalie Holland 9 24 20:25
Hunter Boerner 11 35 20:43
Mary Page Billingsley 8 40 20:51
Caitlin Marlin 8 49 21:05
Claire Finn 12 101 23:10
Liza Llewellyn 11 103 23:11
Kathryn Begnaud 11 122 24:23

Varsity Boys 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) 154 finishers

Team Scores: Houston 53, Scottsboro 62, Hoover 108, Lassiter GA 140, McGill-Toolin 141, Cullman 159, Mt. Brook 189, Tupelo 217, St. Paul’s 243, Bob Jones 254, Opelika 273, Cordova 318, Hewitt Trussville 324, Fort Payne 349, Franklin 421

Name Grade Overall Place Time

Robert Scribner 12 4 15:59
Mike Weeks 11 40 17:17
Jack Boettcher 12 44 17:21
Will Stewart 10 65 17:53
Andrew Rulewicz 12 78 18:19
Alex Brown 10 100 18:48
Mitch Lambreth 11 122 19:39
Lloyd Gray 10 125 19:45
Joey Beachum 12 139 21:16

Junior Varsity Girls 2.1 miles 316 finishers

Team Scores: Mt. Brook 20, Hoover 97, Fort Payne 104, Decatur 126, Simmons Middle 172, Briarwood Christian 238, Tupelo 240, Pizitz 268, Walker 308, Fairview 330, Austin 351, Albertville 370, Haleyville 383, Oak Mountain 399, Hewitt Trussville 404, Oxford 429, Saltillo 450, Tuscaloosa 451, Cullman 474, Lassiter GA 487, Douglas 561, Pelham 589, Lawrence County 599, St. James 622

Name Grade Overall Place Time

Sarah Ballard 7 42 14:43
Jordyn Riggs 8 50 14:58
Maria Holland 7 58 15:13
Sloan Dulaney 7 61 15:14
Lisa Lambreth 8 71 15:22
Anna Lunceford 8 101 15:49
Rachel Peters 7 126 16:16
Lynna Paradiso 7 131 16:27
Morgan Hall 8 145 16:40
Lacy Gray Stone 8 224 18:00
Jordan Anderson 7 310 21:48

Junior Varsity boys 2.1 miles 343 finishers

Team scores: Mt. Brook 60, Scottsboro 83, Cullman 84, Smith Station 90, Tupelo 102, Hewitt-Trussville 153, Hoover 162, Oak Mountain 348, Vestavia Hills 352, Pizitz 353, Saltillo 359, Austin 380, Muscle Shoals 436, Decatur 447, Tuscaloosa 451, Pelham 477, Lawrence County 483, Briarwood Christian 521, Brooks 522, Simmons 544, Haleyville 601, Central Florence 628, Hatton 643, Athens Bible 644, Weeden 676, Albertville 703, Decatur Heritage 704, Shades Mountain 727, Randolph 753, Arab 754, Dar 813, Douglas 918

Name Grade Overall Place Time

Drew Kellum 9 8 11:50
Jeremy Morris 9 17 12:02
Ethan Schultz 8 22 12:09
Rob Ellis 8 23 12:09
Chase Elliott 9 32 12:16
Jonathon Vinson 9 48 12:34
Austin Baker 9 51 12:36
Chandler Lucius 8 64 12:47
Jody Vinson 9 76 13:00
Jason Vinson 9 78 13:02
Trey Ware 8 124 13:37
Heath Lindley 8 165 14:11

Tupelo gets a preview of the State Meet course next week at the Mississippi College Invitational in Clinton.

DyeStat Alabama

DyeStat
is published by
John Dye
Baltimore MD

�1998-2004