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11th Jesse Owens XC Invitational

Saturday, October 3, 2009 - Oakville Indian Mounds Park, Lawrence Co. AL

DyeStat on-site with Arthur Mack

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RESULTS
Boys - Girls



Holman and Carlos score impressive wins
Morristown-Hamblen West boys and Mountain Brook girls have impressive Gold team wins; Oakland and Tupelo win silver boys and girls titles, and Alabama schools take bronze titles


Highlights
  • SE#7 Morristown-Hamblen West TN scored a 19-point win with 90 points in the 27-team Boys Gold Elite division.  Unranked Mtn. Brook AL was 2nd with 109, followed by SE bubble team Hoover AL
  • Tupelo sr Max Holman continued his winning ways vs. runners from around the region, taking the Boys Elite Gold battle in 15:40.23, 4.53 seconds up on Morristown-Hamblen West's #1, Spencer Frantom (15:44.76)
  • Traditional Bama (and often national) power Mountain Brook AL showed its on its way back with an 80-point score in the 24-team Girls Gold Elite field.  Brentwood Acad. TN was 2nd with 160, just a point ahead of Auburn AL
  • The individual title in the Girls Gold Elite field went to fast-rising McGill-Toolen AL frosh Carmen Carlos, who won by 28 seconds in 18:04.27.  John Carroll soph Rachel Roberts was 2nd in 18:32.49, followed by Mtn. Brook #1 Marie Demedicis (18:50.30)

Story By Arthur L. Mack

OAKVILLE, Ala, Saturday, October 3—By all accounts, the 11th annual Jesse Owens Cross Country Invitational Meet was a smashing success.

More than 4,000 runners in six separate categories ran in the meet, which unlike last year didn’t have a dusty course. In fact, there was mud in some spots of the course.

Apparently, that didn’t matter to the competitors, who were more than happy not to deal with dust.

When it was all over, Tupelo (Miss.) senior Max Holman and Mobile’s McGill-Toolen Catholic’s Carmen Carlos, only a freshman, reigned supreme as the best of the best in the elite divisions, scoring impressive individual wins.

Carlos took the early lead in the girls’ Gold (Elite) race and never looked back, defeating John Carroll’s Rachel Roberts in a 5K personal best of 18:04.27.

Holman won the boys’ Gold Division race, coming from behind to beat Morristown-Hamblen West’s Spencer Frantom. Holman won in 15 minutes, 40.23 seconds, while Frantom ran 15:44.76. In all, 11 runners bettered 16.20.

But it was Morristown-Hamblen West, from Morristown, Tennessee, taking team honors in the boys’ Gold division, defeating Mountain Brook, 90-109, while another Alabama school, Hoover, was third with 114. Cordova, Tennessee and Spanish Fort, another Alabama school, rounded out the top five with 169 and 183 points respectively.

Morristown-Hamblen West took advantage of a strong performance from its fifth man, John Herold, who finished 36th overall in 17:07.11.

Mountain Brook, though, returned the favor in the girls’ Gold Division, routing Brentwood Academy, 80-160. Three other Alabama schools—Auburn, McGill-Toolen, and Bob Jones, rounded out the top five with 161, 205, and 205 points respectively.

The Lady Spartans got the win, thanks in part to a strong third-place finish from Marie Demedicis (18:50.30), and placing all five of their scorers in the top 30.

“This was the first time this year we ran as a team,” said Mountain Brook coach Greg Echols. “The times were fast on this course, and it was a team victory.”

In the elite boys’ race, Framtom was out front early, with Holman not far behind. Holman, though, bided his time, and made his move halfway in the race.

“I started picking it up at 1 ½ miles, just before we reached the hills,” said Holman. “At the two mile mark, I made a move for the front. I was hurting pretty bad though at 2 ½ miles, because the hills can take a lot out of you.”

Carlos, on the other hand got out in front and pretty much stayed there, even with Roberts breathing down her neck in the early going.

“This was a good course to run,” said Carlos. “I expected people to be around me, and I wasn’t sure if they were going to pick up the pace or slow it down. When we got to the hills, I was able to get further away from her (Roberts) and at the last hill, that’s when I think I was able to break away.”

Another Tennessee team, Oakland, defeated Lassiter (Georgia) 67-72 to win the boys’ Silver Division, while Auburn was third with 98 and defending champion Pearl (Miss.) was fourth with 107. Huntsville was fifth with 170 points.

Oakland got a big win from freshman Brock Baker (16:36.55) who held off Huntsville’s Tucker Oliver (16:46.73) and Pearl’s Andrew Harwell (16:49.57). Oakland also got a fourth from another freshman, Conner Thompson, to help secure the win.

Jacquelin Pitcock of Bradley Central defended her girls’ Silver Division individual title, easily defeating Tupelo’s Katherine Steinman, 19:18.11 to 19:40.92, but it was Tupelo getting the team win, defeating Pontotoc, 63-96. Pearl was third with 121 to complete a Mississippi sweep. Lassiter of Georgia was fourth (134) and Hume-Fogg of Tennessee was fifth (178).

Alabama schools ruled the Bronze (1A-4A) divisions. Randolph of Huntsville won the boys’ Bronze Division, defeating another Alabama school, Hatton, 56-99. Harding Academy (103), Corinth (106) and Trinity Christian (160) rounded out the top five.

Randolph got a solid 3-4 finish from Leland Collins (17:08.64) and Keith Buell (17:20.45), and 15th and 16th place finishes from Will Teachey (17:58.06) and Aaron Merijanian (18:03.83) all but iced the win.

The solid team effort more than offset the individual win by Bayside Academy’s Stewart Shoemaker, who broke away from Harding Academy’s Ben Ashley (16:51.14) to win in 16:44.01.

“I was happy to get a good time because this was my last Jesse Owens race,” said Shoemaker, a senior. “I went through the first mile in 5:01 and I felt great, but we slowed down the second mile, so I decided to pick up the pace. With 800 meters to go, I really started to push it.”
Rogers got a big win from sophomore Katie Stewart (19:38.58) and a solid sixth from fellow sophomore Alyssa Cabler (21:06.11) to defeat Trinity Christian of Tennessee, 65-102, for the girls’ Bronze Division title. Bayside Academy (125), Corinth, Miss. (126) and Randolph (129) rounded out the top five.

Mountain Brook swept both the boys and girls’ large junior high divisions. On the boys side, Mountain Brook defeated Oak Mountain 73-101, with Tupelo third (112). Quieton Mckinnish of Westview Middle School won the 2.1 mile race in 11:11.95. In the large junior high girls division, Mountain Brook defeated Tupelo 39-83, with Hewitt-Trussville third (143). Individually, Abigail Topham of Cordova won the 2.1 mile race in 12:07.47.

Liberty Park Middle School won the small Junior High boys division, edging Pizitz Middle School 31-35. Athens Bible was third with 77.  Liberty Park’s Josiah Tickell was the individual winner in 11:58.82. On the small Junior High girls’ side, Pontotoc defeated Montgomery Academy 34-46, with Cold Springs third with 83. Montgomery Academy’s Mazie Chambers was the individual winner in 13:48.31.  



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