NSAF On-Site at AL State: Tolbert, Barlow lead Auburn boys in 7A

by Steve Underwood

The AHSAA Indoor State Championships was held for the 4th year at the Birmingham Crossplex, where the event resumed after a 3-year hiatus and moving from another facility.  NOTE: For the 1st time, competition took place in seven divisions (1A through 7A) compared to the previous six.  Last year, there were six boys and girls titles awarded in 1A-4A, 5A and 6A.  This year there were eight titles awarded in 1A-3A, 4A-5A 6A and 7A.

AHSAA Indoor Track Pages  | EVENT-BY-EVENT RESULTS | COMPLETE RESULTS (XPressTiming.com)
Tim Loreman's coverage at Alabama Runners (al.milesplit.com)

Girls' recap coming
 

Teams: Auburn unseats Hoover; Homewood and UMS-Wright keep rolling; Winfield City steps up

7A: Auburn 116, Hoover 85.5, Hewitt-Trussville 55

Junior Paul Barlow and soph Deante Tolbert were in on more than 50 of Auburn points as the Tigers claimed their first indoor title in 40 years.  Barlow’s 800- and 1,600-meter victories were actually part of 1-2 and 1-3 team finishes in the respective events, and he capped off the weekend by anchoring the winning 4x800.  Tolbert, coming in as US#2 in the 400, won that event, was 3rd in the 60, then anchored the triumphant 4x400.  Alex Evans added 16 more points on his 60H (2nd), LJ and TJ (both 5th) finishes.  Hoover -- which had claimed the past two 6A titles before 7A was instituted this year -- won two events and had many other 2nd’s and 3rd’s in achieving their runner-up finish.

6A: Homewood 114, Opelika 98, Paul W. Bryant 60.5

Led by Andy Smith, Homewood scored 55 points in the distances to fuel the school’s triumph -- which came after consecutive 5A wins in 2013 and '14.  Smith won the 800, was 2nd in the 1,600 and 3,200, and anchored the winning 4x800.  Alazae Hester-Taylor also played a huge role, with runner-up finishes in the 60H, HJ and TJ.  Opelika countered with a sweep of the 4x200 and 4x400, Nathaniel Huggins’ 400 win (and 60 runner-up finish), and Ben Bryant’s 1,600/3,200 double.

5A: UMS-Wright 88, Columbia 78, St. Paul’s Episcopal 56

Robert Hope and Javon McDowell paced the relatively close win for UMS-Wright, which had won three straight 1A-4A titles before the changes this year.  Hope won the 1,600 and 3,200, was 3rd in the 800 and anchored the 4x800 relay, while McDowell took the 400, and was 2nd in the 60 dash and LJ.  Columbia had four wins: Alize Ford in the 60, Terrance Humphrey in the LJ, JuVaughn Blake in the HJ and the 4x400 relay.

1A-3A: Winfield City 135, American Christian 81, Westminster 75

Soph Trey Cunningham had the top individual slate of the meet, sweeping the TJ, 60 dash, 60 hurdles and LJ, to ignite Winfield City’s huge victory -- succeeding UMS-Wright (now 4A-5A) in the state's smallest division.  Winfield also got wins from Garrett Clark (400) and Will Nicholson (SP) and showed its depth in almost every other event.  Led by Jesse Kelley and Noah Karr, American Christian swept the individual distances and 4x8 for its runner-up showing.


Top Performers: 400 stars shine; Collins, Cahoon set field records; super triples (and a quadruple)

  • 48.09 Class 7A 400m dash by Deante Tolbert (Auburn soph), just off his US#2/AL#1 48.02 PR (US#3 performance).  Tolbert was also 3rd in the 60m dash and anchored Auburn’s winning 4x400m relay.  Trevian Jenkins (Hewitt-Trussville) was 2nd at 49.96, nipping Joshua Hall of Hoover (50.01).
  • US#3/AL#2 48.18 Class 6A 400m dash by Nathaniel Huggins (Opelika junior), coming within .07 of Marlon Humphrey’s 6A state meet mark and winning by more than two seconds.  Huggins was also 2nd in the 60 (after a meet record AL#2 6.87 to lead prelims) and anchored the winning 4x400.
  • 16-4.75 overall state meet record Class 7A pole vault by Sean Collins (McGill-Toolen senior).  Collins, who came in with an Alabama all-time best of US#7 16-5.5, first broke the meet record at 16-0, then cleared the winning height on his 3rd attempt.  He then missed three times at 16-8.5.  Teammate Chris Taylor was 2nd at 14-6.
  • 1:29.41 4x200m, AL#3 3:25.73 4x400m 6A relay double by Opelika.  The 4x200 was just .03 off their state-leading and US#8 1:29.38.  They captured the 4x2 by more than two seconds over Pelham (1:31.67) and more than four over Homewood (3:30.22).
  • AL#5 6.91 Class 6A 60m dash by Ismail Saleem (Carver-Montgomery), upsetting the favorite Huggins (Opelika) at 6.93.
  • 6.93 Class 7A 60m dash by Joshua Burks (James Clemens), upsetting the US#6/AL#1 Tolbert.  Tolbert, who came in with a AL#1 6.85 best, was 3rd – also trailing Noah Igbinoghene (Hewitt-Trussville) as both were timed in 7.04 (7.034 to 7.037).  Burks entered with a US#10/AL#2 6.89 PR.
  • US#11/AL#1 8.02 Class 7A 60m hurdles by Emmanuel Tait (Thompson), taking a close battle with Alex Evans at US#15/AL#2 8.07.
  • US#13/AL#2 1:30.09 Class 7A 4x200m relay by Hoover, defeating Auburn and earlier section winner Central-Phenix City (both AL#3 1:30.59).
  • US#15/AL#1 23-1.5 boys’ 6A long jump by Eric Washington (Austin), overcoming 3 fouls to beat high jump winner Nigel Durant (Paul W. Bryant) at 22-5.
  • AL#1 8:07.28 4x800m, AL#1 3:22.05 4x400m 7A relay double by Auburn, finishing off their state title effort.  Smiths Station nipped Mountain Brook for 2nd in the 4x8, 8:11.03 to 8:11.04 (AL#2-3), while Hoover was 2nd in the 4x4 at AL#2 3:23.41.
  • AL#1 and 1A-3A state meet record 6-7 boys’ high jump by Matt Cahoon (Holly Pond soph), who broke the old mark three times before his winning height with previous 6-4.5, 6-5 and 6-6 clearances.
  • AL#1 1:57.93 800m run, 4:29.84 1,600m boys’ 7A distance double by Paul Barlow (Auburn), who also anchored the winning 4x800.  The 1,600 was a kicker’s race for Barlow, who already owned the AL#1 1,600 at 4:24.22.  He led a 1-2 finish for Auburn in the 800 as teammate Ben Rolader hit 1:58.73, just ahead of Daniel Nixon (Spain Park) at 1:58.76.  Drew Williams (Mountain Brook) was a close 2nd in the 1,600 at 4:30.11, with Barlow’s teammate Fernando Lincoln 3rd at 4:30.93.
  • AL#1 9:27.49 3,200m run, AL#2 4:25.00 1,600m Class 6A distance double by Ben Bryant (Opelika).  Bryant won the 3,200 by nearly 22 seconds and the 1,600 by five seconds, with Andy Smith (see below) the runner-up both times.
  • 1A-3A state meet record 8.22 60m hurdles (off his AL#3 8.10), 7.22 60m dash, 44-9 triple jump and 20-9.5 long jump boys’ quadruple by Trey Cunningham (Winfield City sophomore).  He won the hurdles and TJ by big margins of .82 seconds and nearly two feet, respectively, while LJ (three inches) and 60 dash (.18) margins were closer. 
  • AL#4 1:58.41 Class 6A 800m run by Andy Smith (Homewood), part of an effort that included 2nd in the 1,600 (4:31.05), 2nd in the 3,200 (9:49.35) and the anchor of the winning 4x800 (8:17.28).  Teammate Logan Sadler was 2nd in the 800 at 1:59.38.
  • 9:54.87 3,200m run, 4:32.55 1,600m boys’ 4A-5A distance double by Robert Hope (UMS-Wright).  He won the 3,200 by nearly 12 seconds and the 1,600 by 11 seconds.  He also ran on the winning 4x800 and was 3rd in the individual 800.
  • 10:06.01 3,200m run, 4:39.76 1,600m boys 1A-3A double by Jesse Kelley (American Christian), who also ran on the state record-setting 8:28.19 4x800m relay.  Winfield City (8:31.73) was also under the old mark.  Both of Kelley’s wins were close as Scott Landers (Westminster) and Nick Klein (Winfield City) trailed at 4:39.76 and 10:08.11, respectively.
More Champions

Class 7A

  • AL#2 9:41.04 3,200 by Cole Stidfole (Oak Mountain), taking it by more than 11 seconds.
  • 45-1.75 TJ by Miles Strickland (Bob Jones), edging Micah Bagley (Hoover) t 45-0.
  • 22-3.75 LJ by Noah Igbinoghene (Hewitt-Trussville) on his first jump, nipping Bradarick Shaw (Hoover) at 22-3.5 and holding off a tightly bunched field.  Igbinoghene was also 2nd in the 60.
  • AL#3 53-2 SP by Christian Bell (Hoover), winning by more than two feet.
  • 6-4 HJ by Sam Brown (Oak Mountain), the only one over that height.

Class 6A

  • AL#1 54-7.5 SP by Daniel Herrod (Northridge senior), adding a nearly a foot to his seed distance and beating Daron Payne (Shade Valley/JCIB senoir) at AL#2 53-3.75.  Johnny Washington made it a 1-3 finish for Northridge.
  • 45-5 TJ for AL#1 jumper Chris Thomas (Northridge), squeaking out the win over Alazae Hester-Taylor (45-4.5).
  • 8.52 60H by Tyler Owens (Paul W. Bryant), just .01 ahead of Hester-Taylor (Homewood).
  • 13-6 PV by Kyle Ray (Albertville), winning on misses over Garrison Hill (Cullman), also at 13-6.
  • 6-2 HJ from Nigel Durant (Paul W. Bryant), who was also 2nd in the LJ.

Class 4A-5A

  • 7.00 60 by Alize Ford (Columbia).
  • 51.39 400 by Jawon McDowell (UMS-Wright), who was also 2nd in the 60 and the LJ.
  • 2:03.12 800 by Logan Congo (DAR), edging Thomas Williams (G.W. Carver) at 2:03.29 and Robert Hope (UMS-Wright) at 2:03.65.
  • 8.81 60 hurdles by Zackery Carmichael (St. Paul’s), who was also 2nd in the TJ.
  • 1:33.98 4x200 by Ramsay, ahead of Dadeville and Columbia.
  • 3:37.32 4x400 for Columbia, reversing their 4x2 decision with Ramsay and Dadeville.
  • 8:34.75 4x800 by UMS-Wright, topping LAMP (Loveless) by less than a second.
  • 21-10 LJ by Terrance Humphrey (Columbia), defeating McDowell by five inches.
  • 41-8 TJ for Jacob Dean, just two inches up on Carmichael.
  • 6-0 HJ for JuVaughn Blake (Columbia), beating a trio that cleared 5-10.
  • 12-0 PV by Patrick Howze (UMS-Wright), winning by more than a foot.
  • 49-7 SP for Tristan Hawkins, dominating by more than five feet.

Class 1A-3A

  • 51.11 400 by Garrett Clark (Winfield City), ahead of Justin Henderson (Cottage Hill).
  • 2:01.11 800 for Noah Karr (American Christian), topping Westminster’s duo of Scott Landers and Jacob Carrell.
  • 1:37.67 4x200 for Cottage Hill Christian, winning by nearly two seconds.
  • 3:38.62 4x400 by Westminster School at Oak Mountain, rolling by more than three seconds.
  • 13-3.25 PV from Connor Allred (Cottage Hill), taking it by more than a foot.
  • 43-6 SP by Will Nicholson (Winfield City), prevailing by almost three feet.

Our Partners