Opelika AL boys, Starkville MS girls prevail

By Arthur L. Mack for DyeStat

MOBILE, Alabama—By all accounts, it was a tough battle among teams on a deceptively tough course in early morning heat during the Mobile Challenge of Champions Cross Country meet at Mobile's Langan Park on Saturday morning.

 
But it turned out to be a great day for several local runners and out of state teams alike.

 
Mobile's UMS-Wright's Robert Hope broke away from Opelika (Alabama) star Ben Bryant to win the Invitational Boys race in 16:21.68. Bryant ran 16:35.24, while Parkway, Louisiana's Hayden Kingfisher was third in 16:50.93. Rounding out the top five were Fairhope AL's Caleb Casolaro (16:52.93) and Opelika's Kane Barrett (17:03.14).

It was Opelika, though, which won the Invitational boys title with 51 points, almost doubling second-place finisher Baker (101) on a grassy course that had several gradual hills at the beginning and end of the race. St. Paul's was third (117).

Starkville, Mississippi's Kate Mattox made it two individual titles in a row in the Invitational girls Division, winning in 19:29.80 and surging away from a pair of southwest Alabama runners—Daphne Bayside Academy's Abigail Warner (19:51.88) and Mobile Baker's Carsandra Pickens (19:52.41), who were second and third respectively.

Loyola College Prep's Kaitlin Tanner was fourth in 20:09.70, while Warner's teammate, Mary Catherine Branyon, was fifth in 20:17.85.

Starkville won the Invitational girls team title with 37 points, ahead of another Mississippi power, Ocean Springs, which had 73. Bayside Academy rounded out the top three teams with 105 points.
Opelika's win in the Invitational boys division was all the more remarkable considering it had never competed in the meet before.

"We came down here, and a lot of teams opened up last weekend," head coach Tony Benitez said. "We used that weekend to try and get some more training in, and use this as our opener. We knew there were some good teams here, and we're happy with our performance. I told our kids to control the first mile and control your race from there."

In the boys race, Hope and Bryant took advantage of a slow early pace and picked things up a notch in the final mile. Bryant briefly had the lead, but in the final stretch of the race — which had as a landmark a vintage steam locomotive — Hope made his move.

A three-meter lead suddenly became 80 meters as Hope picked up his pace as he went past the locomotive, and won by a comfortable margin. Hope also won the title in 2012.

"Ben Bryant is a great competitor, and he's beaten me more times than I've beaten him," Hope said. "We took the first mile of the race out really conservatively, because I think everybody in this race was smart enough to realize with that pretty substantial hill at the beginning you don't want to take it out to liberally.

"He (Bryant) and I took it out after the first mile, and we just battled back and forth. Going up the last hill, I thought he had it, but the opportunity presented itself and I just went for it on the straightaway."

As for Mattox, she bided her time to make the right move in the girls race. She was in a pack of five which included Tanner, Parkway's Sara Funderburk, Pickens, Warner, and Branyon, but pulled away from the field after a mile and a half.

Mattox was glad to get a second straight individual win despite not running as fast as she would have liked.

"I feel honored (to win twice in a row)," she said. "I have great coaches and teammates pushing me, and God strengthening me. I just love coming out here and competing. I was hoping to go 18:30, but I'm just going to try and stick with it, work hard and use that as motivation."

"Kate not only had back to back titles, but she's a team player," Starkville head coach Caroline Woomer said. "She's about the whole team, not just herself. This team is very close, they ran together all summer long, and it's not just the seven I brought today — the whole team is very close. We like the trip to Mobile. Iit's exciting and it's nice to get out of state. Honestly, we were just coming here to enjoy the meet and have another great race."

While James Clemens, from Madison, AL swept the Open Boys and Girls team titles, it was local runners won individual titles. Mobile Cottage Hill Christian's Caroline Cumbest fought off a determined Isabel Valenzuela of Mobile's St. Paul's Episcopal to win in 20:17.13; while Fairhope sophomore Jordan Frank won the Open Boys' race in 18:16.88.

"It was a lot of competition, and there were some teams that I didn't know, but I hung in there," Cumbest said. "Most of the race, Isabel had the lead, and I was able to get around her. My coach just told me to go out there and try to win it."

Frank got his victory in a very unusual way—the front runners, led by Daphne Bayside's Ash Midyett — took a wrong turn on the course just after two miles. Race volunteers tried to get their attention, but they headed in the opposite direction of the course.

That opened things up for Frank, who had to fight off Korey Shively and Yasanka Chalsani, both of James Clemens, for the win.

"It was not how I expected it," Frank said. "A couple of my teammates went the wrong way, and then I went from (number) 10 to five and I was in second place. So I kicked it in and beat them to the finish. I was very surprised, because I wasn't coming out here to win the race — I was hoping to win it as a team. I had no idea I was going to pull off the win, because there were so many teams (in the race)."