Strong Fields Ready To Go At Mobile Challenge of Champions

By Arthur L. Mack for DyeStat

Expect a strong and talented field in the invitational division of the Mobile Challenge of Champions Cross Country Meet, scheduled for Saturday at Mobile’s Langan Park in Alabama.

The girls race features Olivia Andrews of Faith Academy, last year's Alabama Class 5A champon; Isabel Valenzuela of St. Paul’s Episcopal, last year’s Class 5A runner-up; Alabama Class 3A champion Olivia Blackmon of T.R. Miller; and Louisiana Class C champion Svenya Stoyanoff of Christ Episcopal LA. 

Several local teams — Baker High, Faith Academy and McGill-Toolen — will be teams to watch. Three teams from Alabama’s Eastern Shore — Fairhope, Daphne (with all-state performer Nicole Luther) and Spanish Fort — will be in the mix.

Mississippi schools Pass Christian (third in last year’s Class 4A state meet) and Long Beach (led by 5A state champion Brooklyn Biancamano).

The invitational boys division should be as competitive as ever. Defending meet champion Brother Martin of New Orleans, led by defending individual champion Hunter Appleton, is back and expected to have a strong team.

Two other Louisiana schools — Christ Episcopal of Covington, led by Jake Tournillion, and Holy Cross of New Orleans — are also expected to have strong teams. Both schools were in the top five of their respective state meets in 2017. 

Mobile-area teams that will compete include Class 7A Baker, McGill-Toolen and Fairhope; Class 6A Spanish Fort and Daphne; and Class 5A Faith Academy, which finished sixth in last year’s state meet and is led by all-state performer Myles Stoots.

Other schools include Brewton’s T.R. Miller (fourth in last year’s Alabama Class 3A championship meet) and Long Beach MS, fourth in its Class 5A state meet. Individually, runners to watch include Caleb Smith of Mary G. Montgomery AL, Judson Hardin of Montgomery’s Alabama Christian Academy, and a pair of Mississippi runners — Clay Derrick of Hattiesburg and Cole Benoit of Pearl River Central.