DECATUR – Brewer’s Clay Oden took advantage of a flat course and mild temperatures Saturday to post his career best time in the Dew it on the Trails Invitational at Point Mallard Park.
Oden finished seventh overall in the boys’ large school race (5A-6A) with a time of 16:48.9. He cut nearly 22 seconds off his time in the race a year earlier.
Oden’s top 10 finish and solid runs by Sam Martin, Fernando Arellanes, Corey Phelps and Jordan Caudle helped the Patriots pick up an 11th place finish in the race.
Hartselle finished 14th overall as Johnathon Duncan and Cameron Cunningham both finished with personal best times in the 5K race.
In the girls’ race, Brewer finished 13th and Hartselle was 15th.
Falkville’s boys were 11th in the 1A-4A varsity race.
Martin ran his fastest race of the season and was 46th overall with a time of 18:06.4.
The Patriots’ Arellanes (18:27.0) and Phelps (18:27.8) finished 59th and 60th overall respectively, while Jordan Caudle (21:12.3) finished 215th.
Duncan ran a 17:37.7 for the Tigers and finished 21st overall, while Cunningham was 70th at 18:52.6.
Alex Wilt (104th, 20:20.8), Tristen Mitchell (110th, 20:28.8) and Chad Wallwork (135th, 23:00.5) also scored for the Tigers in the meet.
Scottsboro won the boys’ large school team title. Hewitt-Trussville was second.
Brewer’s girls placed three runners in the top 150 places – Lindsey Collier (105th, 22:57.6), Trina Badger (110th, 23:07.6) and Bree Watkins (147th, 24:25.2).
Elizabeth Ash was 158th overall with a time of 24:52.3, while Whitney West finished at 166th after running the course in 25:21.0. Yolanda Luna was 212th at 28:16.6.
Four of Hartselle’s top five runners set new personal records in the girls’ race.
Anna Craig led Hartselle with a time of 22:26.4 and finished 81st overall. Ivy Buchanan was 159th with a 24:54.3.
Haley Baker was 162nd at 25:06.5, followed by Cheyene Sanchez (164th, 25:16.1, Lindsey Elmore (165th, 25:18.), Joy Harris (179th, 25:53.2) and Erin Brown (204th, 27:49.7).
Falkville’s boys had four runners post sub-21:00 times. Cade Wilemon (51st, 20:10.1), Michael Hopper (54th, 20:16.1), Alex Tuttle (68th, 20:49.3) and Heath Blanchard (70th, 20:50.2) all finished within 40 seconds of each other.
Evan Cottingham completed the Blue Devils’ scoring with a 110th place finish after running a 22:45.4.
Austin Wilhite and Drake Hamilton finished 145th and 150th overall respectively, but did not count in Falkville’s team score.
Falkville had two girls run in the 1A-4A varsity race. Katrina Koerber was 48th overall at 24:42.1, while Sarah Ayre was 97th at 28:35.2.