Alex Wilt goes through a muddy stream during the Randolph Classic. | Courtesy of Brittany Brown: HHS Cross Country

Hartselle High School’s girls finished 3rd and the boys came in 10th at the 2012 Randolph Cross Country Classic on Sept. 18 in spite of a muddy footing caused by a 4-inch rain the day before.

“The course is always a difficult one because of the obstacles,” said HHS head track and field coach Kenneth Lopez, “but heavy rainfall all day on Monday made it even muddier than usual this year. “That made it difficult to assess runners’ performances based on times; however. I thought our kids gave good effort and had some pretty decent times under difficult conditions.”

The Lady Tigers finished third in a field of 11 teams on the strength of seven team members finishing among the top 100 runners.

Taylor Barnett led the way by coming in 25th with a time of 23:14. Coming in behind her were: Abigail Davis, 35th with a time of 23:47.90; Reagan Bowling, 43rd with a time of 24:22; Tiffany Pittman, 48th with a time of 24:21.50; Brantley Owens, 52nd with a time of 24:26.40; Mallory Faulkner, 55th with a time of 24:31.70; and Kayla Norwood, 80th with a time of 25.32.50.

Aaron Davis paced the Tigers by finishing 12th in a field of 185 runners with a time of 18:33.20. He was followed by John Paulsen in 30th place with a time of 19:20, Chase Barrett in 31st place with a time of 19:24.50, Alex Wilt in 40th place with a time of 19:55.40. and Chad Wallwork, Ryan Nowka and David Mach in 66th, 87th and 88th places, respectively.

HHS track teams compete in Gulf Coast Stampede

Hartselle High School’s cross country track teams competed in the 2012 Gulf Coast Stampede in Pensacola on Saturday. The girls finished 26th among 39 teams and the boys came in 28th among 36 teams in their division.

“The results were not what we wanted but the times were not as low as they have been at some meets in the past,” said head coach Kenneth Lopez. “This is an elite meet and we knew it would be very difficult to finish among the top runners.

”I think our kids benefited from the experience, however. It was a reward for the hard work they’ve put in and it created memories that will be with them for a long time. Hopefully, it will help us mature as a team.”

Hartselle’s girls had seven runners who completed the 5K run in under 27 minutes. Taylor Barnett led the way by finishing in 123rd place with a time of 21:53. Following her in order were Mallory Faulkner, Tiffany Ptttman, Meagan Bowling, Lindsey Elmore, Kayla Norwood and Brantley Owens.

The top runner for Hartselle in the boy’s division was Aaron Davis. He finished 102nd with a time of 18:54.40. Following him in order with times ranging from 24:26 to 26:24.40 were John Paulsen, Chase Barnett, Chad Wallwork. Ryan Nowka and Timothy Ammons.