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Boys take third; girls close fifth at state

From staff reports
The Times-Journal

Published November 16, 2009

Fort Payne High School cross country coach Ed Witt had a hunch his boys were capable of doing something special at the Class 5A state meet.

On Saturday, they went out and proved him right.

Two Fort Payne runners earned all-state honors, and the Wildcats captured third place at the Oakville Indian Mounds Park and Museum at Moulton.

Fort Payne’s girls also had a solid day, finishing fifth. Spanish Fort won the boys’ title, while Scottsboro took the girls’ for the eighth straight year.

Fort Payne’s boys failed to qualify for state three years ago and finished last in a field of 13 in 2007. Last year, the Cats jumped to sixth.

Saturday, they took third in a field of 15 teams.

“In all honesty, I kept telling them all year long … that ‘you guys have a shot at the top three,’” Witt said. “I think the boys started realizing it some at [the] Cullman [meet], and it continued into Fairview, but it really took hold at the sectional meet because they were running so close to Scottsboro. What they were doing was building confidence.”

The top 15 in each race earn all-state honors. Fort Payne’s Michael Ceballos was 10th in the field of 164 with a time of 17 minutes, 13.30 seconds. Eneko Sanchez, an exchange student from Spain, was 13th at 17:25.49.

Fort Payne’s Diego Orozco just missed all-state honors, closing 16th at 17:28.24.

“Michael is one of those runners … the last month of the season, he really closes [strong],” Witt said. “That’s the type of runner you’re looking for. At the end, they’re ready when it counts most. This year, he has done everything exactly how it needed to be done.

“We are very, very fortunate to have [Sanchez] here. He will be a huge factor in track and field. [Orozco] has shown incredible improvement since last year. Everybody delivered Saturday, the entire team.”

Andrew Kackley finished 30th at 18:18.08, and Trevor Cleckler crossed 42nd at 18:34.86.

Spanish Fort won the championship with 51 points. Scottsboro was second with 59, followed by Fort Payne with 115.

Scottsboro’s Lucas Sieb won the individual title at 15:46.1.

Fort Payne’s girls have show steady improvement at state the last several years.

The girls finished eighth in 2006, seventh in ’07 and sixth a year ago, so the fifth-place finish represented another step forward.

Still, Witt felt like the Lady Cats could have done more.

“I don’t think we got the quite the effort that I was hoping we would,” he said. “We had some girls get their best times of the year, and some who didn’t. At the beginning of the year, you’re always wanting to improve over last year, which we did. I think Lexi [Green] got her lifetime best.”

Green paced Fort Payne, finishing 21st at 21:19.1. Elizabeth Manning was 33rd at 22:00.31. Chloe Giffith was 38th at 22:05.2.

Witt praised all three.

“They had about 5 inches of rain several days before meet, and there was still some standing water in spots, and they had to change the course to get around it,” he said. “For Lexi to get her lifetime best in those conditions [was really good].”

Britny Cox (50th, 22:41.8) and Nicolette Stogner (59th, 23:10.93) rounded out the Fort Payne top five. One hundred forty-five girls competed.

Scottsboro led the 15-team field with 61 points. St. Paul’s was second with 69, followed by Cullman (114), Briarwood Christian (119) and Fort Payne (187).

John Carroll’s Rachel Roberts was the individual winner at 18:42.35.

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