MOBILE, Ala.—Local runners and teams from the Baldwin side of the bay made impressive strides in the Mobile Challenge of Champions Cross Country meet at Langan Park Saturday.

Notably in the Invitational Girls meet, Fairhope senior and reigning Baldwin County champion Hannah Evans finished with the top-10 individual invites with a ninth place time of 20 minutes, 22.83 seconds on the 3.2 mile course. The T.R Miller duo of Karisa Nelson and Katie Nelson took fifth and sixth (19:44.73) and (19:46.81) behind the overall winning time of Kate Mattox out of Starkville, Miss.

St. Paul’s Episcopal senior Anna Braswell was 22nd, Baker’s Carsandra Pickens 27th, Fia Carols of McGill-Toolen Catholic 29th and seventh-grader Carissa Jones of Spanish Fort rounded out the top 30 of the 116 Invitational entries.

The Invitational Girls team results showed many speedy runners from out of state showed up to claim the first-through-sixth (Fort Walton Beach 74 points, Ocean Springs 104, Parkway 172, Starkville 190, Mandeville 206, Mt. Carmel 208) spots before Montgomery Academy and T. R. Miller of Brewton shared seventh with 221 each. McGill-Toolen was eighth at 224 and Spanish Fort’s 289 points were good for 12th amid very impressive company— especially considering the Lady Toros youth this year. The SFHS girls also defeated UMS-Wright, St. Paul’s and Murphy and so look to be in good shape toward defending their Baldwin County championship this fall for the seventh-straight year.

In the Invitational Boys race, Fort Walton Beach completed the first place sweep for the Vikings defeating Okaloosa County neighbor Niceville High 35-56. Louisiana programs took the next three places (John Curtis 92, Brother Martin 145, St. Thomas More 184) before Alabama’s Montgomery Academy edged Spanish Fort 231-240 for sixth.

Again, SF’s boys look to be a strong team in the Mobile-Baldwin theater holding off Baker by three points and besting iconic Alabama programs like St. Paul’s (273), UMS-Wright (279) and the three-time defending Baldwin County Champs of Fairhope (280). The FHS Pirates lost four seniors including 2012 individual champion Thomas Grace to graduation, but managed a top 15 performance in one of the premier meets on the North Gulf Coast.

The Florida Panhandle brought it to the Challenge individually as well sweeping the top five spots starting with overall winner Thomas Howell, Niceville, 15:59.29; 2., Nicholas Morken, Niceville, 16:03.58; 3., Charlie Shackleford, Fort Walton Beach, 16:15.26; 4., Demery Benedict, Fort Walton Beach, 16:18.98 and in fifth Trey LaNasa, Fort Walton Beach, 16:28.88.

Defending C-of-C Invitational champion Robert Hope of UMS-Wright turned in a 16:47 for seventh. Hope won the event last year with a 16:52.95. Nathan Bolner of Ocean Springs, Miss., was 10th in 17:21.73.

Reece Stevens of St. Paul’s was the first Saint to cross the finish line with a sub-18 time of 17:48.67 for 21st, Fairhope was led by Caleb Casolaro who edged Baker senior Collin Wood for 29th at just over the 18-minute standard with an 18:06.42 and an 18:08.97.

The Toros were led by freshmen Matthew Piedra (18:26.64, 36th) and Kevin Jones (18:44.25, 44th). The Boys Invitational race fielded 103 athletes who all finished under 23 minutes in one of the more brutally hot and humid Challenges in memory.

In the Open Boys Division, Daphne’s John Alan Walker claimed the title with a gutsy 17:18.97 win— good enough for ninth in the invite. Leith Rawson of Satsuma was the only other local runner in the Open Boys top-10 at ninth, 18:40.92.

A senior at Daphne, Walker broke the tape about 12 seconds ahead of Dylan Heck of Mandeville, La., and helped the DHS Trojans take a ninth-place team ribbon back to the Jubilee City.

Louisiana’s  Brother Martin won the Open team trophy pointing out at 80, followed by Fort Walton Beach 91, Mandeville 92, John Curtis 102, Navarre 104, Niceville 105, St. Stanislaus 216; Baker 308, Daphne 362, Catholic-Pointe Coupee 384, Spanish Fort 403, Robertsdale 408, Davidson 421, T.R. Miller 438, McGill-Toolen 465, Baldwin County 468, Mobile Christian 483, Long Beach 506, Alabama School of Math and Science 520, St. Paul’s 534, Foley 559, Theodore 571, Choctawhatchee 572, St. Luke’s 587, Faith Academy 624 and Saraland 731.

The Open Girls results again saw a strong Panhandle grip on the top spots with the Lady Toros taking eighth behind a tough Baker team in seventh for the local leaders. Daphne just missed the top 10 at 11th but had a strong showing by Kaleigh Akers who turned in a third-place time of 22:26.66 in a field of 217 runners from four states.

Niceville’s Mackenzie Shinnick ran a 21:57.88 for the Open Girls win and Hannah Ivory of John Curtis took second with a 22:01.67.  Katy Hines of Foley ran a 22:56.89 for a top-10 eighth-place ribbon. Gabrielle Foreland of Robertsdale was the next Baldwin runner in at 24:25.32 for 21st. SF’s first Open leader to cross was seventh grader Caroline Vegas who took 27th in 24:55.55.

For complete results visit: http://www.cfpitiming.com/