GULF SHORES — The Bayside Academy girls’ track team ran and jumped its way to its first team state championship on the Class 4A level after titles in the previous three classifications.

The Admirals racked up 108 points with multiple top-five finishers in four events — including three individual state titles — on top of relay wins in the 4x400 and 4x800.

Avery Therrell (2:19.87 for a school record), Annie Midyett (2:22.30) and Catherine Doyle (2:22.91) swept the podium in the 800-meter run. Doyle then won the 1600-meter run (5:10.89) and the 3200-meter run (11:28.23) with school-record times where Shelby Fargason finished third in the 1600 (5:16.73) and second in the 3200 (11:32.63).

Final medal count

Across both male and female competitors, Bayside Academy also led the Baldwin County medal count with 11 of the 29 medals won by local competitors. Foley and Elberta were next with five total medals, followed by Gulf Shores (4), Spanish Fort (3) and Fairhope (1).

After nine more returned with Bayshore Christian from the Class 1A-3A meet in Cullman, Baldwin County’s state representatives earned 38 total podium finishes at the final track competition of the AHSAA season.

Class 1A

Junior Caden Phillippi swept the distance races for the Eagle boys’ team, including the 800- (1:59.57), 1600- (4:36.05) and 3200-meter (10:00.45) runs where sophomore Jonah Elliot was right behind him for silver in the 1600 (4:47.84) and 3200 (10:41.90). Eighth-grader Henry Barber joined them on the 3200-meter podium with a 10:42.14 for bronze in addition to a fourth-place finish in the 1600 (4:50.85) to help the Bayshore Christian boys’ team finish fourth overall in Class 1A.

Similarly, seventh-grader Anna Dernlan swept the distance races with wins in the 800 (2:28.93), 1600 (5:37.24) and 3200 (12:06.65) to pace the Eagles. Sophomore Rebecca Dernlan registered sixth in the 1600-meter run (6:16.13) and the 4x400-meter relay team finished sixth (4:51.39) to help the Bayshore Christian girls’ team log a fifth-place finish in the 1A team competition.

Class 7A

The Foley girls’ team finished fourth in the Class 7A competition where senior Destiny Roper set school records in the 100-meter hurdles (15.01 for gold) and 200-meter dash (24.77 for 4th). She added a silver medal in the 100-meter dash (11.82) where she set the state meet record last year.

The Lions also earned a bronze medal in the 4x100-meter relay with a new school record of 47.61 as well as a fifth-place finish from senior Jaylin Mitchell in the 300-meter hurdles with another school record of 45.64.

Also showing off straight line speed was Fairhope junior Ty Watkins who took home a silver medal in the 100-meter dash (10.63) from Saturday’s finals seven months to the day after reconstructive surgery on his torn right ACL. His time of 10.52 from Friday’s qualifying heat extended the school record he set at sectionals and also ranked as the top time in Alabama this season regardless of classification according to athletic.net.

Class 5A

Also finishing fourth was the Elberta boys’ team in Class 5A where senior Trey Ridenour won the discus (154’ 2”) and sophomore Cody Godwin earned silver in the pole vault (13’) with school-record marks. Junior Rosson Duplesis took bronze in the 110-meter hurdles (15.51) and added fifth in the 300-meter hurdles (42.06) to move into second place on the Warriors’ all-time rankings.

With a seventh-place finish in 5A, the Gulf Shores boys’ team logged its best state placement in program history. Junior Beck Montiel earned silver in the 800-meter run (1:56.95) and bronze in the 1600-meter run (4:22.61) on top of serving as the anchor of the Dolphins’ 4x800-meter relay team that set a school record and took bronze (8:18.57). Junior Kolin Wilson also used a 21’ 11.25” long jump to finish as the state runner-up.

The Elberta girls’ squad was led by senior Morgan Thrift who was crowned the shot put state champion (38’ 8”) and took bronze in the discus (126’ 10” for a school record). Eighth-grader Lainey Thomas added top-10 finishes in both broad jumping events with a ninth-place spot in long jump (15’ 4.5”) and 10th in triple jump (31’ 3.5”) as the Warriors finished 17th overall in the team competition.

Eighth-grader Tevonna Campbell logged the best individual finish for the Gulf Shores girls’ squad with a seventh-place finish in the 100-meter dash (12.63) after she used a 12.41 in qualifying to set a school record. She added a 31’ 8” triple jump for ninth.

Sophomore Nora Malone similarly set school records with top-10 finishes in the 1600-meter run (5:31.77 for 9th) and the 800-meter run (2:27.54 for 10th) for the Dolphins. Senior Morgan McCartney grabbed ninth in the high jump with a 4’ 10” clearance. The 4x800-meter relay team finished fifth (10:21.91) and the 4x400-meter team relay finished eighth (4:20.01) to help Gulf Shores finish 23rd overall.

Class 6A

Senior Winston McGhee registered top-10 finishes in all of his races for Spanish Fort, including podium positions for the 1600-meter run (4:19.19 for silver) and the 800-meter run (1:54.12 for bronze and a school record). He added 8th in the 3200-meter run (9:48.79). Senior Josh Powell soared to silver in the triple jump (45’ 11.75”) and added fifth in the long jump (22’ 9.25”) to help the Toros finish ninth in Class 6A.

Senior Alexiana Hinote raced to seventh place in both the 1600-meter run (5:15.56 for a school record) and the 3200-meter run (11:35.26) in her final runs as a Toro. The 4x800-meter relay team also logged a top-10 finish with a 10:24.75 for 10th just ahead of Robertsdale (10:38.95 for 13th).

Golden Bear senior Kyleigh Kitchens earned 10th place with a 100’ 8” javelin throw and junior Whitney Wells extended her Robertsdale school record in the 100-meter hurdles to 17.27 for 21st place.

Class 4A

Bayside Academy sophomore Billy Neill took silver in the discus (149’ 3”) and bronze in the javelin (167’ 7”) for school records in both events. Burk Brown (20’ 7.75”) and Matthew Peterson (11’ 6”) logged personal records and seventh-place finishes in the long jump and pole vault, respectively, to score points for the Admirals.

St. Michael sophomore Eli Navarre logged an 11th-place finish with a school-record 10’ pole vault clearance as the lone representative of the boys’ team.

The Cardinal girls’ team was led by junior Anna Kiernan’s sixth-place finish with a 9’ pole vault clearance in addition to a 10th-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles (50.02 for a school record). Sophomore Samantha Kokoszka recorded eighth-place spots in the 800-meter run (2:30.47 for a school record) and 1600-meter run (5:38.23) then helped the 4x800-meter relay team use a 10:46.31 to set a school record and finish seventh.

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