Hewitt-Trussville’s boys cross country team, led by John Ngaruiya’s fourth-place effort, finished 16th in the Gold Division at the 18th annual Jesse Owens Classic at Oakville on Saturday.
Ngaruiya ran a 15:38.06, his personal record, over the 5K course. He was followed by Josh Jenkins (17:19.63, 103rd, 95 points), Carson Spruiell (17:25.14, 113th, 104), Thomas Wolfe (17:35.27, 132nd, 123), Aaron Dykes (17:50.73, 148th, 138) and Graham Bianchi (18:13.04, 185th, 173).
In the girls Gold Division, Sydney Hall led the Lady Huskies as they finished 17th. Hall finished 42nd, but earned 36 points as she ran a 20:09.84, a PR for her. She was followed by Brooke Atkinson (21:46.94, 90th, 81 points), Helena Steen (22:21.25, 115th, 104), Hannah Brien (22:39.40, 125th, 114), Olivia Bland (22:56.83, 134th, 122), Olivia Braswell (23:06.51, 138th, 125) and Chandler Holley (24:23.32, 166th, 152).
In the boys Silver Division, Hewitt-Trussville finished 21st. Leading the way was Damon Purdy, who ran the distance in 17:56.90 for 82nd place, picking up 76 points. He was followed by Micah Smith (18.23.50, 11th, 104), Andrew Smith (18:33.70, 124th, 116), Christian Holley (18:51.60), 147th, 140), Josh Dykes (18:53.10, 149th, 141), Ethan Greene (18:56.80, 156th, 148) and Timothy Ngaruiya (19:46.60, 217th, 203).
In the girls Silver Division, Hewitt finished 39th. Leading the Lady Huskies was Emily McMahon, who finished in 151st place with a 22:51.83 and earned 143 points. She was followed by Ariana White (24:22.16, 230th, 212 points), Emily Bonham (24:35.76, 240th, 221), Kylee Glenn (24:57.11, 244th, 225), Olivia Calma (25:12.89, 252nd, 231), Ashleigh Hicks (25:16.66, 253rd, 232) and Aliyah Brown (25:22.35, 255th, 234).
No HTHS boys or girls ran in the Bronze Division or the Green Division. No Hewitt girls ran in the girls Red Division.
In the boys Red Division, the Huskies placed 33rd. David Shirley led the Huskies with a 19:46.65 and a 193rd-place finish, picking up 151 points. Other scorers were Sonu Patel, Brandy Gooden, Matthew Stovall, Zac Morgan, Sam Holcomb and Harrison Shelton.
In the boys middle school 3380 meter run, Hewitt-Trussville Middle finished second. Leading the way was eighth-grader Nathan Knox’s 11-place finish (10 points) with a time of 11:34.33. Following him as scoring runners were Kellen Rutherford, Aaron Himes, Alex Jones, Andrew Guarino, Nic Coffey and Bobby Stanberry.
HTHS finished sixth. Ninth-grader Mac Brooks led the group with an 11:53.41 for 16th place (15 points). He was followed by scoring Husky ninth-graders Kent Glover, Ayrton Purdy, Strickland White, Andy Poole and Nathan Pitts.
Rudd Middle School finished 18th. Eighth-grader Seth Lord led Rudd with an 11:50.53 for 14th place (13 points). Trailing him were teammates Caleb Phillips, Hunter Siddle, Michael Witherspoon, Luis Sanchez, Andrew Martin and Parker Jackson.
In the girls middle school race, HTMS eighth-grader Amelia Brady took top scoring honors with a 12:25.62 with her finish behind an unscored runner. HTMS finished fifth. Other scoring runners from HTMS were Maci Mills, Hannah O’Kelley, Taylor Doss, Sadie Morgan, Reagan Felts and Samantha Vise.
Several Lady Huskie ninth-graders ran, but not enough to score as a team. Ellie Kate Jones led those girls with a 38th-place finish.
Rudd Middle didn’t have enough for team scores, but seventh-grader Charlotte Phillips led those girls with a 29th-place finish.