By Joshua Huff, sports editor
BIRMINGHAM — The Class 7A girls’ shot put gold medal now resides at Hewitt-Trussville after junior Lea Townsend cemented her place atop the podium following her dominant performance on Friday at the 2020 AHSAA Indoor State Championships hosted by the Birmingham Crossplex over the weekend.
Townsend rose to the top of the state-wide field after her first toss of 38-04.75 proved to be too much for Hoover’s Anna Kay Clark, whose second throw of 37-06.00 solidified her spot at No. 2. Sparkman’s Kaylyn Hardrick rounded out the top three with a distance of 36-11.75. Hewitt-Trussville’s Erika Myrick earned a top 10 nod after she recorded a distance of 32-04.00.
Townsend concludes her junior indoor season with six first-place finishes. In her three-year career with the Huskies, the junior has won a total of 16 gold medals in shot put in both outdoor and indoor meets. In addition, she has recorded seven state records during that span.
Not to be overshadowed, the rest of the girls’ team performed admirable at the championships. Overall, the girls placed in third out of 20 teams competing in Class 7A. Hoover claimed yet another Class 7A first-place nod after blowing past the field with an overall score of 102. Auburn finished in second place with a score of 63.50. The Huskies recorded a score of 45.
The girls’ team witnessed 13 top 10 finishes in the championships.
Led by Townsend’s first-place finish, the following Huskies placed within the top 10:
Brianna Beckham – Finished in fifth place in the 60m Dash with a time of 7.97
Brianna Beckham – Finished in seventh place in the 400m Dash with a time of 1:00.32
Maci Mills – Finished in fifth place in the girls’ 800m with a time of 2:20.66
Maci Mills – Finished in sixth place in the girls’ 1600m with a time of 5:21.48
Sophia Knox – Finished in ninth place in the girls’ 3200m with a time of 12:01.77
Sydney White – Finished in eighth place in the high jump with a height of 4-10:00
Kelsey Martin – Finished in fourth place in the long jump with a distance of 17-04.50
Kelsey Martin – Finished in ninth place in the triple jump with a time of 34-00.75
4×200 Meter Relay Team – Finished in fourth place with a time of 1:45.64
4×400 Meter Relay Team – Finished in fourth place with a time of 4:07.99
4×800 Meter Relay Team – Finished in fifth place with a time of 10:26.37
The boys’ team recorded a sixth-place finish on the weekend.
The Huskies finished with a score of 28. Hoover, which swept the championships, claimed first place with an overall score of 114.50. Thompson took home second place with a score of 89 and Central-Phenix City rounded out the top three with a score of 50.
The boys had 11 top 10 finishes on the weekend.
Julian Collins – Finished in eighth place in the 60m Dash with a time 7.17
Alex Jones – Finished in 10th place in the boys’ 800m with a time of 2:01.82
Nathan Knox – Finished in seventh place in the boys’ 1600m with a time of 4:32.62
Julian Collins – Finished in fourth place in the long jump with a distance of 22-00.50
Cameron Smith – Finished in ninth place in the pole vault with a height of 12-oo.00
Syed Raza – Finished in fifth place in the shot put with a distance of 46-09.50
Julian Collins – Finished in fourth place in the triple jump with a distance of 44-03.50
Omari Kelly – Finished in 10th place in the triple jump with a distance of 41-05.00
4×200 Meter Relay Team – Finished in fourth place with a time of 1:32.40
4×400 Meter Relay Team – Finished in ninth place with a time of 3:37.32
4×800 Meter Relay Team – Finished in third place with a time of 8:15.68