News Post

The St. Joseph’s Academy cross country team kicked off the 2021 season with a dominating win in the Mobile Cross Country Challenge of Champions. The 28th annual event was held September 4 at Langan Park in Mobile, Alabama. 

Hosted by Mobile Sports Authority, the meet featured former state champion teams from Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, though Hurricane Ida limited the number of home state participants able to attend. 

With all five scorers finishing in the top 10, SJA recorded a low score of 25 points and finished ahead of runner-up McGill-Toolen Catholic by 51 points. St. Paul’s Episcopal of Mobile finished third with 85 points. There were eight complete teams and 53 runners in the field.

SJA’s top six scorers and their times were as follows: senior Maddie Gardiner, 2nd place, 19:55.0; senior Amelia Cochran, 4th place, 20:13.44 (personal record); junior Emma Claire Hendry, 5th place, 20:14.09 (personal record); sophomore Hannah Vaughan, 6th place, 20:14.62 (personal record); sophomore Grace Rennhoff, 10th place, 20:21.98 (personal record); and senior Lilly Leonard, 12th place, 20:39.65.

“I think going into the Mobile meet, the whole team was excited to race out of town,” Gardiner said. “The out-of-town meets are definitely more interesting and exciting since there are new teams to compete against and a different course. We were expecting a bunch more teams to be there, but we were excited to take home the first victory of the season. I think we raced smart since we all raced in a bunch, and that is what helped us get such a low score and win.”

Vaughan said she powered through not feeling well to finish in sixth place overall. “I feel like I ran strong,” she said. “I am so proud of our team and our performance in Mobile.”

Cochran said it was rewarding to start the season with a bit win at an out-of-state meet. “I was happy with the way I ran at the first meet but am looking forward to improvement,” she said. “I was super proud of the team and the work they put in. The effort displayed and the drive they had was something that we plan to continue throughout the season.”

Hendry said she and her teammates were excited to be invited to the prestigious Mobile meet and to race against tough competition. “I think our overall team performance was definitely a step up from last year, and we were all very happy with how we did,” she said. “We all ran very smart races which led to our win.”

Leonard said the team’s dominating performance validated the hard work which started during the summer. “It was all worth it,” she said. “I feel excited about the performance because not only are we winning, but looking back to last year’s times, we as a team are improving. I can’t wait to watch us dominate this year and in years to come.”

Rennhoff agreed. “I feel that our win was really the team’s effort and how much we’ve worked over this summer to achieve this goal,” she said.

Next up for the Redstickers is the Episcopal Round Table Run on September 11 at Highland Road Park. The varsity race starts at 8 a.m. followed by the JV race at 8:45 a.m. 

Mindy Brodhead Averitt
Communications Director

Photos courtesy of Mark LaHaye and Stacy Rennhoff