08/29/2026
Tuscaloosa, Al – Winfield Cross Country Team 4, the 4th team coached by Coach Stovall, competed in the Northridge Black & Blue XC Invitational. The competition level for the Black & Blue was definitely a bruiser with the Pirates being the smallest public school competing in the event. Team 4 would not be intimidated though by the 4A, 5A, and 6A adversaries and held their own with some impressive performances both as teams and individuals.
ML Whitehead led the Varsity men with another solid sub 20 race. He finished in 8th place with a time of 19:05 which was good for an Elite Runner medal. Grayson Foster (22:11) and Max Muck (23:10) both finished with PRs on the difficult Sokol Park track. Ridge Miles (23:21) and Case Bishop (23:27) rounded out the scoring for the Pirates. Sawyer Rogers also had a PR (25:50) for the Varsity.
With only the top 7 times allowed in the Varsity race, the Pirates were able to field a very competitive JV squad. The guys finished in second place overall and had several notable performances with 5 Elite Runner Medalist. After a tough week 1, Easton South (24:25) bounced back strong leading the JV with a PR and a Top 5 finish and Elite Runner medalist. In his first race, Jaden Beasley finished 2nd for the Pirates and 6th overall and Elite Runner medalist. Kyler Sadberry (25:41) PR 12th overall, Collin Hawkins (26:09) PR 13th overall, and Aaron Meherg (26:58) PR 15th overall, rounded out the scoring for the Pirates. All the 3 men had PRs and finished as Elite Runner medalist.
Team 4’s ladies continued their impressive start making the podium for the second week in a row with a 3rd place finish behind 5A Northridge and 4A Northside and edging out 6A Tuscaloosa Co for the last podium spot. The ladies were led by Audrey Patton (21:07) PR who earned her second consecutive week of Elite Runner status by placing 3rd overall. Jolene Ballard (22:12) PR also earned her second consecutive Elite Runner finish by placing 8th overall. Audrey Spillers (23:14) PR made Elite Runner medalist with a 12th place finish. Emma Foster (24:08) PR and Emmie Spillers (24:50) PR rounded out the scoring for the Varsity ladies.
The JV ladies also made some noise today. Jala Kate Gibbs (28:07) led the JV ladies with a 2nd place overall finish and Elite Runner medalist. Lily Jungels may have turned in the most inspirational finish by placing 4th overall and reaching a 3-year goal of breaking the 30 minute barrier with a career PR of (29:50). Sadie Fowler finished 5th overall in her first 5K race (32:09). Both Lily and Sadie finished as Elite Runner medalists.
Season PRs Today:
Audrey Patton
Jolene Ballard
Audrey Spillers
Emma Foster
Emmie Spillers
Lily Jungels
Grayson Foster
Max Muck
Sawyer Rogers
Kyler Sadberry
Collin Hawkins
Tripp Mays
Aaron Meherg
Easton South
Team 4 will take a break over the Labor Day weekend and be back in action on September 12th at the Chikasaw Trails Invitational.
