Mac Connell (15:54), Anna Adams (19:46) Fastest Of The Day In Mobile
Story and Photos By Arthur L. Mack for DyeStat
Despite all of the rain which plagued Louisiana for the last few weeks, the 30th annual Mobile Challenge of Champions Cross Country meet held at Langan Park on Sept. 3 proved to be rewarding for schools from that state.
Brother Martin of New Orleans won the Invitational Boys title in impressive fashion, placing five runners in the top 10 to defeat Mobile’s St. Paul’s Episcopal 28-56. On the girls side, St. Joseph’s Academy of Baton Rouge won its third Challenge of Champions’ team title in a row, beating Mobile’s McGill-Toolen Catholic 38-77.
Brother Martin also won the boys Open Division, but McGill-Toolen spoiled any hopes of a Louisiana sweep by winning the Open Division girls title.
Invitational Boys: Brother Martin, a regular participant in the meet, showed why it is one of the top cross country progams in Louisiana. The Crusaders overcame a strong winning individual performance by St. Paul’s Episcopal’s Mac Conwell, who ran a blistering early-season time of 15 minutes, 54.86 seconds, by placing five runners in the top 10.
Gabriel Metoyer was second for the Crusaders (16:18.16), while Luke Regan (fifth, 16:26.33). Daniel Falk (sixth, 16:42.23), Eli Levy (seventh, 16:53.94) and Gabriel Levy (eighth, 17:00.43) factored into the win.
Tuscaloosa’s American Christian Academy was third (62), followed by Lafayette, Louisiana’s Teurlings Catholic (118) and Mobile Baker (175) to round out the top five.
“This is a special group,” Brother Martin head coach Drew Harro said. “Ever since they’ve been freshmen, they’ve been close knit at practice. They’re friends, they do everything together and they train together. I tell them that every year they’re going to get better. That’s a nice reflection of how special this group is. It’s still early in the season, so it’s going to be exciting to see how it’s going to be later on.”
For his part, Conwell had a memorable performance. The senior bided his time and took the lead nearly halfway through the race and never looked back. The heat and soft course had virtually no effect on Conwell, as he won the race with ease.
“It was hot for sure, but we train at 3:30 every day, so I was ready for it,” he said. “The competition we’ve been in has been incredible, and with us being in Class 7A for cross country and Class 6A for track and…
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