BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — Opelika High School’s Caroline Couey and Smiths Station High School’s Connor Bunce each crossed the finish line first, winning individual titles at the AHSAA Class 6A Section 2 cross country meet at Kiesel Park on Oct. 29.
Couey won the girls’ race in 18:32.7, finishing 51.6 seconds ahead of Auburn High School’s Emily Webster (19:24.3). Bunce took the boys’ race in a personal-best 17:04.1, holding off Auburn’s Henry Stewart (17:15.0) by 10.9 seconds.
Auburn won both team titles, scoring 27 points in each race. Smiths Station was second in the boys’ standings with 43 points, and Opelika was third with 79. On the girls’ side, Opelika finished third with 96 points and Smiths Station fourth with 111.
For Couey, last Thursday’s win was a fitting farewell to a familiar course.
“It was really good, exciting,” Couey said. “It was great to finish off my senior year and run one last time at Kiesel.”
The win caps a dominant stretch of the season for Couey, who set Opelika’s girls school record at last year’s state meet. She said sectionals was less about the result than about rehearsing the approach she’ll need for the state meet.
“State’s going to be different because it’s a lot more competitive — not that today wasn’t — but today was just kind of great to walk my mind through the steps,” Couey said. “It’s going to help when I go to state, marking each mile. It really is that mental process that’s preparing me and allowing me to be comfortable with what it’s going to be like at state.”
Couey recently committed to run at Southern Miss. She said the decision came down to fit, from the team and coaching staff to the school’s speech pathology program, which she plans to study.
“There’s a lot of great colleges that I have talked to. I think Southern Miss just kind of clicked,” Couey said.
She added the program’s Christian foundation also mattered.
“I met a lot of sweet girls that have such a love for the Lord, and that’s reassuring for me and comforting,” Couey said. “It really is all glory to God that I’m able to come out here. Running is a gift.”
As the team’s only senior, Couey said she has taken on a protective role with the younger runners.
“We’re a family. We are so close,” Couey said. “Being the only senior, I kind of feel like the mom over them. We’re going to go through pain, and it’s going to be hard, but we want it and we care about each other. So we’re going to push through the pain for a greater good for each other.”
On the boys’ side, Bunce said the win was the payoff for a season of work.
“It feels really good,” Bunce said. “I worked really hard the whole season to get here, so I’m just proud of myself and my teammates.”
Like Couey, Bunce said the biggest benefit of sectionals was the confidence it builds heading into state.
“It really prepares your mindset,” Bunce said. “You’re going into state with a good mindset, knowing that you came out here and did good.”
Bunce had company near the front. Fellow Smiths Station Christopher Drury finished third in a season-best 17:20.0. Bunce credited the coaching staff and the team’s daily work.
“It shows that our coaches really care,” Bunce said, “and we go out to practice every day and really try hard.”
Auburn placed four runners in the top seven of each race. Behind Webster in the girls’ race, sophomore Siobhan Keane was third (20:20.6), Dakoda Stephens sixth (20:58.3) and Penny Fitchett seventh (21:08.5).
In the boys’ race, Auburn’s Addy Akasheh was fourth (17:24.2), Andrey Glotov sixth (17:32.9) and Davis Alexander seventh (17:34.3). Opelika’s Knox Newland finished fifth in a season-best 17:29.0.
In the Class 4A boys’ sectional race, also held at Kiesel Park, Beauregard High School placed sixth in the team standings with 183 points. Gary Glazier led the Hornets, finishing 10th in a personal-best 18:38.6.
For the Beauregard girls team, Jewel Hamby was the top finisher, placing 47th in 26:00.7.
Other results
At the Class 3A Section 1 meet held Oct. 29 at the Covington County High School Track Facility in Andalusia, Beulah High School’s Isaiah Mapps finished fourth in the boys’ race in 20:02.69.
At the AHSAA Class Private AA Section 1 meet on Oct. 29 at Bayside Academy in Daphne, Lee-Scott Academy’s Olivia Kahn finished eighth in the girls’ race in 20:37.68, while Glenwood School’s Abigail Truitt finished ninth in 20:46.73.
As a team, the Lee-Scott girls placed seventh overall with 191 points, and Glenwood was eighth with 230 points.
Collier Brown was 31st in the boys’ race in 19:28.59 for Lee-Scott, and Glenwood’s Aiden Finkell finished 45th in 20:50.92.
Lee-Scott’s boys team came in sixth place with 133 points.
The state championship meets for Class Private A through Class 6A are slated to be held on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Oakville Indian Mounds Park and Education Center in Moulton beginning at 7:50 a.m.
