Varsity cross country teams and cross country individual qualifiers competed at the 2026 Alabama High School Athletic Association Cross Country State Championships at Oakville Indian Mounds Park in Moulton on Saturday with several hailing from Franklin County.
At the Class 1A-2A level, Tharptown’s boys team qualified for the state 5K meet and there were four girls from Belgreen, Phil Campbell and Tharptown that qualified as individuals.
Tharptown’s boys finished 15th out of 15 teams in the standings with 381 points and an average 5K time of 21:02. Seventh-grader Giovani Mojica had the best performance for the Wildcats, placing 47th with a time of 18:57.42. Sophomore Santiago Castro (99th; 20:42.54), freshman Angel Alonzo (106th; 21:02.06), senior Melvin Gutierrez (116th; 21:19.39), freshman Junior Castro (143rd; 23:10.90), and freshman Richard Gutierrez (150th; 23:46.15) also ran for THS.
Competing individually in the Class 1A-2A girls’ 5K final were Belgreen eighth-grader Elizabeth Motes, Phil Campbell sophomore Rayna Scott, and Tharptown’s Sophie Waldrep and Angelina Thomas Mendez. Scott had the best finish of the four, placing 52nd with a time of 23:25.60. Behind her was Waldrep, a freshman, who completed the race in 23:37.60, good for a 56th-place finish. Motes raced to a 60th-place finish with a time of 23:51.30, and the THS junior Mendez rounded out the four in 124th with a 28:20.50 time.
Moving up to the 5A classification, Russellville High School’s qualifiers were its boys team and junior Heidy Jacobo, who competed as an individual in the girls’ 5K.
Leading the RHS boys was junior Pascual Felipe, who came in 42nd after running a 16:53.00 time. Three other Golden Tigers—seniors German Perez and Roman Machic and sophomore Anthony Bautista—also placed in the top 100. Perez finished in 88th with a time of 17:57.40, Machic secured 93rd place with a time of 18:04.10, and Bautista came in 96th after running the 5K in 18:06.80.
Six other Golden Tigers also ran in the boys’ 5K, finishing in places between 110th and 181st. In the team standings, Russellville’s boys earned 348 points to grab 10th place out of 25 teams.
In the Class 5A girls’ 5K race, Russellville’s Jacobo ended up in 96th with a time of 22:15.65.
All results from the AHSAA Cross Country State Championships can be seen on the Alabama Runners website.