Russellville’s Jones, Smith medal at AHSAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Two Russellville High School varsity outdoor track & field competitors came away from the 2026 AHSAA Class 5A Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Gulf Shores over the weekend with medals around their necks as Russellville’s girls’ team finished 16th in the standings and the boys 17th.

Russellville’s Darron Jones, right, stands atop the podium with his fellow medalists after a second-place finish in the boys’ 110-meter hurdles final. (Photo courtesy Chris Boatwright)

Sophomores Darron Jones and Angeleah Smith found themselves atop the podium after finishing in the top three in their respective events.

Jones, who competed in four different events at the championships, placed second in the boys’ 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.58. The silver is the second career state finals medal for Jones who earned a third-place finish in the same event last season. Jones also competed in the 100m dash final where he placed eighth.

Smith also grabbed a silver medal, tying for second place in the girls’ high jump finals with a mark of 5-2. Her finish in the finals event is an improvement from her freshman campaign when she placed eighth. Smith’s other final was in the long jump event; she came in at 14th overall with a mark of 14-9.5.

The Golden Tigers had several other performances that fell just outside the top three places. Those include eighth-grader Dalila Vidal’s fourth-place mark in the girls’ discus throw, senior Connor Devaney’s fifth-place finish in the boys’ 100m dash, junior Keira Cruse’s sixth-place mark in the girls’ long jump, and junior Skyler Ergle’s eighth-place time in the boys’ 300m hurdles final.

Russellville’s Angeleah Smith, far right, tied for second place in the girls’ high jump and is seen here with fellow silver medalist Lydia Ford of Brewbaker Tech. (Photo courtesy Chris Boatwright)

In total, Russellville had 12 top-15 finals finishes for the state meet. In the final Class 5A standings, the RHS girls scored 15 points and the boys 14 points.

“This year’s state meet was a strong outing for our team. We had 15 athletes qualify, which speaks to the depth and consistency of our program. Our sophomores stepped up in a big way with two podium finishes, and we added multiple Top-5 and Top-15 performances across the board,” Russellville head coach Deion Belue said. “I’m very proud of how our athletes competed and represented Russellville. They finished the season the right way with effort, pride, and purpose. This group has built great momentum, and we’re excited about the direction of the program heading into next season.”

You can view the complete results from the AHSAA 4A-7A Outdoor Track & Field Championships HERE.