RHS track & field wraps up regular season competitions, looking forward to section meet

The Russellville High School varsity track and field teams have made the turn and are on the straight away, so to speak, in their 2024 campaign. Following two home meets and a final regular meet at Deshler, the Golden Tigers have just the sectional meet at Scottsboro and, perhaps, a state meet in front of them.

“I really don’t know the right word to describe just how proud I am of this team and these kids,” Russellville head coach Chris Boatwright said. “They’ve been working really hard all year and really putting in a lot of time and effort and practice to get better and better every meet.”

Russellville hosted two meets on April 1 and April 15. The RVL Invitational, held on the first of the month, saw both girls’ and boys’ teams finish in first place. The Golden Tiger girls ended the meet with 122 total points, while the boys topped the standings with 124 points. In all, Russellville finished with 15 medalists, including seven gold medal winners.

“I think we’ve been improving, as a team, in every meet we’ve been in this year, and in all the events, individual events, we’re getting better times and higher jumps and longer throws,” Boatwright said. “It was a goal of ours to finish first as a team, both boys and girls, in our meets this year. I was really, really proud of the kids that they were able to do that.”

Among Russellville’s gold medalists at the RVL Invitational were Tait Barnes, who took first in the boys’ shot put and javelin; Hunter Kastberg, who won the boys’ pole vault competition; Cash Crumpton grabbed gold in the boys’ long jump; and Skyler Ergle was first in the boys’ 110-meter hurdles. Avery Watts was the girls’ high jump champion, Keira Cruse won in the girls’ long jump and Ari Willingham took the gold medal in the girls’ 200-meter race.

The Golden Tigers had similar success at their Golden Tiger Invitational on April 15. The boys’ team, once again, finished first over 20 other competing schools, tallying 122 total points. The girls’ team finished in second, behind Marion County, with 59 points.

“I was really impressed with the girls with the top two finishes in our home meets,” Boatwright said. “More than anything I’ve been proud of the buy-in and their commitment. They’ve really put in the work, and it’s paying off.”

Though the Golden Tigers had just one first-place finish in the individual events—Skyler Ergle won gold in the boys’ 110-meter hurdle—Russellville did end the day with 14 total medalists: 10 on the boys’ team and four on the girls’ team. Junior Keira Cruse, who Boatwright praised as one the team’s leading performers, secured silver in both the girls’ triple jump and long jump events, while Ella Copeland and Lourdes Ellis finished second and third, respectively, in the 1600-meter run and the girls’ shot put.

On the boys’ side, Russellville’s 10 medals were won by 10 different Golden Tigers. Besides Ergle’s top finish, Mason Herring, Tait Barnes, and Jah Williams all finished second in the triple jump, javelin throw, and 110-meter hurdles, respectively. Cash Crumpton, EJ King, Shiloh Willis, Cade Parker, Hunter Kastberg, and Jeremy Winston took bronze in their respective events.

The final meet for the Golden Tigers before Section was a Deshler-hosted meet on April 19. There Russellville finished in second place in the boys’ standings and fourth in the girls’ standings. In all, the Golden Tigers medaled in 13 events with the likes of Keira Cruse, Tait Barnes, and Cash Crumpton winning multiple medals. Russellville’s best finish was by Cruse, who won the girls’ triple jump event. 

Thrilled with the individual performances throughout the year, Boatwright said he was also happy with the team mentality his athletes have taken pride in.

“In track, you know, all these events are individual events, but I’ve really challenged them to view it as a team sport. It’s an individual sport but a team sport at the same time. What you do as an individual has an impact on the team,” Boatwright said. “So, yeah, go out there and give it your best shot but know that you’re not just running for yourself, you’re running for your team.”

“You don’t have to win every event you’re in, but try to grab those top 10, top eight finishes and know you’re gaining team points,” he added. “The buy-in has been incredible.”

Still, while stressing a team approach, Boatwright knows the allure of personal achievement and accolades. Over the last two years, 11 school records have been broken. It’s one tool the coach uses to motivate the athletes on his team, but, Boatwright says, he doesn’t have to do much motivating—they’re pretty driven all on their own.

“Going into it, it wasn’t a goal of mine to have kids breaking 11 school records,” Boatwright said. “Some of these records have stood for a long time, but I’m seeing the times and heights some of these kids are getting and I’m like, ‘You can beat this, you can break this.’ I push these kids to try and grab these records. They’re there for the taking.”

The boys’ school records broken include the 4x800-meter, the 3200-meter race record set by Pascual Felipe, the 110-meter hurdle record broken by Skyler Ergle, the 300-meter hurdle set by Eli Cooper, and the boys’ pole vault record set by Hunter Kastberg. New girls’ school records include the long jump and triple jump set by Keira Cruse, the high jump set by Avery Watts, Lourdes Ellis breaking the shot put record, Aleah Bonman in discus throw, and Ari Willingham setting the 100-meter record.

“I think having that goal of breaking a record, it makes kids want to be a part of it,” Boatwright added. “They’re really enthusiastic about it. They’re excited and always looking, driving for their next PR. I’ll have a kid who’ll PR and be four seconds off (the record) and they’ll come to me like, ‘Coach, I might not get it this year, but I’m going to get it next year.’ I think it’s something they can get excited about. To have 11 records broken so far, that’s been really cool.”

Up next for the Golden Tigers is the Section meet in Scottsboro on April 26 and 27. As of April 15, Boatwright said, Russellville has had 23 Section qualifiers.

“You know, we’re really excited about competing at the Section meet. There’s going to be a lot of great athletes from other schools there, but watching our kids all year, I know we can go there and our kids can stack up against some of the best,” Boatwright said. “With the number of our kids competing I think we’ve got a chance to really compete as a team. We’ll try to grab top eight finishes and see how many team points we can get, see what happens.”

“I’m just really proud of this team and what they’ve been able to do this year. It’s my goal to make this thing bigger and better in the future, and, I’ll be honest, I think things can only go up for this program because of these kids and how hard they work.”