Russellville boys win, girls finish second at Hamilton-hosted cross country meet

Three varsity cross country teams from Franklin County competed at the Hamilton High School Aggie Invite on Saturday, September 19.

Student-athletes from Phil Campbell, Russellville and Vina high schools all raced at the 5K event with several earning top 25 finishes, but as a team it was the Golden Tigers’ day as their boys won the meet and their girls came in second in the standings.

Pushing Russellville to the top on the boys’ side were junior Pascual Felipe, senior German Perez and sophomore Anthony Bautista who all had top 10 finishes. Felipe finished second in the 5K with a time of 17:49.91, Perez came in seventh with a time of 18:38.28, and Bautista earned ninth place at 18:52.94.

Five others—Bryan Torres, Roman Machic, Ismael Francisco, John Deleon and Bruce Stephens—finished inside the top 25, as well.

Russellville’s boys won the meet with 49 points and an average time of 18:56. They were followed by Northside in second and host Hamilton in third place.

The RHS girls’ cross country team earned runner-up at the 5K meet thanks to the key performances of junior Heidy Jacobo, senior Maribel Martin and junior Maricela Felix. All three finished in the top 25 with Jacobo securing ninth place (23:38.58), Martin placing 11th (24:08.54), and Felix coming in 19th place (25:32.95).

The Russellville girls earned 79 points to give them second place among eight teams.

“Those finishes are impressive on their own, but when you consider the heat and humidity these runners battled, I’m even more proud of the way they competed,” RHS cross country head coach Rick Lawson posted on the program’s Facebook page after the event. “It was a tough day to run a 5K, but I watched our athletes compete with HEART, GRIT, and DETERMINATION. They kept fighting when it hurt, pushed through the difficult moments, and competed for one another all the way to the finish line.”

Complete individual results for Russellville’s teams at the Aggie Invite can be viewed HERE.

Phil Campbell High School had two student-athletes run at the meet. In the girls’ 5K race, sophomore Rayna Scott came in 24th place with a time of 26:17.27. In the boys’ 5K, senior Bailey Nix placed 75th with a time of 25:51.80.

Vina ran three girls in the 5K: freshman Lindie Easterling, eighth-grader Kinsley Newton and junior Samantha Elders. Easterling finished in 25th place with a time of 26:32.60. Behind her was Newton in 65th with a time of 34:09.76, and Elders in 79th with a time of 36:54.27.