SPORTS

Rebels’ Strand Receives Gatorade Award. Page 30 SPORTS

Thursday, February 20, 2020 ❖ OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

Mountain Brook’s Given Making Another Trial Run for Olympics. Page 30

CLEAN SWEEP

Homewood, Hoover Capture Indoor Track Titles

Members of the Homewood girls indoor track and field team with their Class 6A state championship trophy. Homewood Dynasty Continues

By RuBin E. GRant

Sometimes the term dynasty is applied loosely – but not when it comes to the Homewood track and field program.

The Patriots swept the Class 6A titles for the third consecutive year in the 50th Alabama High School Athletic Association Indoor Track and Field Championships Feb. 7-8 at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

The Homewood girls blew away the competition with 111 points total, far ahead of second-place Pelham (51 points), to claim their fourth consecutive indoor state championship.

The Patriots boys faced a stiffer challenge but edged Opelika 84.5-76 to win their third consecutive title and their sixth in eight years. It’s the second time the Homewood boys have won three consecutive indoor state championships.

“I would think in terms of a dynasty that this track program has been pretty special with what we’ve been able to accomplish,” Homewood coach Tom Esslinger said.

The Patriots swept all six state titles during the 2018-2019 school year, winning both the boys and girls crowns in cross-country, indoor track and outdoor track.

“If we can do it again, it would be pretty special,” Esslinger said.

The Patriots are two-thirds of the way there. They swept the 2019 cross-

See HOMEWOOD, page 31

Members of the Hoover girls indoor track and field team with their Class 7A state championship trophy. Bucs Run Away With 7A Crowns

By RuBin GRant

When the Hoover girls indoor track and field team finished a disappointing fourth in the 2019 state meet, Chakiya Plummer wasn’t anywhere around.

She was in Powder Springs, Georgia, attending McEachern High School.

But at the end of the last school year, Plummer’s family decided to move to Hoover. That decision has proven to be a godsend for the Bucs’ girls track program.

With Plummer leading the way in her first state meet with the Bucs, Hoover recaptured the Class 7A girls state title at the 50th Alabama High School Association Indoor Track and Field Championships Feb. 7-8 at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

Plummer, a junior, claimed two individual gold medals, winning the 400-meter in 56.65 seconds and 60-meter hurdles in 8.73 seconds. She also claimed gold as Hoover’s 4x400-

Nick Smith, top, defeated Huntsville’s Zander Fields by an 8-0 major decision to earn his first state championship and finish the season with a 37-3 record.

No Worries

Hoover’s Smith Relaxes, Then Dominates to Earn State Wrestling Title

By RuBin E. GRant

Hoover junior Nick Smith had an odd feeling before his Class 7A, 120pound state championship wrestling match.

“I’m usually stressed out before a match, but this time I kind of felt like I knew the outcome before it happened,” Smith said. “I was joking around and having fun.”

Bucs wrestling coach Jacob Gaydosh also noticed Smith’s seemingly carefree demeanor.

“He was very relaxed,” Gaydosh said. “I don’t remember him being that way going into a match. Just before the match, I said, ‘I love you, Nick,’ and he just answered back, ‘I love you too, coach.’”

Smith said there was a good reason for his pre-match disposition last Saturday at the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s 65th State Wrestling Championships at the Von Braun Center’s Propst Arena in Huntsville.

“I was really feeling myself,” he said. “Sometimes you have that feeling and sometimes you don’t. (Saturday), I had it.”

Smith’s confidence showed on the mat as he defeated Huntsville’s Zander Fields by an 8-0 major decision to earn his first state championship and finish the season with a 37-3 record.

“A lot of preparation and hard work went into the match,” Smith said. “The coaches did a good job of getting me ready. They told me I just needed to wrestle.”

The 5-foot-7-inch Smith entered the state tournament ranked No. 1 at 120 pounds in Class 7A, so he was favored to win. And he acted the part. He pinned Lindrix Cooper of Jeff Davis in 1:11 in his first match, then pinned Thompson’s Cory Jones in 4:27 in the semifinals.

“I knew I was the best in state, so I had more of a mindset to just actually wrestle and prove it,” Smith said.

Smith finished runner-up at 113 pounds with a 46-7 record as a sophomore in 2019, falling to Thompson senior Dylan Lesueur by a 14-2 major decision in the championship match.

The defeat motivated Smith this season.

“Being runner-up obviously hurt a lot,” Smith said. “I felt like I was gaining on (Lesueur) each time we wrestled, then that happened.

“I knew to win a state championship you have to do everything right, so I kept that mindset all year, during the offseason at Ironclad (Wrestling Club in Trussville) and in season with Hoover.”

It took some time for it to sink in that he was actually a state champion.

“It was kind of surreal,” Smith said. “I don’t even think I heard them say over the loudspeaker, ‘Nick Smith, state champion.’ I didn’t know how to react. I kind of thought I knew what it would feel like, but it was so much better. I was totally happy.”

Gaydosh was delighted to see Smith’s hand raised in victory as a state champion.