Passion for Volleyball: Husband, wife team prepare female athletes for success at Blockout Academy Page 27
SPORTS
Thursday, September 23, 2021 ❖ OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL
Friendly Battle: Bennett Meredith, Hoover get the better of Evan Smith, Oak Mountain Page 26
SHUTDOWN
Defense Stepping Up for Unbeaten Spartans By Rubin E. Grant
Reagan Riley won the 3,200 meters (10:47.41) and finished second in the 1,600 (4:59.45), helping the Spartans to another runner-up finish at the AHSAA 2021 Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
‘Glory to Glory’ Mountain Brook’s Reagan Riley is Having Fun Being Healthy and Running Cross-Country
By Rubin E. Grant
peted in the Chickasaw Trails Invitational at Oakville Indian Mounds Park near Moulton. She finished second eagan Riley is running cross-country again and with a time of 17:56.86 behind Vestavia Hills senior nothing could please her more, especially after Crawford West, who won with a time of 17:36.52 to earn AHSAA Cross Country Spotlight for the week. what she went through last year. “She’s so good,” Riley said of West. “It’s always good Riley, a junior at Mountain Brook High to race against her.” School, missed most of her sophomore cross-country seaThe two crossed paths again last Saturday at the son because of hip surgery. Southern Showcase with close to 300 runners competing She had a torn labrum in her hip, a mix of genetics and from several states at John Hunt overworking, she said. She had surRunning Park in Huntsville. Riley gery Sept. 11, 2020, but came back ‘She has grown up and again finished second but this time to sooner than expected, pushing her herAbby Faith Cheeseman from The self in rehab to get back to doing what overcome so much. Webb School in Bell Buckle, she loves. She’s definitely the Tennessee. Riley clocked 17:27.71 in “The prescribed time of recovery the 5K race while Cheeseman won was three to four months, but I leader of our team with a time of 17:19.43. West was returned in eight weeks,” Riley said. and a leader in the third, clocking 17:53.81. Riley returned in time to compete in the Alabama High School Athletic community, someone Family Affair Association state cross-country meet, who’s looked up to.’ Riley comes from a family of runbut she wasn’t in tip-top condition, ners. Her dad, Richard Riley, raced at finishing 18th in the Class 6A race MOUNTAIN BROOK TRACK Mountain Brook and in college at with a time of 20:16.64. Still, she COACH MICHAEL MCGOVERN Furman and Auburn. Her mom, helped the Spartans finish as team Shannon (Simmons) Riley, ran for the runners-up to Homewood. Spartans until the ninth grade. Her This season it’s a completely different story. In the Spartans’ first cross-country meet, Riley three older brothers — Griffin, James and Harris — all ran for the Spartans and made All-State. Griffin also ran at Ole blew away the competition, winning the Warrior 2 Mile Miss and was an All-American. Invitational Sept. 2 with a time of 11:33. So, there was little doubt that Reagan would become a “It’s been incredible, so much fun,” Riley said of her return to cross-country competition at full strength. “I love runner. “I played basketball until my injury, but I’ve always running, especially being together with my team and racloved running more,” she said. “I wouldn’t choose another ing with them.” See RILEY, page 27 On the one-year anniversary of her surgery, Riley com-
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See SPARTANS, page 26
Journal photo by Lee Walls
Journal photo by Jordan Wald
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ountain Brook senior outside linebacker John McMillan woke up last Saturday morning and watched a replay of the Spartans’ game from the night before with his dad, Murphy McMillan. What they saw was another dominating performance by the Spartans’ defense as fifth-ranked Mountain Brook recorded a 31-0 shutout on the road at Shades Valley in a Class 6A, Region 5 game. The Spartans (5-0, 3-0 in Region 5) forced four Shades Valley turnovers and held the Mounties to only 124 yards total offense. Cornerback Mac McCowan and safety Jones Beavers had interceptions and defensive end Gray Doster and linebacker Vaughn Frost had fumble recoveries. For his part, McMillan liked his performance, although he wasn’t sure how ‘Everybody on many tackles he made. “I think I had a good game,” he said. the defensive “I couldn’t even tell you how many side of the ball tackles I had, but it was enough.” Mountain Brook has allowed only 17 has played at a points, yielded only two touchdowns high level.’ and recorded two shutouts in five games. The Spartans blanked Woodlawn MOUNTAIN BROOK 49-0 on Sept. 2. HEAD COACH CHRIS Not bad for a team that returned only YEAGER two full-time starters on defense – McMillan and junior middle linebacker Trent Wright – and two other part-time starters, Beavers and McCowan, from their 2020 team, which reached the Class 6A semifinals. “They’re playing very, very good,” Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager said. “We’ve had some guys who have stepped up. It’s been a collective effort with a number of people making big plays. Everybody on the defensive side of the ball has played at a high level.” Yeager said McMillan has been the leader, “the bellcow.” It’s a role McMillan takes to heart. “I’m stepping up more as a vocal leader,” he said. “Before this year, I was one of those guys who people told what to do, but this year I’m the one telling the young guys what to do and that we can’t
The Spartans’ defense opened the season with an impressive performance in a 33-3 rout of archrival Vestavia Hills. The Spartans held the Rebels to only 118 total yards.
