LOXLEY, Alabama—The pathways of Loxley Municipal Park were pounded by the feet of 127 high-school varsity runners Saturday for the Baldwin County Cross Country Championships.

Fairhope's Hannah Evans, junior, and Thomas Grace, a senior, finished first in their divisions to claim the girls and boys individual county crowns for the Pirate-Nation fans while the team titles went to the Pirates for the boys and Spanish Fort's Lady Toros for the girls.

Grace pulled away early and finished with a sweet 16 minutes, 40.51 seconds with Baldwin County High's Cody Parker the runner-up with a 17:09.22 and Daphne's Alex Guillory third in 17:16.18 edging out Trojan teammate John Alan Walker. Seven boys turned in sub-18-minute times. Three were Pirates including Caleb Casolero in fifth and Tyler Pharez in seventh. Pharez and Spanish Fort’s Tyler Orem had the closest finish among the leaders with Orem nipping into sixth place by 0.51 seconds.

Evans also took the lead quickly and extended to finish under 20 minutes at 19:23.76 on the 3.1-mile course. Daphne sophomore Kaleigh Akers was second overall in 20:24.98 with Spanish Fort freshman Linsey Hrabovsky a near third in 20:28.80. Hrobovsky led teammate Jordan Huber in fourth and three other eighth-grade Lady Toros in the top-15, All-County, medal counts.

Foley was led by Rachel Pigott, Katy Hines and Chelsea Gholson in a packed pride of Lady Lions for fifth, sixth and seventh to take the girls team silver.

“It was a great course and marked real well. Spanish Fort did a great job with preparing the course and hosting the meet," Grace said. He added that he was pleased with his time and proud of his team's finish. "I just went out and ran my race knowing I could count on my teammates to be right there behind me. I’m just really proud of my team and happy we all showed up today to keep the county title in Fairhope. And I’m happy for Hannah, too. She ran a great race today and she’s just an awesome runner and an awesome person and this is her third time winning the county so she’s not done yet, either."

Evans was equally thrilled, not only for herself but for her male schoolmates and competitors who turned in good times as well. “Oh my goodness, it was just a perfect morning to race. I felt good and I was really excited and pumped. I had never run this course before and I like it. Our guys did great and with Thomas winning, I’m just so proud of him and everybody. Everyone did well and I’m so proud of everyone and excited for them. She (Kaleigh Akers) did great today and she’s really getting faster and moving up. But I feel like I’m improving, moving down (faster times) every race. So I’m excited about the

sectionals coming up and going to start getting ready, training for that.”

The young Lady Toros, running with two varsity girls sidelined, outpaced Foley 31-45 for the winning low score. The Lady Pirates edged Robertsdale for third 70-78. For the boys, Fairhope took a 43-53 win over Spanish Fort who nipped Daphne by a single point 53-54 for second. Foley was fourth with a 113, Baldwin County fifth with 126 and

Robertsdale rounded out the scoring at 143.

SFHS coach Michael Rauch said his young girls team did a great job under less than optimal conditions.

“We’ve had some bad luck with two out, really three counting one that’s out for the year. So we ran a pretty limited team and still won. So I’m proud and it’s nice to have that depth. With two seniors and everybody else sophomores, freshmen and middle school.

"But they have all worked hard all year. On paper I think our boys are probably ranked fifth or sixth (State Class 5A) with four seniors and the rest mostly middle schoolers so the future looks bright with so many of the young guys running well today."

Fairhope cross-country and track veteran seniors Pharez and Zack Davis remember the Spanish Fort domination of their eighth-grade and freshman years and are proud they have been part of the first Pirate team to turn it around and maintain the boys title.

"It’s definitely great to get that championship under our belts for the third year in a row," Pharez said. "There are no words to describe how awesome it really is to keep it at Fairhope. I remember Spanish Fort winning it when I was a freshman. But we started my sophomore year and I hope the guys can keep it going next year. It’s something special."

Davis said he felt a little pressure with the title streak on the line but believed his teammates running together could get it done. "We thought it might be tight. We knew Spanish Fort would be up there with us. And Daphne would be a force, too. But we had confidence in ourselves that we could do it. We just went out and looked to beat every Daphne and Spanish Fort kid that we could see."

Runners rounding out the Girls All-County Top-15 medalists included Hannah Frain, 8 (SFHS); Gabrielle Chunn, 9 (RHS); Brittany Boudreaux, 10 (SFHS); Megan Edwards, 11 (DHS); Sarah Carrico, 12 (SFHS); Kara McKinney, 13 (Fairhope); Jordan Peterson, 14 (DHS) and Kara Wells, 15 (RHS).

Additional Top-15 Boys earning All-County medals were Henry Bailey, 8 (Foley); Chris Walding, 9 (DHS); Ross Nelson, 10 (SFHS); Conner Irion, 11 (SFHS); Seth Quimby, 12 (SFHS); Josh Doege, 13 (Fairhope); Matthew Pierda, 14 (Fairhope) and Kevin Jones, 15 (SFHS).