DAPHNE — Brett Hanke ran a personal best Saturday at the Daphne Invitational cross-country meet Saturday and led the Spanish Fort Toros to a repeat win while Charlotte Gill of Bayside Academy took fourth place and helped the Lady Admirals to the varsity girls' title.

Considered one of the toughest high-school courses due to steep and steady inclines, the high humidity added much to the degree of difficulty to the annual Trojan challenge.

Rounding out the top teams for the girls were Bayside with 58 points, Faith Academy, 83 and Baker a close third with 87. For the boys, SF turned in a near perfect 19 to blast Baker's 71 and Daphne' 88.

Both the conditions and the terrain made Hanke's 16:27:15 time even more remarkable. "I'm pleased with the time," he said.

"Especially with the heat, but I'm really proud of my team. We didn't have Wren (Smith) with us today — he's in a wedding — so we knew we knew we would have to run smart and everybody would have to step up and they did."

SFHS coach Chris Schmidt was proud of his team. "It was great performance, today," he said. "We didn't have Wren today so we had to run smart and I expected my six and seven runners to step up and Reese McCall did and finished seventh overall. The first mile was a little fast, about 4:30 and some change, but overall I was pleased. We're just building up for next week. Our girls are working hard. Martha-Jayne Keglor and Ayne Delgado were both in the top 10. In JV, the guys won it. Jack Walker won it and so the future looks good for us."

Bayside coach Alan Foster was also pleased with his team, especially since it was the first time Bayside had run the DHS meet in several years.

"Our pack ran very strong with Charlotte, Georgia, Izzy, Iris, Morgan, Katie and Sarah. Really happy with their effort. They have been working really hard the last five, six weeks. They came out and ran a really tough course well on a hot day. I was very impressed with their effort today. Our boys competed hard. We were without Stew (Shoemaker) who's on a recruiting trip to Columbia (University). We're rebuilding right now, but I'm proud of the effort they are putting into it."

Daphne coach Joe Hutchins said the meet went well. "The course was great today. A little bit hot, but the winning times were fast and good for the terrain we run on. I think with the hills and the trails it's challenging but most of the kids enjoy it." Hutchins was especially proud of his seniors Miles Bowman and Amber Powell who finished third and second in their races.

"I'm really proud of them," he said. "Miles and Amber are improving every week and it's showing on Saturday because they're moving up and taking up higher and higher places and they're setting a great example to the younger kids. We're working on getting everybody in shape and looking forward to the county meet and the rest of the season."

Powell took the lead from Murphy's Alivia Bryars near the midpoint and held until the last 500 yards when girls winner Danielle Norris of Cottage Hill took over. "This is one of the tougher courses for sure," Powell said. "I felt pretty good until that last hill. That's when she passed me. She's got a good kick."

Individual results

Boys: 1. Brett Hanke, Spanish Fort, 16:27.15; 2. Ben Redman, Spanish Fort, 17:24.20; 3. Miles Bowman, Daphne, 17:46.43; 4. Andrew Hollingsworth, Spanish Fort; 5. Trevor Stevens, Spanish Fort; 6. J.H. Currie, Cottage Hill; 7. Reese McCall, Spanish Fort; 8. Colby Verdin, Cottage Hill; 9. Victor Autry, Baker; 10. Ryan Archie, Baker.

Girls: 1. Danielle Norris, Cottage Hill, 21:19.96; 2. Amber Powell, Daphne, 21:28.3; 3. Alivia Bryars, Murphy, 21:45. 71; 4. Charlotte Gill, Bayside Academy; 5. Kelsey Kunstadt , Murphy; 6. Ayne Delgado, Spanish Fort; 7. Georgia Robles, Bayside Academy; 8. Carlie Nygra, Baker; 9. Martha-Jayne Keglor, Spanish Fort; 10. Sam Stackpole, Faith Academy.