MOBILE — It was the running away of the Toros Saturday at the University of South Alabama’s Azalea City Cross Country Classic at Battleship Park as the Spanish Fort varsity won the boys 5K event.

The Toros topped McGill Toolen Catholic 26-51 with Brett Hanke (16:55.5) the overall winner, teammates Ben Redman second, Wren Smith fifth and Trevor Stevens ninth and Andrew Hollingsworth 13th to complete the scoring five. Daphne's Miles Bowman was seventh to round out the top-10 local Baldwin runners. Reese McCall and Dylan Sheridan came in 15th and 16th for SF and Coy Graham finished 19th to lead Baldwin County High's Tigers.

UMS-Wright won the varsity girls 21-125 over Cottage Hill Christian. SFHS was a near third at 130. Daphne's Amber Powell was the top Baldwin runner at seventh, Martha-Jayne Keglor of SFHGS was 12th, Ariel Hudson of Fairhope 13th, Ayne Delgado SFHS 14th, Mary-Payne Watson of Fairhope 15th, Amanda Pierce of Fairhope 17th and Kayla Olson of Daphne 19th.

It was Hanke's second win in three races over three weeks. The sophomore who was second in the nation in the freshman mile last spring on the track said he's learning to adjust to cross-country conditions over different terrain and weather situations.

"It's definitely a learning experience," he said. "The mud got stuck in my shoes, but the mud was fun. Last week I went out too fast. Ran my mile pace and got into O2 (oxygen) debt. Today I ran my 5K pace, took it slower to start and it worked out."

SF coach Chris Schmidt was pleased with both of his teams.

I was very pleased on both sides (girls and boys)," he said. "Martha-Jayne Keglor ran extremely well for us. She and our No. 2 runner Ayne Delgado were very aggressive and ran hard right after it. On the boys side, we knew times weren't going to be that great with the muddy conditions but we ran well. Hanke did a great job and his time was pretty good. The Navarre (High School) guy pushed him the first mile and a half, but he left him. Bennie was aggressive. He was second and ran well for us too. Trevor was sick, but he sucked it up and ran tough for us. Wren ran well, too. He stepped up and went after it. I'm proud of all our runners."

DHS coach Joe Hutchins was pleased with the top-10 efforts of his seniors Bowman and Amber Powell, especially Powell who changed her strategy for the race.

"We've talked about this taking off faster before," he said. "What she needs to do is go out faster and stay with the leaders early. She's not going to lose the endurances there. She just needs to keep getting that quick start and then keep her stride up and she can stay with it. She did great."

Powell said the faster early pace paid off. "I worked really hard to stay up there at the front with those girls, but they're really good. The mud really slowed me down because I have to take about three steps for everyone of theirs. But that's just the way it is, I guess."

SF and other county schools will be at Daphne this Saturday in the Trojans' Invitational.

“This is the ninth year of the meet and it has always been a fun opportunity for local teams,” Daphne coach Joe Hutchins said of the Trojans’ Invitational. “I think many of the spectators enjoy the course set up and the great spots to view the race. The runners get a chance to run through narrow trails, steep hills and a sleuth of obstacles not offered at the average course.”

The Trojans’ Invitational will start Saturday morning at 8:30 when the boys and girls junior varsity teams begin. The varsity girls will run at 9:15 a.m. and the varsity boys will run at 10 a.m.