HOOVER- Nothing like starting a new season on a high note, and that’s exactly what the cross country program at James Clemens accomplished by having a great overall showing at the Spain Park Twilight Meet held in Hoover.

The boys from James Clemens won the varsity division while the girls were runner-up. Both boys and girls squads from James Clemens took third place in the Junior Varsity division competition.

In varsity boys, Luke Alverson was the overall champion with a winning time of 16-minutes, seven-seconds as his performance led the Jets placing five among the top 10 runners. Fourth place went to Cole Robinson (16:42), fifth place was grabbed by Dylan Dryer (17:03), eighth place went to Andrew Gohlich (17:35) and 10^th place was taken by Ronan Barnes (17:46).

All of the top 15 finishers were named All-Elite in the event held on what could be called a hilly course through woods and around a pond. The meet was held under the lights to try and beat the recent heatwave that was ahold of the area. Special LED portable lights were set up throughout the course.

The final team standings included 1. James Clemens 28 (17:00 avg.), 2. Oak Mt. 47 (17:32 avg.).

In girls, James Clemens scored 46 points with a 21:40 average to finish runner-up to Oak Mountain which had 35 points and a 21:38 average. The Lady Jets had six girls finish among the top 15 making the All-Elite squad. Those Jets were led by overall runner-up Kylie Gero (19:54) along with 5. Emma Bothern (21:12), 12. Makenzie Parker (22:18), 13. Ella Carter (22:27), 14. Brooke Bogardus (22:29), 15. Ashlyn Diehl (22:36).

The JV competition for James Clemens featured Kaley Gilman in fourth (24:25) while the boys were led by Dillon Tremblay (20:49) who finished 17^th. In James Clemens’ Middle School efforts, fourth place in girls went to Adriana Gadomski (14:59) and Thomas Freeman in sixth place (12:36).