E.A. Sports Today

Upon further review …

Albertville boys restored to Creekbank champions after meet officials revisit uniform rule; Pleasant Valley second

By East Alabama Sports Today

OHATCHEE – The Pleasant Valley boys cross country team left the Creekbank Invitational Saturday with winner’s plaque in hand thinking it had its second win of the season.

Not so fast, my fast friends.

A re-visiting of the AHSAA uniform rule that elevated the Raiders into first place at the meet returned Albertville’s Victor Bravo to a third-place counter, giving the Aggies the points necessary to pass Pleasant Valley for the team title.

Because of the initial ruling Albertville counted a 42 as its fifth score. Instead, the third-place finish gave it 67 team points. PV (87) was second, with Oxford (89) third.

The confusion stemmed from Albertville’s contingent of runners arriving at the meet wearing a variety of uniform styles for what amounted to separate teams. Since the Aggies didn’t declare separate teams for the meet, the AHSAA rulebook says race officials should have given them a warning, with a second occurance bringing disqualifying. That was the interpretation made Monday.

PV coach Brad Hood said he wasn’t aware there was such a rule, but didn’t seem overly distressed over the scoring change.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “I tell my kids all these races we do are just practice for the state meet. It’s no bid deal.

“The biggest thing for me was it’s a gauge for us in the county. For my girls, we’re looking at the big picture, at the state title. For the boys, we’re looking at winning county. We’re going to win sectionals; winning county is the big thing. We’re going into practice tomorrow focusing on county.”

The Calhoun County Meet is Oct. 20 at Oxford Lake. Albertville will not be there.

CREEKBANK INVITATIONAL
Adjusted scoring

1. Albertville 71, 2. Pleasant Valley 87, 3. Oxford 89, 4. Southside-Gadsden 122, 5. Gadsden City 127, 6. McEachern 136, 7. Alexandria 137, 8. Ohatchee 171, 9. Central-Clay County 264, 10. White Plains 292, 11. Lincoln 301, 12. Faith Christian 325, 13. Cedar Bluff 360, 14. Sacred Heart 427.

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