Scary good

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: October 15, 2016

McEachern boys, Nunnelly-led Alexandria girls lead the day at Terrortorium on the Creekbank 5K at Oxford Lake

McEachern boys race winner Justin Seymour brings the lead pack past a ghoul in the woods during Ohatchee’s Terrortorium 5K at Oxford Lake. Pleasant Valley’s Matisse Miller is at the rear; he suffered a leg injury midway through the race. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

OXFORD — Everyone wants to have their fastest time when they run the course at Oxford Lake, but it’s a lot easier to do when there are chainsaw-wielding ghouls popping out of the woods at every turn.

As the name suggests, Ohatchee’s Terrortorium on the Creekbank 5K is more than just a high school cross-country race. Sure, it’s a pseudo-preview of the Calhoun County Championship to be run there in two weeks, but with the novelty of a distinct Halloween-themed flavor.

The boys from McEachern and the girls from Alexandria scared up the individual and team titles in their respective races at Saturday’s scare-a-thon. McEachern junior Justin Seymour (17:28.58) scored his first career win in the boys race, while Alexandria sophomore Abby Nunnelly (19:52.83) murdered the field in the girls race, winning by more than a minute and a half.

With Seymour leading the charge, the Indians placed three runners in the top five and all five counters in the top 13, beating runner-up Ashville by 37 points. Pleasant Valley finished third despite losing top runner Matisse Miller to a leg injury in the middle of the race. Ohatchee was fourth and Alexandria fifth.

The Alexandria girls placed all five of their counters in the top 10 and their first seven in the top 18 with several personal bests and beat Ohatchee by 23 points. Ashville had the first three finishers behind Nunnelly, but finished third.

“It was a neat experience, it really was,” Valley Cubs coach Phillip Hartsfield said. “The Terrortorium guys were great. It was hot when they came out here all decked out in their clown outfits and all that type stuff; it was neat to see Michael Myers walking out through there.

“I actually did have one girl (seventh grader Katie Snow) who got scared and ran really good at the end of the race. She said it scared her and she finished faster than she thought she would (23:35.24).”

Race winner Nunnelly said the sight of all those scary creatures roaming the grounds got her adrenaline flowing. The monsters didn’t actually chase the runners – that didn’t come until the Open race later – but they were strategically placed around the course for maximum effect.

“I had a bunch of adrenaline, so it was easier this race than any other race — even Jesse Owens and that’s my favorite run; this one was just really easy,” she said. “I guess because it’s before county. I really want to win county this year and the county champion (Jacksonville’s Rebecca Hearn) wasn’t here. I guess that’s really driving me because this is the county course and I really want to do good.”

For Seymour, the fourth time running the Oxford Lake course was the charm. He finished second in last year’s Waffle House Invitational and finished increasingly farther back every start since. While all that has been frustrating, what truly motivated him to win Saturday was not doing well in his last race.

“I didn’t get the time I’m supposed to make and was mad at myself; I wanted to be in the 17s and was 18:01,” he said. “This time I had to get it right. I had no choice.”

All he did was run a personal best. It was about a minute faster than the time he posted finishing second here last September.

For all the good-natured frightening going on, the scariest moment of the day came midway through the boys race when Miller fell to the ground during the second mile with what he believes is a pulled right hamstring. It’s the same leg he injured over the summer that delayed the start of his season.

He was running third at the time and “feeling fine” despite a rushed warm-up, but fell to the ground in a barrel roll as his leg locked and he felt “probably the most pain I’ve ever experienced.” When he tried to get up and couldn’t put pressure on his leg he knew “something’s up.”

By late Saturday evening he reported being able to walk again, but the pain had shifted to his back and hips. He is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday. He anticipates being able to run in the county meet, where he is the favorite, but “we’ll have to play it by ear.”

If Miller can’t go, it opens the favorite’s role in the county meet to a number of possibilities – Miller teammate Daniel Gladen, Ohatchee’s Gabe Hammonds and Blake Noah, Oxford’s Reed Robinson, Alexandria’s Luis Rodriguez.

Hammonds and Noah were the fastest Calhoun County runners in Saturday’s boys race, and both were fighting through injuries. Hammonds recently tweaked his back playing basketball and stepped in a hole late in the race; he finished fourth (17:56.85). Noah, running his first race since last year’s state championship meet, finished sixth (18:20.87). He’s been battling a disease that affects the tendons in his knees.

“I’ve been looking forward to this a lot; I just couldn’t wait,” Noah said. “Today I just wanted to try to get it as low as I could, just try to stay up with Gabe.”

Alexandria’s Abby Nunnelly won the girls race by more than 90 seconds, has eye on winning Calhoun County Championship. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)

TERRORTORIUM ON THE CREEKBANK 5K
Presented by Ohatchee, at Oxford Lake Park

Boys Race
Team standings: McEachern 34, Ashville 71, Pleasant Valley 80, Ohatchee 127, Alexandria 140, Pisgah 185, Saks 228, Bibb County 229, Central-Clay County 243, Faith Christian 262, Cedar Bluff 287, Donoho 303, Sacred Heart 365, Leeds 424.

Top 15 individuals
Justin Seymour, McEachern 17:28.58
Daniel Tully, Ashville 17:42.19
Robert Jordan, McEachern 17:50.51
Gabe Hammonds, Ohatchee 17:56.85
Timmy Vanjohnson, McEachern 18:10.52
Blake Noah, Ohatchee 18:20.87
John Michael Norris, Ashville 18:26.44
Luis Rodriguez, Alexandria 18:31.65
Daniel Gladen, Pleasant Valley 18:33.76
Coleman Haynes, Pleasant Valley 18:34.79
Gannon Womack, Alexandria 18:58.56
Sergio Leija, McEachern 19:00.27
Sammy Corella, McEachern 19:09.31
Cameron Johnson, McEachern 19:10.23
Jase Moore, Pisgah 19:13.57
Others
(Fastest from other Calhoun County teams)
20. Rayburn Price, Saks 19:31.80
21. Kam Thomas, Donoho 19:34.77
23. Jack Sills, Faith Christian 19:38.03
29. Michael Astidullo, Sacred Heart 19:56.41

Girls Race
Team standings: Alexandria 33, Ohatchee 56, Ashville 65, Pisgah 85, Cedar Bluff 156, Bibb County 173, Faith Christian 194, Saks 213.

Top 15 individuals
Abby Nunnelly, Alexandria 19:52.83
Meghan McCarthy, Ashville 21:29.53
Callie Stewart, Ashville 21:46.71
Kathleen McCarthy, Ashville 21:50.78
Jayda Fair, Ohatchee 22:12.34
Sarah Kilgore, Alexandria 22:14.26
Destiny Heathcock, Alexandria 22:14.93
Kourtney Shuler, Ohatchee 22:22.44
Molly Parker, Alexandria 22:27.60
Michaela Watts, Alexandria 22:29.40
X-Libby Davis, Donoho 22:56.18
Kelleigh Joiner, Pisgah 22:57.85
Brittany Caywood, Ohatchee 22:58.45
Victoria McRaney, Ohatchee 22:59.04
Kristen York, Pisgah 23:05.62
Others
(Fastest from other Calhoun County teams)
27. Shelley Phillips, Faith Christian 24:53.82
46. Katelin Dill, Saks 26:48.27
x-not counting toward team scoring