Both Cross Country Teams Finish in Top 10 at State

Both Cross Country teams finish in Top 10 at 2022 State Meet

The St. Michael girls and boys cross country teams completed the 2022 season with Top 10 finishes at the AHSAA State Meet on Nov. 5, 2022, at the Indian Mounds Park in Danville, Ala. The St. Michael boys placed sixth and the girls finished 10th, each out of 16 finalist teams that had qualified for State. There are 65 schools in AHSAA’s 4A classification.

Junior Elisa Christensen led the girls team with a time of 22:09, placing 37th out of 147 runners. The team had previously qualified for State by finishing among the top four teams in 4A’s Section 1, a meet in Montgomery from Oct. 27. 

“We were glad that we made it to State because Sectionals was when we went really hard,” said Christensen. “Not everybody makes it to State. I was actually more nervous for Sectionals -- it was very stressful because we had to get certain places in order to qualify for State.”

Now in her third year, head coach Shannon Blythe led both teams of Cardinal runners. Amy Lyon, in her first year at St. Michael as a Spanish teacher, joined this fall as assistant coach. 

“My favorite part about the team is being in the family,” Christensen said. “Our coaches are very nice. It is such a positive atmosphere; there was nothing negative. It’s such an inclusive team.”

Freshman Sophia Prouty finished just one second behind Christensen. The other three Cardinals who contributed to the team score (in a system that counts the top five finishers) were sophomore Natalia Pyatt, junior Lexi Kruse, and senior Izzy Garriz.  

For the boys, senior Patrick Andrews led the way with a 16th place individual finish, clocking in at 17:30. 

“It was fun running a race at such a serious level,” said Andrews. “It was not laid back because it was State. It’s the last race of the season and with the rain and the overcast mood, it was the embodiment of what a cross country race should be.” 

Junior Ryan Lankford was named St. Michael's Kalifeh Kurth Accounting Student Athlete of the Week after his State Meet performance -- a personal best of 18:00 on the 5K course, good for a 21st place individual finish overall and second place on the team.  

The other three Cardinals who scored for the team were senior Jake Andrews, junior Samir Crooker, and sophomore Oliver Hemby. 

Andrews, who has been a captain of the cross country team for the previous two years, indicated that most of the runners are already looking forward to the spring track season.

“My favorite part is the bonds I’ve made with people on the team,” he said. “People don’t realize it, but you’re running basically every day of the year with them -- especially if they’re running track. It makes you close to people to run with them every day, including making you friends with people you normally wouldn’t have been friends with.”