Boy’s indoor track and field team won first place at the state championships on Feb. 1., providing a satisfying start to their “revenge tour” against Northridge after an undesirable finish to the Outdoor State Championship this past May. Homewood boys collected 99 points across 14 events, won six individual medals and placed second in the 4x400m and 4x800m relays.
The 6A division championship meet, held at the Birmingham Crossplex, featured 35 high schools from across the state.
To qualify for the state meet, only the top 16 athletes from each indoor event are chosen based on their best performance from the entire season. Each school is only permitted two athletes per event.
Senior Colvin Bussey won first place in the 400-meter dash and 800-meter run, then participated with the 4×400-meter relay team. His time of 1:54.33 ranks him No. 16 in the nation for boys 800m.
He credits the collaborative team dynamic along with several months of training for his success on the track.
“We’re all pretty good friends,” Bussey said. “ We have team dinners and include the underclassmen to have a good team chemistry and culture, which is why Homewood has always been really successful.”
Due to unexpected sickness, the top scorer on the girls team was unable to compete in all scheduled events. Despite the circumstances, however, girls track and field teams placed ninth overall with several standout performances.
Junior Eloise Delk placed fourth in pole vault with her season best of 10 feet (3.05m), and Keely Chadha placed seventh, completing her personal best of 9-6 feet (2.9m). Senior Sadie Busbie took fifth place in the shot put with her personal record throw of 34-7.75 (10.65m).
Senior Ada McElroy ran her season best in the 60-meter hurdle preliminaries. She believes the team looked strong in many events and did a good job overall despite not having crucial point-scoring athletes competing.
“Our section, 6A, is extremely competitive,” McElroy said. “[State] didn’t end up how we wanted it to but everyone did the best they could…There’s a lot of very talented seniors this year and I think we all want to go out in the best way we can.”
Head indoor track coach Logan Cornutt could not be more proud of the hard work from the boys and girls teams this season.
“Everybody, I really feel, had a great season,” Cornutt said. “Top to bottom, varsity to JV, in whatever event it was. Our entire team this year really put forth a great effort to really do well.”
Cornutt’s coaching philosophy involves a person-first approach that shapes athletes into better people rather than only appreciating their contributions in medals.
Now that the focus is on the outdoor track season, Cornutt wants his players to come to practice ready to work on improving their skills.
“Indoor season has come and gone, and now it’s time to start a new chapter with outdoor season,” Cornutt said. “We still feel like we have a lot left to prove on the boys and girls side.”
Outdoor track and field athletes plan to continue to win titles for Homewood and begin practice early February. The first varsity meet is on Feb. 20 and the junior varsity meet is Feb. 27.
