Four defending state champions return for the 2024 AHSAA girls’ cross-country season, including the student-athlete who ran the state’s fastest time in 2023.

The returning state champs are Auburn High School junior Sarah Tole in Class 7A, Homewood’s Emma Brooke Levering in 6A, Lawrence County’s Katie Mae Coan in 5A and White Plains’ Maddyn Conn in 4A. Tole clocked 17.37.19 at the 2023 Jesse Owens Classic for the state’s fastest time in 2023 and Levering delivered the fastest time at the North/South All-Star meet last month by clocking 18.41.80 in the very muggy conditions.

An AHSAA release lists 14 competitions scheduled across the state this week.

The return of multiple state champs, as well as 22 runners who broke 19 minutes last year, means there will be plenty of attention on the girls and speculation about whether anyone can challenge the all-time AHSAA state-meet record of 17:03.04 set by Montgomery Catholic’s Amaris Tyynismaa in 2014 or her all-time record of 16:57 set a few weeks later at the Foot Locker South Regional.

There will be new girls’ individual champs in Class 3A and Class 1A-2A for certain, after seniors Reagan Parris of Cold Springs won the 1A-2A title and Whitesburg Christian’s Anna Pierce won the 3A title last season.

Providence Christian won a second straight Class 4A girls’ title in 2023 and fourth straight championship, having won two in a row in 3A before moving up to 4A. The Eagles move up to 5A this season based on the AHSAA’s competitive balance factor. Other cross-country programs moving up based on competitive balance include American Christian and Bayside Academy to Class 6A; Altamont, Bayshore Christian and Whitesburg Christian to Class 4A; and St. Luke’s Episcopal to Class 3A. Montgomery Academy moves down to Class 4A from 5A.

AHSAA cross country teams can compete in their first race on Thursday, with section meets scheduled for Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 at various sites. The 2024 AHSAA State Cross County Championships are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 9, at the Oakville Indian Mounds Park.

On the boys’ side, only one individual state champ – Bayshore Christian’s Caden Phillippi, who won in Class 3A – returns this season. Bayshore moves up to Class 4A, which means all classifications will have a new individual champion crowned in Oakville in November.

Two top returning boys’ runners are Oak Mountain’s John Shoemaker and Huntsville High School’s Eric Moore. They finished No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the 2023 Class 7A state championship race. Moore, however, has the fastest time of any returning athlete after clocking 14:56.17 at the 2023 Alexander/Asics Invitational in Georgia. Shoemaker won last month’s North/South All-Star meet in 15:39.27.

Other top returning boys runners include James Clemens’ Luke Alverson, McGill-Toolen Catholic’s William Porr, Southside-Gadsden’s Evan Christopher and Pell City’s River Richard. Hewitt-Trussville’s Noah Jordan and Mountain Brook’s Brooks Bazemore were the top sophomore runners in 2023 and could move into elite status this season.

Cold Springs’ cross country phenom Ethan Edgeworth, who is now running for the University of Tennessee, finished his prep career last season setting the all-time boys’ AHSAA state cross country meet state record winning the Class 1A-2A state championship with a time of 14:34.29 at Oakville’s Jesse Owens Track, the site of the AHSAA state meet. His time was 26 seconds faster than the Class 7A winning time. Edgeworth finished his career with four straight Class 1A-2A individual state cross country titles and he finished third as an eighth grader in 2019.

Auburn High School is chasing its eighth girls’ Class 7A team title in nine years. Mountain Brook in Class 6A and Lawrence County in Class 5A will be vying for a fourth straight girls’ team title this season.

On the boys’ side, Cold Springs in Class 1A-2A, Mountain Brook in Class 6A and Vestavia Hills in Class 7A can win a third straight team title. Bayshore Christian has won three straight championships – capturing the 1A-2A title in 2021 and 3A in 2022 and 2023 – and another title this year would give them four straight crowns in three different classifications.

Here’s a look back at last year’s 2023 AHSAA individual and team cross country champions:

GIRLS

2023 INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS

Class 7A: Sarah Tole, Auburn, 17:54.94

Class 6A: Emma Brooke Levering, Homewood, 17:46.27

Class 5A: Katie Mae Coan, Lawrence County, 18:33.07

Class 4A: Maddyn Conn, White Plains, 18:30.32

Class 3A: Anna Pierce, Whitesburg Christian, 18:46.61

Class 1A-2A: Reagan Parris, Cold Springs, 19:31.26

2023 TEAM CHAMPIONS

Class 7A: Auburn

Class 6A: Mountain Brook

Class 5A: Lawrence County

Class 4A: Providence Christian

Class 3A: Whitesburg Christian

Class 1A-2A: Cold Springs

BOYS

2023 INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS

Class 7A: Henry Strand, Vestavia Hills, 15:10.49

Class 6A: Charles Perry, UMS-Wright, 15:24.77

Class 5A: Arthur Langley, John Carroll Catholic, 15:35.84

Class 4A: Dakota Frank, Munford, 15:45.05

Class 3A: Caden Phillippi, Bayshore Christian, 15:55.73

Class 1A-2A: Ethan Edgeworth, Cold Springs, 14:34.29

2023 TEAM CHAMPIONS

Class 7A: Vestavia Hills

Class 6A: Mountain Brook

Class 5A: Scottsboro

Class 4A: Providence Christian

Class 3A: Bayshore Christian

Class 1A-2A: Cold Springs

AHSAA CROSS COUNTRY MEET SCHEDULE

Thursday’s Schedule

Bayside Academy Admiral Twilight Invite, Daphne

MAxing 100-Minute MAsh, Montgomery

Smiths Station Panther Stages, Smiths Station HS

SPREAD the LIGHT Glow Run, Dothan

Tadd’s Two-Mile Race, Scottsboro

Wildcat Twilight Race, Anniston

Friday’s Schedule

Friday Night Lights Distance Carnival, Cullman

Bull Frog Pond Classic, Odenville

Saturday’s Schedule

Bob Jones HS Friendly First Chance 2-Miler, Madison

Brooks High School Tennessee River Classic, Florence

CCS #1 Race, Andalusia

Northridge Black & Blue Invitational, Tuscaloosa

Pisgah Invitational, Pisgah

Wildcat Invitational, Mobile