In perhaps the loneliest of all sports – running – The Huntsville Times Male Athlete of the Year Eric Moore excelled the most when he was helping his team.

Huntsville High School cross country coach Blake Borden said the “biggest driving force behind Eric’s success is that he’s motivated by team success.”

Moore, who will run for the University of Virginia next fall, leaves the Crimson Panthers as a three-time first-team All-State selection, the 2024 Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 7A cross country state champion, the 2024-25 Gatorade Alabama Boys Cross Country Player of the Year and his school’s record-holder in the 5K, the 2-mile run, the mile run and the 800-meter run.

His 14:52.81 finish in the ’24 cross country state championships led his team to its ninth title and fifth of the past seven. In the 2025 outdoor track 7A state meet, Moore anchored Huntsville to a championship in the 4×800-meter relay.

“Whenever the team is relying on him, that’s him at his best,” Borden said. “The four best races of his career were all cross country races where the team was relying on him to be the No. 1 guy. In indoor or outdoor track, it’s been the relay races.

“There’s a lot to unpack when you’re talking about Eric. Obviously, his accolades speak for his talent. A lot of coaches use it as a cliché, but really and truly he is the most humble kid I’ve ever coached at his level,” said the coach, who is entering his 10th year at Huntsville with five titles and three runner-up finishes in cross country. “There are probably four or five guys in the same ballpark talent-wise, although he’s probably a little above the others, but he is super humble. He’s always been very coachable and a team-first guy.”

The 5-foot-8, 120-pound Moore was also named the High School Boys Athlete of the Year in the Rocket City Awards. He earned a 4.04 weighted grade point average, was a member of the National Honor Society and volunteered at the First Baptist Church and with the Huntsville Track Club.

Moore’s cross country title win was the fourth-fastest finish in AHSAA state championships history. He also had the best time for an Alabama runner in the Great American XC Festival to finish sixth and seventh in the NXN Southeast Regional.

“Eric is the epitome of what our program is,” Borden said. “You can see a little more out of an individual in cross country than you can in indoor or outdoor track. The question comes up a lot from coaches around the state, ‘How are you getting them to do that well in cross country and not quite as well in track?’ I just kind of boil it down to when team success is on the line, they give a bit more.”

Borden said Moore and three teammates have competed in the New Balance Nationals for the past three years. In the medley distance relay – where the first leg is a 1,200-meter run, followed by 400-meter leg, an 800-meter run and then a mile run final leg – Moore ran the anchor position.

“According to my research,” he said, “in the spring of 2024, they had the fastest DMR time in state history for high schools. Maybe there was a team in the 1970s or ’80s that I can’t find, but since the ’90s there hadn’t been a faster DMR time.

“This year, Vestavia Hills ran a second faster than that, right before my guys went to New Balance in Boston and ran 10 seconds faster. Eric anchored with a 4:07 mile outdoors, the fastest he’s ever run. They were third in the nationals, a second behind winning the national championship. That’s what a relay can bring out. Eric was in 11th place when he got the baton and he got them up to third.”

Borden said he expects Moore to continue to excel at UVA. “Eric’s going to a great program led by a legend in the sport in coach Vin Lananna. He has a history of national championships at Stanford (five) and Oregon (six). Obviously, it’s an incredible academic school.

“For the first time since he was probably 14 years old, Eric’s not going to be the best guy on his team,” Borden said. “That will be really, really interesting and what he needs. At end of his career here, he was without a teammate who could push him in practice. To see that kind of improvement where in a lot of workouts he’s flying solo was incredible. He’s just that phenomenal of a runner.

“If he gets in the right situation with the right teammates where he’s really challenged, he could do some special things.”