MADISON- The James Clemens and Bob Jones boys and girls teams have qualified for the AHSAA Cross Country State Meet to be held in nearby Moulton. The boys from James Clemens won the Sectional while the girls finished runner-up.

The James Clemens’ boys had the best race ever in the history of the program. Not only did the squad win the Sectional outscoring runner-up Huntsville 27-28 while Bob Jones was fourth (128), the squad’s top five runners all finished among the top 10. Those finishers included 1. Luke Alverson 15:16.04, 2. Cole Robinson 15:41.69, 5. Dylan Dryer 15:53.27, 9. Andrew Gohlich 16:20.39 and 10. Ronan Barnes 16:29.69. In all, there were 86 participants in the boys who took to the course at Palmer Park.

In addition to their placements, both Alverson and Robinson finished ahead of Eric Moore of Huntsville High who is the No. 1 rated runner in Class 7A from across Alabama. In addition, of the 234 boys teams in Alabama, James Clemens is ranked No. 2 among all of the programs just behind Huntsville with the Panthers winning the State Championship four out of the last six years.

The Sparkman boys finished in eighth place 240.

In girls, Huntsville took the competition scoring 30 points compared to runner-up James Clemens with 43 while Bob Jones was third 68, and Sparkman fifth 152.

James Clemens qualified for the State Meet for the seventh consecutive year. The Lady Jets were led by Sectional champion Kylie Gero who set a new school record of 18:32.84, 3. Emma Bothern, James Clemens, 19:07.78, 6. Ami Marks, Bob Jones, 19:40.94, 9. Makenzie Parker, James Clemens, 19:53.79, 10. Molly Halter, Bob Jones, 19:59.36 and 12. Ella Carter, James Clemens, 20:02.43.

The final team tally included 3. Bob Jones 68 and 5. Sparkman 152.

This is the first time since 2011 Bob Jones has qualified both its boys and girls squad for the State Meet.