By Justin Graves
The Cullman Times
FAIRVIEW —
When William Calvert walked around the corner and held up two fingers, smiles were plentiful in the St. Bernard Prep camp.
Two fingers meant a new piece of hardware was heading to St. Bernard’s trophy case. But better yet, it was a sign that more could be coming in the near future.
And that’s what the St. Bernard cross country program is aiming for under Calvert — a recent inductee into the Cullman County Sports Hall of Fame.
“When we first started I told the team to look in the trophy case and notice that there wasn’t a state trophy in there,” Calvert said. “And with the athletes we have, if they work hard, they can eventually change that.”
If St. Bernard wants to start collecting cross country trophies, then the Saints took a step in the right direction Saturday morning at the Fairview Invitational. The Saints edged Class 6A Gadsden City by two points, finishing second behind perennial small-school power Cold Springs in the 13-team meet.
St. Bernard’s cross country team got a boost a few weeks ago when the school announced that its football program had forfeited the 2010 season. Calvert immediately bolstered his roster with football players who wanted to participate in a fall sport, and the Saints are already reaping the rewards.
“The guys we picked up, they’re athletes,” Calvert said. “And it’s like I’ve told them, they can be pretty good if they put in the work.”
That showed in the season-opening meet.
Trailing Arab’s William Cody Hanson with approximately 100 yards remaining the varsity boys 5K, St. Bernard’s Will Faulk started his kick. That’s when an intense foot race to the finish line began.
Faulk managed to pass Williams with less than 15 yards remaining, giving the Saints distance runner a third-place finish overall with a time of 18:19.88.
Cold Springs junior Blake Calvert finished fifth overall at 18:39.12, while his teammate Lucas Marsh took eighth place at 19:41.73.
In the varsity girls 5K, St. Bernard’s Ayleana Mami finished fifth overall with a 23:11.89. The Cold Springs girls took fifth place in the team standings, finishing behind Pisgah, Arab, Decatur and Madison Academy respectively.
Cold Springs also took second place in the junior varsity boys meet, while Vinemont took third and St. Bernard finished fifth.
In the junior varsity girls meet, Cold Springs finished fifth.
The fifth annual Fairview Invitational, which has opened the local cross country season since 2006, was the largest yet, according to Fairview coach Rick McDonald.
“Coach (Hobson) Hite started this, and it’s turned into a pretty good event,” McDonald said. “It’s gotten bigger every year, and hopefully that will continue.”
• Justin Graves can be reached by phone at 734-2131, ext. 257 or by e-mail at jgraves@cullmantimes.com.
