ACA Spring Sports Week in Review - Boys Golf Wins Match Over Pike Road and LAMP

Golf

The boys team defeated Pike Road by three strokes at the Robert Trent Jones course in Prattville on Tuesday. Andrew Whang led the charge with a round of 78 followed by Josh Kreitz (91), Mitchell Hagan (92), Hayes Finch (94) and Brady Smith (94).

Boys Soccer

The Eagles split two Area games on the week with a 3-1 loss to LAMP and a penalty kick victory over St James. Against LAMP, Tommy Sutterfield scored in the second half for the team’s only goal, assisted by Tyson Summers. Emmett Sanford recorded ten saves. On Saturday, neither ACA or St James could score as Sanford had 15 saves in regulation time and one in the extra session. The Eagles outscored St James 4-2 in the penalty shootout as Sean Moffett, Baillie Johnson, Karson Oakley and Marcus Kim found the net.

Track and Field

Saturday, the track and field team participated in the Race Against Hunger meet at MA. D’Andre Sneed finished second in high jump clearing 5’ 10”. In the girls competition, Kate Finch continued her excellence in middle and long distances. Finch finished second (13:07.87) in the 3200, third (5:57.72) in the 1600 and fourth (2:45.30) in the 800. Auumn Jackson finished fifth in the triple jump with a distance of 29’ 7”.

Girls Soccer

The girls team dropped two Area games against tough competition. Coach Ivey knows her young Eagles are gaining valuable experience this year despite the tough results. The Lady Eagles dropped a close 3-2 overtime loss to LAMP to start the week. Neither team scored in the first half and the contest ended in a 2-2 tie in regulation. Chloe Jordan and Katelyn Sutton scored the ACA goals while Marcy Gregory had seven saves. Alabama Christian was shut out against St James on Saturday as the Trojans won 6-0. Gregory had 24 saves in the contest.

ACA Spring Sports Week in Review - Finch Continues to Impress in Outdoor Season

3/12 - Track and Field

The track team started their spring break on a bitterly cold Saturday morning at the Wetumpka Invitational. The meet was the biggest, in terms of the number of participants, that ACA had competed in this spring. Kate Finch won events in the first two meets this season and continued to run well with second place finishes in the 800 and 1600 meter runs. The sophomore was one of two runners to break the three minute mark in the 800m run with a time of 2:53.75 and produced a time of 6:21.84 in the 1600m race.

3/10 - Golf

The golf team finished in third place at the Capital City Conference golf tournament at Wynlakes, finishing behind Trinity and MA while besting St James and Catholic. Andrew Whang (80) and Julie Waldo (81) were both named to the all-tournament team with Top 5 finishes.

3/10 - Soccer

Both the boys and girls teams had games rained out on Tuesday and suffered tough shutout losses to MA on Thursday. Both ACA goalies were under a constant barrage of shots and finished with season highs in saves. Emmett Sanford had 22 saves and Marcy Gregory saved 26 in the girls game. Gregory even drew the praise of the MA staff after the game with her effort.

Week in Review - Spring Sports

Girls Soccer

The Lady Eagles had a great week as they outscored their opponents 20-0 over two games as twelve different players scored goals on the week.

2/28 Park Crossing

Alabama Christian got back in the win column with a 10-0 shutout of Park Crossing. Seven Eagles found the net as Chloe Jordan, Lynleigh Stephens and Marcy Gregory each had two goals. Wynter Prempramot, Olivia Justiss, Rachel Rine and Dannica Yates each had single goals in the victory. 

3/3 BTW-Magnet

The Lady Eagles repeated the performance earlier in the week with their second 10-0 victory as they beat BTW Magnet by ten goals. Katelyn Sutton made her return to the field after sustaining an injury during basketball season. Sutton scored two goals including a header on an assist from Anna Prempramot. Presley Lewis led the team with four goals while Anna Prempramot, Addison Elder, Chloe Jordan and Lynleigh Stpehens each added a goal.

Track and Field

2/28 Monday MAdness 1 at MA

Alabama Christian opened the outdoor track and field season at the Monday MAdness 1 held at MA. In the girl’s division, Kate Finch won the 800m run with a time of 2:51.21, beating her closest competitor by four seconds and Tabby Thompson finished second in the discus with a throw of 77’ 8”. For the boys, Garrett Weathers placed second in the 400m dash with a time of 52.34 seconds and Taylor Williams finished in fifth place in the shot put with a throw of 33’ 2”, missing out on third place by just two inches.

3-4 Charles Henderson Meet at Troy University

On Friday, the track team traveled to Troy for the Charles Henderson Meet. Kate Finch dominated the middle and long distance races with first place finishes in the 800 (2:46.54), 1600 (6:15.32) and 3200 (13:17.51) meter runs. Abby Zenor helped the Eagles finish 1-2 in the 1600m run with a second place performance. Rachel Rine placed fourth in the 400m dash with a time of 1:07.27 while Tabby Thompson finished fourth in the discus (70’ 2”) and Autumn Jackson finished fifth in the triple jump (25’ 8”). In the boys division, Garrett Weathers finished fourth in the 400m (55.6) and the 4x400 relay team finished fourth with a time of 3:52.33.

Boys Soccer

The boys split two this week falling to Trinity 0-5 before bouncing back with an 8-0 win over BTW Magnet.

2/28 Trinity

The Wildcat defense stifled Alabama Christian as both teams struggled to score in the first half. Trinity led 1-0 at the half and added four second half goals to pull away from the Eagles. Emmett Sanford had a season high 18 saves in the net.

3/3 BTW-Magnet

The Eagles hosted BTW Magnet on Thursday and shut the Jackets out, 8-0. ACA led 3-0 at the break and added to the lead in the second half for an 8-0 win. Tommy Sutterfield led the attack with five goals while Hayden Casto, Cole Henry and Marcus Kim each scored one. Phillip Whang and Baillie Johnson both had two assists while Marcus Kim and Sean Moffett both had one assist. Emmett Sanford had just one save on the night as the defense kept BTW away from the net. 

Tennis

3/1 at Charles Henderson

The tennis team lost to Charles Henderson 3-6 in a match on Tuesday. The top two seeded singles players Ava Rose Dean (6-2, 7-6) and Ann Welch Hilyer (6-1, 6-4) both won their match while the doubles team of Dean/Paige Henry (10-1) won their doubles match.

Golf

2/28 thru 3/1 – Wynlakes Invitational

Andrew Whang led the Eagles with a two-day total of 162 at the Wynlakes Invitational in Montgomery. Mitchell Hagan followed with a 198, Josh Kreitz shot 206, Hayes Finch 216 and Brady Smith 229.

3/3 Pike Road

Julie Waldo finished second against Pike Road with a 41 over nine holes at Arrowhead.

Ten Eagles Qualify for State Meet

Demari Moore and Kate Finch lead ACA to the State meet this weekend in Gulf Shores as Moore qualified for four events and Finch will be the lone female representative for the team. Ricky Rizzotto and Garrett Weathers each qualified for individual events while Bryan Burleson, Zander Costanza, Gerrod Green, David Ortiz-Ramirez, TJ Silmon, and Connor Strowbridge all qualified as part of relay teams.

At Sectionals this past weekend, Moore won the High Jump with an effort of 5 feet 8 inches, placed second in the 100m dash with a time of 11.65 seconds and finished fourth in the Long Jump with a leap of 20 feet 4 inches. Ricky Rizzotto finished fifth in the Javelin with a throw of 125 feet and 1 inch while Garrett Weathers placed fifth in the 400m dash with a time of 53.47 seconds. Kate Finch finished second in the 3200m run with a time of 12:14.90 and also qualified for the 1600m run.

Two relay teams qualified for state. They are the 4x100 team consisting of Gerrod Green, Demari Moore, David Ortiz-Ramirez and TJ Silmon and the 4x800 team made up by Bryan Burleson, Zander Costanza, Connor Strowbridge and Garrett Weathers.

Track Team Competes in Meet in Wetumpka

Track

Demari Moore won the High Jump for the second meet in a row with a jump of six feet to highlight the day as the track team participated in the Water Under The Bridge meet in Wetumpka. Ricky Rizzotto finished second in the Javelin among 20 competitors with a throw of 116 feet 3 inches. On the track, Alabama Christian finished third in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays while Garrett Weathers placed fourth out of 48 runners in the 400m dash with a time of 53.36 seconds. In the girls division, Kate Finch won the 3200m run with a time of 12:28.41 and placed second out of 26 runners in the 800m run with a time of 2:46.49.

ACA competes next in Beauregard at the Hornet Invitational on April 17th.

Soccer

On Thursday night, the ACA boys team defeated St James 1-0 in overtime in a crucial Area match. Dalton Hutchinson scored the game winning goal with an assist from Norton Sewell. The girls fell to the Lady Trojans by a score of 8-2. Michaelyn Manning and Presley Lewis each scored a goal while Katelyn Sutton assisted on both goals. Goalkeeper Marcy Gregory had 32 saves on the evening.

The girls next play Wetumpka at home on Tuesday, April 13th followed by the boys playing Brew Tech.

Baseball Takes Three Over LAMP to Highlight Easter Weekend Competition

Baseball

The Eagles took a major step towards an Area title with a sweep of LAMP on Thursday and Friday. Both ACA and St James have one loss in the Area, but the Eagles hold the tiebreaker advantage over the Trojans. Alabama Christian and LAMP combined for 59 runs in the three game set, but the Eagles’ bats proved too strong in the high scoring series. In the series opener, ACA used two big innings to score all 13 of its runs in the 13-7 final. LAMP scored five runs over the first three innings to take what looked like a comfortable 5-0 lead, but the Eagles scored six runs in the bottom half of the third. Three straight singles by Isaac Warrick, Trey Schlemmer and Preston Hicks plated the first three Alabama Christian runs. Two LAMP errors with two outs added another three runs and gave ACA a 6-5 lead heading to the fourth frame. LAMP scored two in the fourth to retake the lead, but the Eagles put the game away with seven runs in the fifth and a 13-7 lead. Warrick’s two-run single highlighted a frame that included four singles, two walks, a hit by pitch and a sac fly. Warrick picked up the win with eight strikeouts over five innings and JT Moorer closed the door with two scoreless innings. Trey Schlemmer went 3 for 4 with two RBIs while Preston Hicks and Isaac Warrick each delivered two hits for the offense.

Isaac Warrick pitches the Eagles to victory in game one of the LAMP series.

Good Friday saw the series shift to Paterson Field for games two and three of the important Area tilt. ACA fell behind early again in game two as LAMP led 3-1 after an inning. However, the Eagles scored nine runs in the second frame to put the game and the series away. With one out in the inning, eight consecutive batters reached safely for Alabama Christian without the luxury of a hit as LAMP pitching produced six walks and a hit batsman along with a fielding error to rocket the Eagles to an 8-3 advantage. The last two runs of the inning came on a Zac Westbrook double to right that plated Preston Hicks and Hayes Hunt for a 10-3 lead. Both teams combined for just one run over the next three innings as ACA led 10-4 going to the sixth inning. In the sixth, ACA plated six insurance runs for the 16-6 victory in the run-ruled shortened game. Zac Westbrook earned the victory with a complete game, four strikeout performance and helped himself at the plate with a 2 for 3 day with a double and two RBIs. Isaac Warrick finished 3 for 3 with two runs scored while Brandon Bice went 2 for 4 with a double and four RBIs and Hayes Hunt was 2 for 2 with three runs scored and two RBIs.

Zac Westbrook advances to second base against LAMP.

After securing the series in game two, the Eagles looked to take all three in the final games of the day. Although the game meant nothing to the Area standings, it was the most thrilling game of the three. LAMP led all the way over the first six innings and held a 5-2 advantage as the team’s headed to the seventh. In the top half, Braden Alford walked, JT Moorer singled and Parker Mock walked to load the bases with no outs. Caden Perry cut the deficit to one run with a two-run single to left and Taylor Thornton tied the game with a single that scored Mock. Zac Westbrook hit a sac fly to give the Eagles a 6-5 lead as LAMP prepared for their last at bat. An error, sacrifice bunt and a single tied the game and sent it to extra innings. In the eighth, ACA scored three times thanks to singles from Thornton and Westbrook. The Eagles allowed two runs in the bootom of the eighth, but held on for the 9-8 victory. Brandon Bice picked up the win in relief. Thornton paced the offense with three hits in five at bats with three RBIs. Carson Horn, JT Moorer and Caden Perry each delivered two hits for the Eagle attack.

Softball

Thursday marked a special day for the softball program as the hitting pavilion was named for long-time coach, Chris Goodman. Coach Goodman has impacted many lives in his career at ACA and is very deserving of the recognition. The Lady Eagles hosted Wetumpka, Goodman’s alma mater, after the ribbon cutting ceremony. Wetumpka proved too strong on the afternoon and defeated the Lady Eagles, 8-1. Haley Ingram did extend her hitting streak to 20 games with a first inning double.

Soccer

The Lady Eagles dropped an Area contest to LAMP on Thursday by the score of 3-1. The match was tied at the half thanks to a Presley Lewis goal, but two second half goals proved the difference for the Lady Tigers. Goalie Marcy Gregory had 10 saves on the evening.

Track

The track and field team competed in the Race for Hunger at MA on Saturday and the boys team had several top five finishes. Demari Moore won the high jump with a leap of 5 feet 10 inches and finished fifth in the long jump with AC Walters who finished third. Zander Costanza finished fourth in the 1600m and 3200m runs while Garrett Weathers placed fifth in the 400m dash. the boys relay teams also placed second in the 4x100 and 4x800 races. In the girls division, Kate Finch placed in three races as she finished in third in the 1600m and the 3200m runs and fifth in the 800m run.

Track and Field Season Opens in Troy

The last of the spring sports kicked off Friday as the track and field teams competed in the Troy Invitational. Both the boys and girls teams finished fifth in their respective divisions.

Kate Finch had a terrific day as she won the 1600m (6:05.14) and the 3200m (12:59.83) runs and finished second in the 800m run with a time of 2:52.02. Finch won the 3200m race by more than two minutes over the second place finisher. Garrett Weathers finished second in the 400m dash (55.86) and the 800m run (2:23.65) to pace the boys team. TJ Silmon finished fourth in the 200m dash while Lane Kilpatrick placed fourth in the 800m run and Zander Costanza finished fifth in the 1600m run.

In the field events, Autumn Jackson finished second in the long jump in the girls division with a jump of 13’ 6” and Demari Moore placed fifth in the boys division with a jump of 16’ 6”. Alex Ward had the fourth best throw in the javelin with a throw of 106’ 6”.

ACA Track Team Competes in Auburn Early Bird Meet

The track and field team traveled to Auburn on Saturday to participate in the Auburn Early Bird Meet. The Lady Eagles finished in the top ten in a couple of events at the meet. In the 4x800 relay, the team of Kate Finch, Kyndall Foley, Emma Russell and Bailey Bowen finished third out of eleven teams with a time of 11:37.24. In the high jump, Madison Parker (4 ft 6 inches) finished eighth and Valorie Jeffers (4 ft 4 inches) finished tenth out of 24 competitors. No boys finished in the top ten on the day. Bryan Farrington’s eleventh place finish in the shot put was the top placement for the boys.

Alabama Christian will next compete in the River Region Invitational in Selma on March 20th.

Track and Field Season Opens in Opelika

Alabama Christian began the outdoor season at the Opelika Invitational Saturday. ACA was one of 13 schools who competed in the first meet of the year. Kate Finch won the 3200m run with a time of 13:23.24 for the Eagles only first place finish and several other competitors finished in the top ten of their respective events.

In the girls division, three Eagles, Kyndall Foley (5th), Kate Finch (6th) and Emma Russell (9th), finished in the top ten of the 800m. In the 1600m race, Kyndall Foley finished fifth and Kate Finch finished seventh out of 31 competitors. in the field events, Madison Parker finished fifth in the long jump out of 30 participants. Amaya Smith (6th) and Baily DiNunzio (9th) both finished in the top ten of the discus throw. DiNunzio also finished sixth in the javelin while Timia Nelson finished fifth in the shot put.

In the boys division, Alexander Costanza placed fifth in both the 1600m and 3200m runs. Lane Kilpatrick finished ninth in the 800m race while Michael Smith finished eighth in the 3200m. The relay team of Connor Strowbridge, Jalen Clark, Noah Silmon and Garrett Weathers finished tied for second in the 4x400 relay. In the field events, Jaron Craddock (9th) and Jalen Clark (10th) both finished in the top ten in the discus while Bryan Farrington finished fifth in the shot put with a distance of 40 feet 11 inches.