GIRLS CROSS-COUNTRY PICKS UP 3RD WIN

Over the course of the year, Village Living will keep you up to date on the various Mountain Brook High School athletic teams. Here's the third installment. If you missed last week, click here. FOOTBALL The Mountain Brook High School football team pulled off a thrilling 17-10 overtime victory over Class 7A, Region 3 rival Vestavia Hills on Friday night. Click here for a full recap of the game. The Spartans take on Oak Mountain this Friday night and can clinch a playoff spot with a win. VOLLEYBALL If it were not for Hoover, the Mountain Brook High School volleyball team would have had a great week. The Spartans fell twice to the Bucs. Mountain Brook lost to Hoover, 3-1 (13-25, 25-21, 14-25, 21-25), on Tuesday, and then fell to the Bucs in bracket play at this weekend's Margaret Blalock Tournament, 2-0 (18-25, 16-25). In pool play, the Spartans went 3-1, with wins over Hewitt-Trussville, Homewood and Oxford, and a three-set loss to Hazel Green. Over the weekend, Libby Grace Gann led the way with 159 assists, 15 kills, 10 aces, two blocks and 10 digs.? Grace Carr had 37 kills, 52 digs, four blocks and five aces. Ellie Dayhuff registered 32 kills and six blocks. Mary Katherine Fowlkes notched 30 kills, three blocks and six digs. Sarah Cat Cooper racked up 31 kills and 25 digs. This week, Mountain Brook hosts Vestavia Hills on Tuesday and travels to Bob Jones on Thursday. CROSS-COUNTRY The Mountain Brook girls cross-country team placed seven runners in the top 15 to secure a victory on Saturday at the Dew it on the Trails Invitational in Decatur. The Spartans knocked off defending Class 7A state champion Huntsville, 39-52. Anna Balzli, a junior, led the charge with a third-place finish in 19 minutes, 5 seconds. Sophomore Lily Hulsey (sixth, 19:37) and seventh-grader Reagan Riley (seventh, 19:45) joined her in the top 10. Elizabeth Robertson, Amanda Jones, Mary Allison Anderson and Bailey Peacock rounded out the team’s front-running pack. It was the third win of the season for the Mountain Brook girls. In September, they captured team titles at the Scottsboro and TCBY invitationals. Meanwhile, Hunter Harwell and Charlie Slaughter propelled the Spartan boys to a runner-up finish at the meet. Huntsville took top honors, totaling 45 points to Mountain Brook’s 76. Harwell, a junior, and Slaughter, a senior, both dipped under 16 minutes for the first time this season. Harwell placed second in 15:55, while Slaughter placed fourth in 15:58. Joseph Pitard (16th, 16:30) was the only other Spartan to crack the top 20. The Mountain Brook cross-country teams will return to action on Thursday at the Hoover Invitational. NOTABLE ALUMNI Vanderbilt freshman Anna Grace Morgan performed well her in 6K debut. She ran 22:19 on Saturday at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational. Through seven games, Sewanee freshman Sam Everette has scored three touchdowns, while rushing for 113 yards on 36 carries. UAB golfer Taylor Eyster competed at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate last week. He shot an 80 on the final day, but put together rounds of 72 and 69 to begin the tournament on a high note.

GIRLS CROSS-COUNTRY PICKS UP 3RD WIN

Photo Credit: Layton Dudley