By By Matthew Nascone
Escambia Academy eighth grade student Alan Ash made history as the Escambia Academy JV track and field team participated in the Alabama Independent School Association state meet April 22 in Mobile.
Ash broke the state JV records in the one-mile run and the two-mile run.
"It is amazing to watch him run," EA head coach Heath Gibson said. "He starts out so fast and the other runners try to keep up and they just can't. It is a big honor to have him break those records."
In the one-mile Ash went from starting gun to finish line in 5 minutes, 10 seconds and he cruised to the record of 11:10 in the two-mile.
"He (Ash) works hard on distance running every day and he runs five miles before school every day," Gibson said.
The boys came away with a second-place finish, while the girls finished fourth, with the second-, third- and fourth-place teams separated by two points.
"We definitely had some of the best runners at the meet," Gibson said. "But we wore our kids out because they participated in so many events and the other schools had more athletes to choose from. I am proud of how all of them did in the meet."
The Cougars swept the top three positions in the one mile with Ash in first place, Seth Lassiter in second and Chase Amerson in third. Ash won the two-mile and Lassiter came in third. Andrea Nall came in second for the girl's two-mile.
The boy's 1,600-meter relay team of Jon Dean, Nick Flowers, Jake Taylor and Chase Amerson placed second. Lassiter placed second in the 800-meter run. Dean placed second in the 300-meter hurdles.
Amerson and Jordan Jaye grabbed third place in the boy's and girl's high jump, respectively. Robert Johnson placed third in the triple jump. Lassiter won the boy's discus throw. Nall and Nick Carlin won the girl's and boy's shot put, respectively and James White placed third in the boy's.
The Cougars varsity track and field team travels to Selma today and tomorrow to participate in the varsity state meet. Results will be in an upcoming Advance.