By Lee Davis
The Oak Mountain girls soccer team fell short in its quest for the state Class 7A championship, but a Lady Eagle still brought home one of the most prestigious awards in the sport.
Sophomore midfielder Julia Pack was named the 2016 Gatorade Player of the Year. Pack scored 18 goals and 17 assists in leading Oak Mountain to a 23-4-1 record and into the second round of the state playoffs. She has 46 goals and 37 assists in her high school career. Pack has earned all-Metro Birmingham honors for three consecutive seasons and has a weighted grade point average of 4.31.
She already has verbally committed to play soccer at Auburn University.
Even Oak Mountain’s staunchest soccer rivals heap praise on Pack.
“Julia Pack elevates the play of her teammates from average to great,” Hoover coach Will Patridge said. “Against Oak Mountain, you have to know where Julia is at all times. She is a talented player with a high soccer IQ that can adapt her playing style on the fly to give teams fits.”
Pack is the third Lady Eagle to win the Gatorade Player of the Year award. Bailee Hartnett claimed the trophy in 2012 and Toni Payne earned it in 2013.
Dynasty in Blue…
While Pack won an impressive individual award, the Oak Mountain boys program was building on its reputation as one of Alabama’s most consistent dynasties. The Eagles’ 2-1 victory over McGill-Toolen in the Class 7A finals on May 14 gave them their second consecutive state title.
The victory also marked Oak Mountain’s sixth state championship in just 12 seasons. Even when the Eagles haven’t won the blue trophy, they’ve come close; Oak Mountain has reached the championship game of their classification for six consecutive years.
The Eagles won titles in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2015 and 2016. The 2005 team also was proclaimed national champions. This year’s championship squad was as dominating as any, posting a 28-0-2 record. Oak Mountain outscored its opposition by a total of 85-13 and earned 19 shutouts.
Additionally, more than 28 Eagles have gone on to play college soccer. Former Oak Mountain star Chandler Hoffman now plays at the professional level. The boys program has also produced three Alabama Gatorade Players of the Year.
The best news for Eagle fans is that the dynasty shows no sign of slowing down. As is the case with most ultra-successful programs, winning feeds upon itself, as more talented players come aboard in search of team and individual honors. Even now, there are young boys in Oak Mountain’s feeder system who are dreaming of the day when they can help their team win a blue trophy.
Local Golfers in NCAA….
If there is a sport in which our area is stronger than it is in soccer, it could well be amateur golf. No fewer than six golfers from Over the Mountain high schools participated in last week’s NCAA Golf Championships at Eugene Country Club in Oregon.
Representing UAB are Mountain Brook graduate Taylor Eyster, Hoover graduate Will Cannon and Briarwood alumnus John Hayden. The University of Alabama’s Tom Lovelady played at Mountain Brook and Auburn University’s Michael Johnson played at Spain Park. Additionally, Patrick Martin of Vanderbilt University was also a star at Spain Park. Martin was the Over the Mountain Journal’s boy Athlete of the Year for 2015.
The Over the Mountain Journal will speak with several of these great young golfers when they return from the tournament.
Rebel Cause…
If anyone ever calls out the name “Rebel,” Forrest Gamble may be the first to turn his head. Gamble – a Vestavia Hills graduate who now plays varsity golf at Ole Miss – was recently named 2015-16 Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the Southeastern Conference.
Gamble, a physics major, has a GPA of 3.97. His best golf round was a 66 that he fired in the 2015 SEC Championships at Sea Island, Georgia.
“This is a great honor,” Gamble said. “The SEC is full of great scholar athletes and to be chosen is very special to me.”
