By Rubin E. Grant On Leap Day, Wilkerson Given hopes to take an Olympic leap – although an Olympic run might be a better description. The former Mountain Brook high school distance runner will be competing in the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials marathon on Feb. 29 in Atlanta. The course runs through the heart of Atlanta and past monuments from the 1996 Olympic Games. The 2020 … [Read more...]

By Rubin E. Grant Hoover junior Nick Smith had an odd feeling before his Class 7A, 120-pound state championship wrestling match. “I’m usually stressed out before a match, but this time I kind of felt like I knew the outcome before it happened,” Smith said. “I was joking around and having fun.” Bucs wrestling coach Jacob Gaydosh also noticed Smith's seemingly carefree … [Read more...]

By Rubin E. Grant The Spain Park girls basketball team’s final home game of the regular season last Friday wasn’t billed as Sarah Ashlee Barker Night, but perhaps it should have been. In a brief ceremony before the Class 7A No. 4 Jags took on the No. 1 Hoover Bucs, their crosstown rival, Barker walked onto the court to receive two commemorative basketballs, one for surpassing … [Read more...]

By Rubin E. Grant Hoover track coach Devon Hind calls senior sprinter J’Marri McCall the Bucs’ secret weapon. That’s because during the outdoor track and field season last spring, McCall battled a left hamstring injury that curtailed his ability to compete. But after the Bucs finished fourth in the preliminaries of the 4x100 relay race in the Alabama High School Athletic … [Read more...]

By Rubin E. Grant Please forgive the Oak Mountain boys basketball team for celebrating its Class 7A, Area 5 regular-season championship with little more than a shrug. The Eagles were happy to claim the title because it means they will host the area tournament this week. But they consider the regular-season crown just a starting point, not an end goal. “It’s a good feeling, … [Read more...]