Oak Mountain's Trey Allen, Nicole Payne Topple Alabama Class 7A Meet Records

By Arthur Mack for DyeStat

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.— It was a great day at the Alabama Indoor State Championships for Oak Mountain High duo Trey Allen and Nicole Payne.

Both wound up with Class 7A meet records. Allen won the high jump, as expected, with a new state meet record of 6 feet, 9 inches. Payne dashed to two state meet records, winning the 400 meters in US#2 54.11 seconds and then coming back to win the 60 in US#9 7.54 seconds.

RESULTS

Allen’s 6-9 clearance broke the record of 6-8 set by Vestavia Hill’s Carl Nesbitt in 2016. Payne’s 54.11 in the 400 broke her own record of 55.24 set last year. Her 60-meter record broke the old record of 7.66 set by Sparkman’s Lauryn Hall last year.

“I felt like I was in the zone,” said Allen of his record-setting clearance. “It felt pretty good. I’ve been training harder this year.”

Allen, who also plays football and basketball for the Eagles,is the national leader in the high jump with a clearance at seven feet. He had the bar raised to 7-1 and had a couple of good attempts at it.

"He was really set on getting 7-1,” Oak Mountain coach Riley White said. “To him, it was more important than the 6-9. A year ago, he was clearing 6-4 at state, and he cleared that height coming in. It’s been a wild year for him.”

Allen, who signed with Louisville, has only been jumping for two years. He plans to compete at New Balance Nationals Indoor in New York City next month. Last year at nationals he placed fourth. This year, he hopes things will be different.

“I’m going for that ring this year,” he said.

Meanwhile, Payne, who signed with West Virginia, was basking in the glow of her two record races. She said that she was a little nervous coming into the 400, which included the likes of Hollie Chapman of Mountain Brook, Ashlee Osaji of James Clemens, and Venessa Frank of Central-Phenix City.

“I knew I had to finish fast and strong,” Payne said. “Ashlee, Hollie, and Venessa are very talented. It’s a blessing to compete against them.”

Allen and Payne were among a large number of athletes to have outstanding performances during the meet.

Presley Miles of Montgomery’s St. James won four events in the Class 1A-3A girls division: the 400 (59.03), the 800 (2:18.47), the 1,600 (5:18.47), and the 3,200 (11:10.48). Other multiple individual winners included Homewood’s Will Stone, who won the Class 6A boys 800 (1:56.14), the 1,600 (4:24.55), and the 3,200 (9:35.34); and Montgomery Catholic’s Amaris Tyynisimaa, who won the Class 4A-5A girls 800 (2:20.05), 1,600 (5:04.02), and 3,200 (11:05.02).

There were also some performances that made the national rankings. Carrver-Montgomery’s Deanthony Coleman won the Class 6A boys 60-meter hurdles in 7.89, a time that ranks No. 5 in the country. In the Class 6A girls 60 meter dash, Park Crossing’s Jasmine Riley won in 7.50, which ranks US#6. In addition, Hoover’s boys ran the US#3 time in the country in the Class 7A boys 4x400, winning in a state and Crossplex record time of 3:20.59. The Bucs also won the 4x200, running US#3 1:28.02.

Other notable performances from this weekend’s action in Birmingham include:

- Mobile McGill-Toolen Catholic’s Hannah Daffin set a new meet and Crossplex record in winning the Class 7A girls shot put with a throw of 42-8, breaking the old record of 38-0 set by Sarah Alabaster Thompson in 2016. Hewitt-Trussville’s Lea Townsend was also over the old record, with an effort of 38-8.

- Opelika Beauregard’s Isaiah McKissic broke a 37-year-old state meet record in the Class 4A-5A boys high jump, clearing 6-9.25, besting the old record of 6-9 set by Bo Jackson of McAdory in 1982. Yes, that Bo Jackson, the former Auburn University Heisman Trophy winner and Oakland Raiders/Kansas City Royals legend.

-  Mountain Brook’s Hunter Harwell set a new meet record of 9:24.65 in the Class 7A boys 3,200 meters.

-  Birmingham Ramsay’s Zhevyn Jones set a new meet record of 8.91 in the Class 4A-5A girls 60-meter hurdles, breaking the old record of 9.07 set by St. Paul’s Lacey Dent in 2012. Jones was also a part of the Ramsay’s girls record-setting 4x400 relay team, which ran 3:58.22.

- Savian Taylor of Smith’s Station won the Class 7A boys 800 meters in a meet record time of 1:54.38.

Team Champions 

Class 7A - Hoover boys 105 points, Mountain Brook girls 71 points

Class 6A - Homewood boys 95.5 points, Homewood girls 124.5 points

Class 5A/4A - Scottsboro boys 76 points, Montgomery Catholic girls 80 points

Class 3A/2A/1A - Winfield boys 105 points, St. James girls 117 points