The sun didn’t come out for Morgan Academy’s first track meet of the season, but plenty of Senators were in the spotlight anyways.

Morgan’s opening track meet of the year took place Monday at Memorial Stadium in less than ideal conditions. It rained most of the afternoon and even when it wasn’t raining, the track was wet and the temperature dropped into the 40s.  The weather didn’t prevent 20 Alabama Independent School Association teams from participating, many of them also running in their first events of the year.

“Usually the first track meets are kind of experimenting, putting people in different spots to qualify and it just builds up to the state track meet,” said Morgan coach Rob Robinson. “These other [meets] as far as team scoring just give you an idea of where you stand with others.”

The Morgan Academy girls came in second with 54 points, five behind first place Northside Methodist. The Senators’ boys tied for third with Northside and Springwood, with all three well behind Escambia and Glenwood.

The Morgan girls team had three wins. Peyton Ellen Granthum won the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.15 seconds. Maggie Youngblood held on at the end to win the 1600-meter run with a time of 6:42. The Senators also won the 3200-meter relay with a time of 12:47. Caroline Colvin, Anna Laken Tidmore, Laney Holladay and Kristen Little participated in the relay for Morgan.

Several other Senators also placed highly. Averee Adams finished sixth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.549 seconds; Grace Wilkinson and Faith Lane were fifth and sixth in the 1600-meter run; Tidmore was second in the 800-meter run; Averee Adams came home third in the 200-meter dash; and the 1600-meter relay team finished third. Holladay, Wilkinson, Mary Carolyn Jones and Little were on the 1600-relay team.

On the boys’ side, the Senators won the 800-meter relay with a time of 1:40. Peyton Egbert, Brayton Brown, Ed Williams and Hardin Utsey ran on that team. Utsey also finished fourth in the 200-meter dash.

Egbert was fourth in the 100-meter dash and Dione Allen was fifth. The Senators were leading the 400-meter relay when they were disqualified for struggling to hand off the baton. Morgan finished fifth in the 3200-meter relay and the 1600-meter relay. John Tyler Fisher, Phillip Peake, Bishop Price and Taylor Jones raced the 1600 for Morgan.

No field or hurdle events took place Monday due to the weather, and it was likely much colder than it’ll be in Gulf Shores for the AISA state meet in April.

“It wiped out the field events completely and cold weather makes a difference in your breathing,” Robinson said.

The Senators next track meet is scheduled for April 3.