Mountain Brook Debate shows its skill at Spain Park Tournament

Congratulations to the Mountain Brook Debate Team for their outstanding competition at the first ever Spain Park High School Debate Tournament.

In Novice Lincoln-Douglas debate, Amelia Putnam and Dara Buggay both made the top 12 and Dara finished in fourth over-all.

In Supplemental Debate, Jack Fitzpatrick finished 6^th place over-all.

In Varsity Lincoln-Douglas debate, Kary Reynolds was 9^th over-all while Alex Cordover was second and Stephen Yin was first.  Stephen and Alex closed out the semi-final rounds of Varsity Lincoln-Douglas debate in dominant fashion leaving no need for a final round; it was all Mountain Brook!

In the Public Forum tournament, a bid to the Tournament of Champions was on the line.  There were over 57 entries from four regional states (North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee) competing but it was the hometown team from Mountain Brook who finished on top.  Congratulations to Jeff Rogers and Russell Day who earned the first bid to the tournament of Champions in Public Forum for Mountain Brook since our 2009 team of William Schreiber and Amanda Claire Grayson.  William and Amanda went on to 8 place in the nation and the National Championship and top 6 at the Tournament of Champions – so no pressure Russell and Jeff!

Congratulations to all the competitors!

Mountain Brook ranks No. 14 in U.S. for brainpower

Birmingham Business Journal

Date: Tuesday, November 15, 2011, 12:33pm CST

Mountain Brook is the smartest mid-sized city in Alabama by a wide margin, according to a new report from On Numbers.

The report, which looked at educational attainment data for communities across the U.S., said Mountain Brook ranks No. 14 nationally with a brainpower index score of 34.

That's nearly 10 points better than Vestavia Hills, which ranked second in Alabama, but only 130th nationally with a score of 23.9. Homewood ranked third in Alabama and No. 172 nationally with a score of 21.9.

Madison and Fairhope rounded out the top five in the state.

Stanford, Calif., ranked No. 1 overall among midsize cities.

Mountain Brook boys, girls win state cross country titles again

Solomon Crenshaw Jr., Birmingham News, November 12, 2011 5:12 p.m.

MOULTON – Mountain Brook High School swept the boys and girls Class 6A cross country championships Saturday at Oakville Indian Mounds Park.

The boys won for the fourth time in a row while the girls’ string now stretches to nine.
Spain Park’s Brandon Hazouri defended his Class 6A boys crown, running 15:45.04.

The Spartans got an assist in keeping their title streaks alive. Bus trouble threatened to bring them to an end.
"We got eight miles down the road and that was the end of it," coach Greg Echols said. "The bus driver just said, ‘Uh-oh.’ The needle went all the way to the top and smoke started coming out of the engine. We pulled over at a gas station and just parked it."
The Chelsea team turned around and picked up the Mountain Brook girls. Hoover delivered some of the Mountain Brook boys.
"Most of the cross country coaches in Birmingham are really good friends. We take care of each other," Echols said.
Ann Sisson, the leading Spartans girl, acknowledged it was an eventful morning. But Payton Ballard, the first of the Mountain Brook boys to finish, said the morning incident did not distract the annual contenders.
"We were just focused on running for ourselves and getting it done," he said.
Hewitt-Trussville’s boys again finished second to Mountain Brook. This time the margin was 45-93.
"It’s a bridesmaid thing, isn’t it?" Huskies coach David Dobbs said. "We battle them every week. We push each other every week. They are great competitors. Their depth vs. our not-depth, their tradition vs. our upcoming tradition. It’s great competition. I’d love the blue (trophy) but I’ll settle for the red."
Hazouri said he knew other runners were gunning for him after he won the 6A individual title last year.
"I just had to run my race," the Jaguar said. "You can’t get caught up in trying to do too much. I was just sticking to what I’ve done all season. Last year I had to catch someone. This year, I had to get out and hold it."
Roberts remained in the finishing chute after claiming her second straight 6A championship, saying "Good job" as others finished. She certainly did a good job herself.
"I felt really good," she said of her division-record performance. "I really wanted to run under 18. I was close but I really wanted to have a good last race to end my season in my senior year."
Lee hugged everyone he could after he crossed the finish line.
"This is what I’ve been working for all summer and all season long," he said.

Mountain Brook&lt 17, Hoover 9: A community win Village Living: Both Hoover and Mountain Brook came in at 8-0 on the year, and with a passionate home crowd at their back and the Region 6 championship on the line, the Spartans knew that they had to win this one. In fact, all week, there ...

Mountain Brook council approves payment for handicapped accessible playground equipment: The council approved a $20,000 payment to help buy the equipment for the playground at Crestline Elementary.

Classroom Clips--Cherokee Bend Elementary School: The Cherokee Bend El­ementary School Booster­thon fundraiser began at a pep rally on Sept. 27 and concluded with a fun run on Oct. 7.

Classroom Clips--Brookwood Forest Elementary School: Lacrosse is one of the many field activities stu­dents participate in during Brookwood Forest Elemen­tary School physical educa­tion classes.

Classroom Clips--Mountain Brook Elementary School: Students at Mountain Brook Elementary have se­lected representatives to the 2011-2012 Student Council.

Mountain Brook debate team wins honors from National Forensic League Honor Society: There's no debate -- Mountain Brook High School has earned two honors from the National Forensic League Honor Society.

Mountain Brook 17, Hoover 9

Jeff Sentell, Birmingham News, October 21, 2011 10:08 p.m.

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Mountain Brook defenders Sam Centeno (19) and Win Cowden swarm Hoover's Josh Jackson in the Spartans' win Friday night at Mountain Brook. (The Birmingham News/Michelle Campbell)

Sometimes it is not about schemes or athletes. It's not the 40-yard dash times or the amount of Saturday players that draw the eyeballs of college recruiters.
Sometimes the reasons good teams beat other good ones is just simply who wants the victory more.
Hoover went to Mountain Brook on Friday night having won the last 16 games in the series. That went all the way back to those Berry High days.
The last happy Friday night for a Spartan after playing Hoover came back in September of 1984.
So that makes it easy to say Mountain Brook accomplished a lot Friday night with its 17-9 victory that secured the school's first region title since 2003.
That streak went the way of those "Members Only" brand jackets that were cool back in those days.
[More photos from Mountain Brook 17, Hoover 9]
The place was electric and it was a good 30 minutes after the game before a good-sized mob of Mountain Brook backers left the field.
It was clear by Thursday night that emotion was going to play a big part in Friday's contest. That's when about 65 or so students went to the stadium and began practicing.
The key word there was students. Mountain Brook's student section started practicing its cheers and pandemonium Thursday night for Friday's clash with unbeaten Hoover.
When they did, their boys were still on the practice field fine tuning every plan and ploy to battle the Bucs. They were supposed to have tunnel vision on Friday night, but they couldn't help but notice. The students used that opportunity to cheer on their Spartans at practice, too.
"They carried us this week," quarterback Edward Aldag said. "How could we not be inspired by that? ... They helped us so much. They didn't let up one second. Those guys did an outstanding job tonight and I am so proud of them. We knew right then when they did that there was somebody right there supporting us at practice. We knew we had to play for them tonight to thank them for that support."
Mountain Brook coach Chris Yeager said the school's "12th man" was a catalyst in the upset against the No. 2 team in Class 6A. The victory marked the first time a team besides Vestavia Hills beat Hoover in a region game since Pelham did in 1999.
It was one of those nights where it would've made sense to see the crowd hoist a Walker Byrd, a Coates Doss or Harry Reich up for some crowd surfing. Those fans were that happy.
The Spartans (9-0, 7-0) get a lot of mileage out of the line from the movie "300" that goes "The strength of the Spartan is the warrior by his side" but maybe it needs a touch-up for the newly minted Class 6A, Region 6 champions.
The strength of the Spartans was that jubilant crowd at the side of the field Friday night. It mattered. It never stopped mattering for 60 minutes.That energy channeled emotion into a team that was on the wrong side of the depth advantage with the Bucs.
When it was over, a few Mountain Brook players sauntered all the way to the far end of the field away from their fieldhouse. Those boys were spent, but they had their cell phones in hand.
The scoreboard was still up even after the crowds were gone at 10:30 at night. They clicked pictures of that score on their phones and walked back the other way. Those victors had smiles the size of shoulder pads.
No Hoover player would've likely snapped an image of a scoreboard if they would've won Friday night. The Bucs are so used to it. It's hard to picture them doing that after any game this year.
Mountain Brook was different. Every Spartan wanted it more Friday and they all got just what they wanted.
Jeff Sentell is the high school sports editor for The News.
Write to him at jsentell@bhamnews.com or follow him on twitter at @JeffSentell_ for updates on high school sports.

Icon Performance ICON Athlete / <b>Mountain Brook Volleyball ...: The winning formula for Mountain Brook has been the same during the volleyball season. The Class 6A ninth-ranked Spartans used strong ball control and a.

A Conversation with Mountain Brook Coach Chris Yeager in ...: It doesn't get any bigger than this as No.4 Mountain Brook hosts No.2 Hoover tonight at Spartan Stadium at 7. This is the game of this century in Alabama high school football. Chris Yeager's Mountain Brook Spartans and Josh ...

High School PTO: School Board Announces E-Day : As you know, Mountain Brook Schools missed one day of school due to inclement weather in September. Based on the Board-adopted school calendar for 2011-2012, the make-up day would be May 29th, which is after ...

Mountain Brook 40, Thompson 13 - al.com:

Shelby County Reporter

Mountain Brook 40, Thompson 13 al.com Mountain Brook's Gavin Golsan breaks a tackle on his way to a touchdown on a punt return against Thompson. (Butch Dill) Quarterback Edward Aldag threw for 217 yards as Class 6A fourth-ranked Mountain Brook rolled over Thompson 40-13 at Larry Simmons ... Warriors fall to undefeated Spartans in region gameShelby County Reporter all 3 news articles »

Mountain Brook debate team wins honors from National Forensic: There's no debate -- Mountain Brook High School has earned two honors from the National Forensic League Honor Society.

Hitting Home: Parents invited to anti-drug discussions:
After an unprecedented turnout for last year’s event, the Mountain Brook Anti-Drug Coalition and Mountain Brook Schools are inviting parents to home discussions for their second Hitting Home program.
“We have always felt that parent involvement is one of the most critical weapons for combating underage drinking, and we want to do what we can to encourage conversation about this topic,” said Leigh Ann Sisson, co-chairman of the Mountain Brook Anti-Drug Coalition. “We hope to see many parents this year.”
The event will held in homes on Monday, Oct. 24, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
For more information, visit http://villagelivingonline.wordpress.com/www.mountainbrook-antidrug.org.

The Boosterthon story Village Living: Mountain Brook Elementary Boosterthon participants. Back row: coaches Awesome Andrew, Johnny Rocket, Fast Forrest, A-Train, Jammin Josh. Middle row: Caroline Crafton, Delia Vandevelde. Bottom row: Sarah Kate ...

Mountain Brook 21, Homewood 14 - The Birmingham News - al.com:

Mountain Brook 21, Homewood 14 The Birmingham News - al.com Homewood quarterback Stephen Baggett escaped this near-sack by Mountain Brook's Michael Resha in Friday's game at Homewood. (The Birmingham News/Joe Songer) Just one more chance, that's what Mountain Brook quarterback Edward Aldag was looking for ... and more »