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 ...