Excellence, Responsibility, Integrity, Leadership, Community, Respect

 

With Bayside Academy’s Mission Statement and Core Values in mind, our goal through Bayside Academy Track and Field is to continue the excellence established in the past and press on to achieve our best today. Our program competes in the AHSAA at the 6A classification for athletes in the 7th through 12th grade, from beginners to multiple season performers. Each athlete should seek to do their best, give 100% effort in all that they do, and encourage one another not just in our sport. To do this, we will do all things with TEAM as our focus, although training will be individualized based on the ability and experience of the athlete. Our athletes will not only train together to become better competitors, but learn how and why the training they do develops them into a stronger athlete and person. We will hold to this COMMITMENT as our sense of responsibility and respect to self and others, striving for excellence in all of our endeavors.  

These three words and descriptions will be our point of emphasis this year:

 “To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift.” 

With the return of the Indoor Track & Field for the AHSAA in 2012, our Indoor Track and Field program has seen great success at State track & field meets. In these 10 seasons, our women have finished in the top 10 every season except 2020 and 2023. 

Year	Classification	Women’s Finish
2024	6A	7th
2023	6A	13th
2022	4A/5A	2nd
2021	4A/5A	7th
2020	1A-3A	11th
2019	1A-3A	2nd
2018	1A-3A	5th
2017	1A-3A	2nd
2016	1A-3A	8th
2015	1A-3A	4th
2014	1A-4A	2nd
2013	1A-4A	4th
2012	1A-4A	7th

With the return of the Indoor Track & Field for the AHSAA in 2012, our young women have had a total of 30 All State Medalists, with seven of those being State Champions. We have had 10 All State Relay Medalists, with two of those being an All State Relay Championship Teams. State Champions by event and year are listed below:

• Annie Midyett: 800 meter run ‘22
• Alex Cook: pole vault ‘20
• Catherine West:  high jump ‘19 & ’20
• Amber Mason: shot put ‘18;  long jump ‘18
• Mary Catherine Branyon: 800 meter run ‘16
• 4x800 meter relay ‘22: Annie Midyett, Catherine Doyle, Amelia Wells, Grace Dawson
• 4x200 meter relay ‘12

For all 14 events and the pentathlon, these are our young women’s Top Three by event. 

Through 10 seasons as a Head Indoor Track & Field coach of young men’s and women’s track & field programs, seven years at Bayside Academy and three years at Cottage Hill Christian Academy, Coach Joe Swagart has helped hundreds of young people develop a passion for track & field while also helping them develop into responsible young adults. 

Coach Swagart places an emphasis on team, excellence, and commitment. Success in track & field is found through commitment, discipline, and desire. Individuals on a team show commitment by attending team practices and events, by finishing what they start, and by having patience with the process. Individuals on a team show discipline by how they follow instruction, how they change the way they live (nutrition, sleep, etc.), and how they finish what they start. Individuals on a team show desire by how they compete and train, how they take care of themselves, and how they treat others. When individuals come together with the same purpose, we will compete as a team at the highest level we can. We will commit to a level of excellence that shows we are giving our best in all that we do, that we give 100% in achieving our goals, and by how we encourage each other along the way.
 

Indoor Track & Field resumed for the 2011-2012 season when the city of Birmingham completed its CrossPlex facility. Competing in a combined 1A-4 classification and building interest from CHCA student-athletes, Coach Swagart’s athletes earned All-State honors three times, with one young man earning individual State titles in the 400m and 800m in 2012. The highest team finish occurred in 2014 with the young women finishing 10th and young men 11th.   

In Coach Swagart’s eight seasons with Bayside Academy, the Indoor Track & Field program has seen tremendous growth, having 10 teams finish in the top five. Our women have finished State Runner-up three times, twice as 1A-3A and once as 4A/5A, and our young men won our school’s first Indoor title in 2020 and have finished State Runner-up twice, once as 1A-3A and once as 4A/5A. During this time, Bayside athletes have earned All-State medalists honors 41 times, with 15 individual State champions. We’ve also had 16 All-State relays, with four of those winning their event.  

Coach Swagart attended college at the University of South Alabama, earning a B.S. in Mathematics & Statistics in 2004 and M. Ed. in Secondary Education in 2018. He is married to Nancy Swagart. He and his wife have three children: Owen, a 7th grader at Bayside Academy; Isaac, a 3rd grader at Bayside Academy; and Emersyn, a PK4 student at Bayside Academy.