With Bayside Academy’s Mission Statement and Core Values in mind, our goal through Bayside Academy Cross Country 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 his/her best, give 100% effort in all that he/she does, 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 runners, but learn how and why the training he/she does develops him/her into a stronger runner 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:

For the second consecutive year, our young men's team failed to qualify for the AHSAA State meet. Due to the competitive balance factor enacted by the AHSAA, our cross country program at Bayside Academy competes in the 6A classification although we classify as a 3A school. With a young team of 13 athletes, two of whom were sophomores and two others freshmen, the remainder of our team were middle schoolers. Despite our youth, our young men sought to qualify as a team for the AHSAA 6A State meet. We qualified two young men, sophomore Wright Fargason and 8th grader Witt Everett.

Since 1991, our Bayside boys cross country has been one of the strongest teams in its classification, qualifying a team for State 21 times with an average finish of fifth place. Top two finishes as well as recent team accomplishments are listed below:

Since 1991, we have had 15 male athletes earn All-State honors 34 times by finishing in the top 15 of his classification, with two of those being State Champions. All-State Runners are listed below by year and finish.

Men’s Top Fifteen 5K Times
For an athlete's time to be considered for the Top 15 5K Board, the 5K course must be a course that has been competed on for at least three years without severe changes to the course so that the course can be verified 5,000 meters. Sectional and State Meet courses automatically qualify. 

1. Ash Midyett 16:23 (2015)
2. Ty Postle 16:28 (2022)
3. Kyle Cooper 16:34 (2022)
4. John Thomas Neill 16:35 (2022)
5. Ernest Ladd 16:36 (2016)
6. Stew Shoemaker 16:41 (2009)
7. Ryan Shankle 16:50 (2013)
8. Bradley Schmidt 17:04 (2018)
9. Myles Cook 17:06 (2019)
10. Nolan Tkac 17:07 (2023)
11. William Dorriety 17:26 (2008)
12. Witt Everett 17:26 (2025)
13. Ashton Rowland 17:28 (2021)
14. Jackson Olsen 17:30 (2021)
15. Dennis Dowd 17:35 (2007)

We keep up with the accomplishments of our athletes and recognize them when new firsts are accomplished. You will find below our best times by grade and gender for our XC program.  

Grade	Male Athlete/Time/Year
Middle School	Ernest Ladd 17:14 (2015)
Freshman	Kyle Cooper 16:34 (2022)
Sophomore	Ash Midyett 17:05 (2013)
Junior	Ty Postle 16:29 (2021)
Senior	Ash Midyett 16:23 (2016)

 

Completing his 20th season as a head coach for young men’s and women’s cross country and track & field at Bayside Academy and previously Cottage Hill Christian Academy, Coach Swagart’s teams and athletes are coached to give their best and compete at their fullest potential. With eight AHSAA State Championships, 15 AHSAA
State Runners-up, and three AISA State Runners-up, we do our best to help our teams excel regardless of the program’s AHSAA classification. Coach Swagart has been recognized as the Press-Register Coach of the Year three times and the USTFCCCA Girls Cross Country of the Year in 2021. Coach Swagart has a USATF Level 1 Certification and has completed the USTFCCCA Endurance Coach Certification.

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, each who attend Bayside Academy: Owen, Isaac, and Emersyn.