Team Detail Bayside Academy

Outdoor Track & Field - Girls Varsity

2022 - 2023

Head Coach: Joseph Swagart

BAYSIDE ACADEMY’S CORE VALUES

Excellence, Responsibility, Integrity, Leadership, Community, Respect

BAYSIDE ACADEMY BOYS VARSITY OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD

With Bayside Academy’s Mission Statement and Core Values in mind, our goal through Bayside Academy Outdoor 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 3A 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:

Team: We will enjoy what we do with one another, building up one another through common experiences and trials.
Excellence: We will do all things to the best of our ability, disciplined to do all things the right way and all the way.
Commitment: We will always be there for one another, realizing this is what keeps us together and helps us reach our goals.

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

~ Steve Prefontaine, All-American Distance Runner & Legend

Spring 2021

Going into the 3A AHSAA State meet, our young women pushed hard in our efforts on a way to a third place finish, scoring 62 points. Our top points scorer, junior Leah Jha, won the 100 meter hurdles (15.70 seconds) and finished fourth in the 300 meter hurdles and triple jump. 8th grader Madeline Dudley in her first year to compete in high jump won with a height of 4’ 10”. Our lone other individual medalist was 8th grader Annie Midyett, who finished 3rd in the 3200 meter run with a time of 11:54.80. Our women’s 4x400 meter relay won for the sixth time in school history (Annie Midyett, Madeline Dudley, Leah Jha, and freshman Nina Dowhan). Our women’s 4x800 meter relay finished third overall (8th graders Grace Dawson, Amelia Wells, Virginia McCrory, and Annie Midyett). Other strong performers include Annie Midyett’s fourth place finish in the 1600 meter run, Nina Dowhan’s sixth place finish in 100 meter hurdles, and Madeline Dudley’s seventh place finish in triple jump.

THE HISTORY OF WOMEN’S INDOOR

Women’s Team History

Since the 1989 season, our Outdoor Track & Field young women have finished in the top ten 13 consecutive years and a total of 27 times. Our young women have finished in the top two nine times, winning a State title four times.

2013 AHSAA 3A State Champions
2012 AHSAA 3A State Champions
2011 AHSAA 3A State Runner-up
2010 AHSAA 3A State Runner-up
1995 AHSAA 1A State Champions
1994 AHSAA 1A State Runner-up
1993 AHSAA 1A State Champions
1992 AHSAA 1A State Runner-up
1991 AHSAA 1A State Runner-up

Year	Classification	Women’s Finish
2021	3A	3rd
2020	3A	No Season
2019	3A	8th
2018	3A	4th
2017	3A	3rd
2016	3A	9th
2015	3A	7th
2014	3A	3rd
2013	3A	1st
2012	3A	1st

AHSAA All-State Medalist & State Champions

Bayside Academy has participated in AHSAA State meet for Outdoor Track & Field since 1989. During this time, we have competed in the smallest classification, 1A, to our current classification of 3A. Over this time, our young women have had a total of 105 All State Medalists with 40 of those being State Champions. We have had 34 All State Relay Medalists with 13 of those being All State Relay Championship Teams. State Champions by event and year are listed below:

Leah Jha: 100m hurdles ‘21
Madeline Dudley: high jump ‘21
4x400 meter relay ‘21: Leah Jha, Madeline Dudley, Annie Midyett, Nina Dowhan
Alex Cook: pole vault ‘19
Catherine West: high jump ’19
Amber Mason: long jump ‘17 & ‘18
Lauren Chastang: shot put ‘17
4x400 meter relay ‘17: Caroline Young, Mary Catherine Branyon, Emily Miller, Darby Kemper
Trista Barry: high jump ‘12, ‘13, & ‘14
Alona Melendez: 100m hurdles ‘10, ‘11, ‘12, & ‘13; 300m hurdles ‘10, ‘11, ‘12, & ‘13; high jump ‘10 & ‘11
Emory Builta: discus ‘11 & ‘13
Shelby Builta: shot put ‘10; discus ‘09, ‘10; javelin ‘09, ‘10
Sophie Bru: pole vault ‘07, ‘08, & ‘09
Caroline Gill: high jump ‘07
Britt Fuller: 200m dash ‘95
Kelli Klein: triple jump ‘95
Ashley Fuller: 800m run ‘93
Alex Leigh: 1600m run ‘91 & ‘92; 3200m run ‘91 & ‘92; long jump ‘92
Women’s 4x100 meter relay: ‘94 & ‘95
Women’s 4x400 meter relay ‘08, ‘11, ‘13, & ‘14
Women’s 4x800 meter relay ‘89, ‘91, ‘92, ‘98, & ‘11

Women’s Indoor Track & Field Top 3 by Event

For all 14 events and in addition the pentathlon, these are our young women’s top 3 by event. To be posted at the conclusion of the 2022 Indoor Track & Field season.

TRACK & FIELD ATHLETES AT THE COLLEGIATE LEVEL

Alex Cook ‘20: Samford University
Amber Mason ‘18: Spring Hill College

HEAD COACH JOE SWAGART

Through 15 seasons as a Head Outdoor Track & Field coach of young men’s and women’s track & field programs, seven years at Bayside Academy and eight 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.

In Coach Swagart’s first two seasons with Cottage Hill, his programs competed in the Alabama Independent School Association (AISA) where his young women’s team finished State Runner-Up in 2008, including nine All-State medalists, three All-State relays, and six individual State Champions. In six seasons with the AHSAA, under Coach Swagart’s leadership, CHCA’s highest team finish occurred in 2014, with his young women finishing 3A AHSAA Runner-Up. The highest young men’s team finish of sixth place occurred in 2011 and 2012. Through those six seasons, Coach Swagart had 22 All-State medalists, five All-State relays, with 10 individual State Champions and two relay champions. He had three different athletes set new State Meet records in the 200 meter dash, triple jump, and pole vault.

In Coach Swagart’s seven seasons with Bayside Academy, the Outdoor Track & Field program has seen tremendous growth. Our young women’s team has finished in the top 5 three times, with third place finishes in 2017 & 2021. Our young men’s team has been State Runner-up two consecutive seasons (2019 & 2021), hoping to win it in the cancelled 2020 season due to COVID. During these six seasons, Bayside athletes have earned All-State medalists honors 36 times, with 16 of those athletes being individual State Champions. We’ve seen 12 All-State relays, with four of those winning their relay.

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 6th grader at Bayside Academy, Isaac a 2nd grader at Bayside Academy, and a daughter, Emersyn a PK3 at Bayside Academy.