Baylor’s Bill Matthews set a course record Saturday at the Great American Cross Country Festival in Hoover, Ala., but the Red Raiders finished seventh in the 16-team event.

Matthews ran a time of 15 minutes, 34.3 seconds for the 5 kilometers, which topped Brentwood’s Sean Keveren’s 2007 time of 15:37. The Baylor senior was third in the 2007 race in 15:45.8, which was the fourth-best overall time coming into this one.

“It was a fantastic race for Bill,” Baylor coach Van Townsend said. “It was great for him because he was able to beat a couple of his rivals. He ran a smart race and took his time up a tough hill before putting the hammer down at the top and running away from the others.”

The next Red Raider to finish was Brandon Lord, who was 24th in 16:48.9. Skylar Townsend was 30th at 16:58.2. Taylor Dix and Mike Meadows rounded out the Baylor top five, finishing 69th and 72nd.

“Our fourth (Meadows) was running with a bad hip,” Townsend said. “I thought the course was runnable and asked him to gut it out.”

Montgomery Bell Academy won the boys’ title with 125 points.

“MBA is coming on strong,” Townsend said. “Our guys are pretty down about today; it’s going to be a promising state meet. Everybody else is getting excited because it’s as though we’re bleeding. Our hats are off to MBA — they ran a tight race.

“I’m happy with how we performed in the race, but I don’t like to lose.”

Baylor’s girls finished sixth, led by Mary Stagmaier’s 28th place in 19:48.2. Hannah Jumper was 30th in 19:51.6 and Carter Harrison was 55th in 20:27.4.

Ashley Brasovan of Wellington High School in Florida won the girls’ division in 17:16.8, defeating Tennessee two-time state champion Kathy Kroeger of Independence by eight seconds. Collins Hill of Suwanee, Ga., won the team title with 51 points, defeating Alabama’s Mountain Brook by 32 points.

David Brainerd progressing

Although the Jessica Duble-led Chattanooga Christian Lady Chargers are in first in Region 3-A/AA, the competition has tightened up with the emergence of David Brainerd’s young runners.

“They’ve been running strong,” David Brainerd coach Ken Akin said. “They’re determined, focused and they understand what we’re trying to accomplish. I’m thrilled to death to have them.”

Freshmen Anna Hoffman, Natalie Thedford, Michelle Bradley and Haley Moore have led the charge. Hoffman, Thedford and Bradley had top-10 finishes in the CCCL’s recent Riverpark rac, and Moore was 26th. David Brainerd was fourth overall in the meet.

“We’re trying to close the gap on Chattanooga Christian and try and make it to state,” Akin said. “I tell my girls, ‘If we make it to state,’ and my girls get mad and say that I should be saying, ‘When we go to state.’ We should be there, and I think that the girls will get fired up to do even better.”