By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
As the season headed down the home stretch, W.S. Neal senior thrower Chris Johnson kept getting better and better.
While Johnson did not have his best shot put toss of the season Friday, it was more than good enough to capture the Class 3A state crown at Troy State University.
Johnson's winning throw was 46-7, which was nearly two full feet better than his closest competition.
"Chris has really come on strong the last couple of weeks. This a big accomplishment for him and a great way for a senior to go out," W.S. Neal coach Shane Smothers said.
Johnson's shot put title gave W.S. Neal 10 of its 15 total points at the meet. The Blue Eagles finished in 16th place out of 30 teams that scored points.
Ray Dunn gave W.S. Neal's its next best finish at state with a sixth place mark in the 3200 meters with a time of 11:09.7. The other place where the Blue Eagles earned points came in the 400 meter relay where it finished seventh with a time of 46.51.
In other W.S. Neal results, both Mario Daniel and Jarrod McCreary were eliminated during preliminary action in the 100 meter dash. Daniel had a time of 11.91, while McCreary went 12.48.
Daniel and Jonathan Alexander failed to get past the preliminaries in the 200 meter dash with respective times of 24.21 and 24.82.
Shon Biddle did not score any points, but did post a 10th place finish in the 1600 meters at 5:07.49.
In its other running event at state, W.S. Neal finished one spot away from points in the 3200 meter relay with a ninth place time of 9:31.58.
In W.S. Neal's non-scoring field events, Alexander was 10th in the long jump at 19-2, while Cecil Thomas was 11th in the triple jump at 37-2. Johnson finished 12th in the javelin with a throw of 119-8.