By By BRUCE HIXON – Sports Editor
T.R. Miller will have an additional 14 entries and W.S. Neal will have an additional seven entries through the wild card system for this week's Class 3A state track meet.
The state automatically takes the top two places at the sectional. The next seven overall performances at sectional meets across the state are taken as wild card entries.
Ten of T.R. Miller's wild cards are in the boys division. Justin Gomez was a double wild card selection in the shot put and discus. Gomez was fourth at last week's Mobile Sectional in the shot put with a throw of 40-0 1/2 and third in the discus with a toss of 116-0.
Other entries for the Tigers in field events include F.B. Lett in the pole vault and Matt Lane in the triple jump. Lett was fourth at the sectional with a vault of 9-0, while Lane took third in the triple jump at 39-1.
Brandon Andrews, Michael Hunt, Jason McCreary and Javaris Drakeford will represent the Tigers as wild cards on the track. Andrews was third in the 100 meter dash at 11.51, Hunt was fifth in the 1600 meters at 5:13.8, McCreary was fourth in the 110 meter high hurdles at 18.1 and Drakeford was third in the 300 meter intermediate hurdles at 44.9.
T.R. Miller's 1600 and 3200 meter relay teams also received wild card berths. The 1600 entry was fifth at the sectional with a time of 3:48.7, while the 3200 team was third at 9:34.
Six of W.S. Neal's seven wild cards are in boys competition.
The Blue Eagles will be represented in the field by Josh Bailey and Jonathan Alexander. Bailey was fourth in the discus at 108-2, while Alexander tied for second in the long jump at 19-7.
Jeremy Nicholson was a double wild card selection in the two hurdles races. Nicholson was third in the 110 highs at the sectional at 17.6 and fourth in the 300 intermediates at 46.0.
W.S. Neal also qualified its 400 and 1600 meter relay teams. The 400 meter team was third at 45.93 and the 1600 meter team was sixth at 3:58.6.
Crystal Higdon will represent T.R. Miller's girls in two events. Higdon was fourth in the 1600 meters at the sectional with a time of 6:07.89. She was also fourth in the 3200 meters at 13:54.4. Ashley Williams was chosen for the 200 meters. She was third in that event at the sectional at 28.58. Kesha Peterson will compete in the triple jump after a third place mark of 28-1 at the sectional.
The lone W.S. Neal girl selected as a wild card was Jolesia Likely in the long jump after a third place sectional jump of 15-6 1/2.