By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
The number of entries is still the same, but the way some of the athletes have qualified for this week's state track meet is different.
Gone is the Alabama High School Athletic Association's wild card system where the top three sectional places plus the next four best performances overall advance to state competition. This year the AHSAA chose to take the top four places.
W.S. Neal coach Buck Quarles said the switch has gotten rid of the waiting game athletes on the bubble have had to endure.
T.R. Miller coach Eddie Brundidge has mixed feelings about the new system.
Sectional teams had an early wake-up call for Saturday's 8 a.m. start. The sectional had some schools from as far away as Montgomery such as Alabama Christian Academy and Trinity Presbyterian, which either had to leave in the early morning hours or go to Mobile the night before. The latter choice would have meant an expensive motel bill for those schools.
Both T.R. Miller and W.S. Neal chose to make the 100-mile trip Saturday morning.
While it may have been an inconvenience on one end, Quarles said he preferred the early start.
The meet, which took about a one-hour lunch break in between, did not end until 5:15 p.m. It was 5:30 p.m. by the time the award ceremonies concluded. The biggest cause for the long day was Class 6A also had its sectional meet in conjunction with Class 4A.