By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
They may have been small in numbers, but the few entries the T.R. Miller girls track team had produced a solid sixth place finish in Saturday's Class 4A Sectional Meet held at Mobile's McGill-Toolen High School.
T.R. Miller only had four girls score points, but the quartet of Crystal Higdon, Amber Nelson, Laferria Hetherington and Deaundra Hetherington qualified for the upcoming state meet in three events and tallied 27 points.
Higdon provided the lone local first place finish when she won the 3200 meters with a time of 13:46.76. Higdon also qualified in the 1600 meters where she was
runner-up with a time of 6:05.38. Nelson also qualified in both distance races with a fourth place mark in the 1600 meters at 6:20.7 and a third place effort in the 3200 meters at 14:35.62.
The T.R. Miller quartet qualified for state in the 3200 meters with a second place time of 11:44.6.
W.S. Neal finished ninth in the girls competition with nine points. The lone state qualifier for the Lady Blue Eagles was Rachel Davis, who was third in the long jump at 16-7 1/2.
Alabama Christian Academy fell a point shy of a triple-digit margin of victory, as it racked up 138 points. St. James was second with 39.
The top four places advance to the state meet, which will be at Gulf Shores Friday and Saturday.
Team scores
1. Alabama Christian Academy 138; 2. St. James 39; 3. Escambia County 36; 4. Monroe County 31; 5. Trinity 29; 6. T.R. Miller 27; 7. Daleville 22; 8. Brewbaker Tech 17; 9. W.S. Neal 9; 10. Jackson 7
State qualifiers and local results
Shot put: (1st) Waters (T) 32-2; (2nd) Hayes (ACA) 29-9; (3rd) Schutt (ACA) 26-2; (4th) Beckham (D) 25-3; (6th) White (WSN) 22-1
Discus: (1st) Hayes (ACA) 86-9 1/2; (2nd) Schutt (ACA) 81-11 1/2; (3rd) Waters (T) 81-7 1/2; (4th) Hamilton (ACA) 79-3 1/2; (6th) R. Davis (WSN) 68-10
High jump: (1st) Cross (ACA) 4-8; (2nd) Baker (ACA) 4-4
Long jump: (1st) Long (MC) 17-1 1/2; (2nd) Henry (EC) 17-0; (3rd) R. Davis (WSN) 16-7 1/2; (4th) Cross (ACA) 16-5 1/4
Triple jump: (1st) Vories (T) 29-8; (2nd) Foster (ACA) 28-5 1/2; (3rd) Downing (ACA) 28-3; (4th) Baker (ACA) 27-8 3/4
Pole vault: (1st) Cronier (STJ) 8-0; (2nd) Alter (STJ) 8-0
Javelin: (1st) Bright (STJ) 103-1; (2nd) Vories (T) 95-0; (3rd) Hayes (ACA) 87-4; (4th) Myer (STJ) 80-1
100: (1st) Henry (EC) 12.49; (2nd) McDonald (D) 12.83; (3rd) Glawson (D) 12.84; (4th) Long (MC) 12.91; (5th) R. Davis (WSN) 13.03
200: (1st) Henry (EC) 26.44; (2nd) Long (MC) 26.89; (3rd) Glawson (D) 27.02; (4th) McDonald (D) 27.22
400: (1st) Parker (MC) 1:01.6; (2nd) Cross (ACA) 1:03.92; (3rd) Walters (BT) 1:06.01; (4th) Foss (ACA) 1:06.01
800: (1st) Randolph (J) 2:43.93; (2nd) Wright (STJ) 2:46.48; (3rd) Coleman (ACA) 2:51.05; (4th) Leary (ACA) 2:55.94; (5th) L. Hetherington (TRM) 2:56.93; (6th) D. Hetherington (TRM) 2:59.03
1600: (1st) Coleman (ACA) 6:03.8; (2nd) Higdon (TRM) 6:05.38; (3rd) Barker (ACA) 6:13.32; (4th) Nelson (TRM) 6:20.7
3200: (1st) Higdon (TRM) 13:46.76; (2nd) Hall (ACA) 14:06.98; (3rd) Nelson (TRM) 14:35.62; (4th) Johnson (ACA) 15:10.07
100 high hurdles: (1st) Alter (STJ) 16.93; (2nd) Ford (EC) 18.45; (3rd) Moore (BT) 19.3; (4th) Manning (ACA) 19.34
300 low hurdles: (1st) Cross (ACA) 49.9; (2nd) Manning (ACA) 54.59; (3rd) Myers (ACA) 1:01.88
400 relay: (1st) Escambia County 52.72; (2nd) Monroe County 52.79; (3rd) Alabama Christian Academy 54.16; (4th) Brewbaker Tech 54.81; (6th) W.S. Neal 1:00.1
1600 relay: (1st) Alabama Christian Academy 4:31.48; (2nd) Brewbaker Tech 5:14.4
3200 relay: (1st) Alabama Christian Academy 11:37.17; (2nd) T.R. Miller (D. Hethington, L. Hetherington, Nelson, Higdon) 11:44.6