By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
Bradley McCreary won an individual state title and so did the 400-meter relay team as a group, but the T.R. Miller Tigers' bid to win a second straight state track championship disappeared at Saturday's Class 4A finals held at Gulf Shores.
The Tigers settled for a fifth place finish with 47 1/2 points, which was well short of team champion Jacksonville's 68 1/2 points. Beauregard was a close second with 65 1/2 followed by Guntersville in third place with 56 and Fayette County in fourth with 51.
McCreary won his individual title in the 400-meter dash with a winning time of 50.57.
T.R. Miller's first place 400-meter relay team of Brandon Andrews, Terrelle Brooks, Travis Holland and Brandon Jackson provided the other local first place finish with a winning time of 43.96.
The Tigers' next best finishes were three third place marks turned in by Fred Samuel in the shot put with a throw of 45-10, Matt Lane in the triple jump with a leap of 42-10 and Jamal Middleton in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.96. T.R. Miller was able to double place in the 200-meter dash. McCreary was right behind Middleton in fourth place at 23.26.
The Tigers got a four-way tie for sixth place in the high jump by Brooks, who cleared 5-10. Brooks was also sixth in the long jump at 19-7.
Justin Gomez and Andrews provided T.R. Miller with a pair of eighth place marks. Gomez had a throw of 124-6 in the discus, while Andrews had a time of 11.87 in the 100-mter dash.
W.S. Neal finished 11th out of the 36 teams which scored points with 20.
Peacock was fifth in the javelin with a throw of 150-4 and Howard was sixth at 148-6. Both fell victim to a new state record of 172-11 set by Kevin Keyes of Dadeville.
Jonathan Alexander scored in two events with a fourth place finish in the long jump at 20-10 1/4 and a fifth place mark in the triple jump at 42-5.
Jeremy Nicholson was W.S. Neal's other athlete who earned a place, as he was fifth in the 110-meter high hurdles at 16.38.
Team scores
1. Jacksonville 68 1/2; 2. Beauregard 65 1/2; 3. Guntersville 56; 4. Fayette County 51; 5. T.R. Miller 47 1/2; 6. Rogers 41; 7. East Lawrence 32; 8. (tie) Monroe County, Dadeville 27; 10. Ashville 26; 11. (tie) W.S. Neal, Jackson 20; 13. Handley 18; 14. Corner 17; 15. Douglas 16 1/2; 16. Central-Tuscaloosa 16; 17. Alabama Christian Academy 15; 18. Deshler 14; 19. (tie) Cleburne County, East Limestone 13; 21. North Jackson 11; 22. Escambia County 10; 23. St. James 9 1/2; 24. Oneonta 9; 25. Madison County 8 1/2; 26. Cherokee County 8; 27. Central-Coosa 7; 28. (tie) Brooks, Fairview 5; 30. (tie) Haleyville, Priceville, Lawrence County, Hamilton 4; 34. (tie) Childersburg, Trinity 3; 36. Boaz 2
First place and local results
Shot put: Williams (East Limestone) 49-2 1/2; (3rd) Samuel (TRM) 45-10
Discus: (1st) Hilliard (Central-Tuscaloosa) 147-3; (8th) Gomez (TRM) 124-6
High jump: (1st) Brothers (Douglas) 6-4 1/2; (6th tie) Brooks (TRM) 5-10
Long jump: (1st) Dread (Jackson) 22-0 3/4; (4th) Jo. Alexander (WSN) 20-10 1/4; (6th) Brooks (TRM) 19-7
Triple jump: (1st) Helm (Jacksonville) 45-2 3/4; (3rd) M. Lane (TRM) 42-10; (5th) Jo. Alexander (WSN) 42-5
Pole vault: (1st) McConnell (Beauregard) 13-0
Javelin: (1st) Keyes (Dadeville) 172-11; (5th) Peacock (WSN) 150-4; (6th) Howard (WSN) 148-6
100: (1st) McKenzie (Escambia County) 10.95; (8th) Andrews (TRM) 11.87
200: (1st) Hawthorne (Monroe County) 22.48; (3rd) Middleton (TRM) 22.96; (4th) McCreary (TRM) 23.26
400: (1st) McCreary (TRM) 50.57
800: (1st) Cornutt (Ashville) 1:58.94
1600: (1st) Nelson (Jacksonville) 4:35.66
3200: (1st) Howard (Rogers) 10:07.51
110 high hurdles: (1st) McKinley (Jacksonville) 15.3; (5th) Nicholson (WSN) 16.38
300 intermediate hurdles: (1st) Wilson (Fayette County 40.12; (7th) Banks (TRM) 43.22
400 relay: (1st) T.R. Miller (Andrews, Brooks, Holland, Jackson) 43.96
1600 relay: (1st) Jacksonville 3:32.93
3200 relay: (1st) Guntersville 8:38.66