By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

GULF SHORES – The AHSAA sectional track meets took place over the weekend all across the state in preparation for the state meets taking place from May 5-7. The 1A-3A meets will take place at Cullman High School while the 4A-7A meets will all take place in Gulf Shores at the City Municipal Track. Athletes qualified for their respective state meets by either finishing in the top five of a given event, given they met minimum standards per event class set by the AHSAA, or they were chosen as one of the next four best performers that met minimum standards from a wild-card pool for each classification event.

All seven of the schools in Shelby County between the 4A and 6A classes, namely Montevallo, Calera, Shelby County, Helena, Briarwood, Chelsea and Pelham, will send athletes to compete in individual events. Joseph Cordoza was the only athlete from Montevallo to qualify for the 4A state meet in Gulf Shores, qualifying in both the 100-meter dash and the long jump. The 4×100-meter team from Montevallo also qualified.

Helena is sending the most athletes to compete in the 4A-6A meets of any school from the county that will be represented in Gulf Shores at 26, 13 from the boys’ team and 13 from the girls.

For the boys from Helena, Cade Pugh qualified in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Blake Vaughn qualified in the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. Justin Ritondo qualified in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs. Sam Richardson qualified in the discus and the javelin throws. Curtis Woods qualified in the 110-meter hurdles and the triple jump. Kourtney Moore qualified in the long jump and the triple jump. Spencer Hodges and Jacob Lackey qualified in the 3,200-meter run along with Vaughn, Christian Hill and Chris Holt qualified in the 110-meter hurdles along Woods, Steven Williams qualified in the 800-meter run alongside Vaughn and Ritondo, Jordan Wallace qualified in the triple jump along with Woods and Moore and Dionte Tolbert qualified in the high jump. The Huskies also qualified in the 4×400- and 4×800-meter relays.

For the Lady Huskies, Maggie Lucas qualified in the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. Claire Vaughn qualified in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs while Abigail Ford qualified in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. Quiana Moore qualified in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Niya Oden qualified in the 100-meter dash and the triple jump. Megan Hare qualified in both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles. Kirsen Gardner qualified in the shot put and the discus. Hannah Montalbano and Allison Tanner qualified in the high jump and the triple jump. Victoria Brown qualified in the discus while Erin Fuller qualified in the shot put alongside Gardner, Parker Freels qualified in the pole vault and Laurel Ling qualified in the javelin to round out the individual competitors for the Lady Huskies. Helena is also sending its 4×100-, 4×400- and 4×800-meter relay teams.

Calera and Shelby County each had four athletes qualify for the 5A meet, with two boys and two girls coming from each school. Kyle Harrell qualified in the 200-meter dash and the long jump for Calera while Zach Gaines qualified in the discus and javelin throws on the boys end, and Jayda Tyes qualified in the 200-meter dash while Tamara Montes qualified in the 1,600-meter run for the Lady Eagles. For Shelby County, Deon Carter qualified in the 400-meter dash while Jacquan Blue qualified in the javelin throw on the boys end. Marjorie Head qualified in the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs for the Lady Wildcats while Kelli Roper qualified in the 300-meter hurdles.

Pelham had a total of 17 athletes, 12 girls and five boys, qualify for the 6A state meet. For the girls Erin Hines qualified in the 400-meter dash, the 100- and 300-meter hurdles and the long jump. Alex Ladewig qualified in the 100-meter hurdles, the pole vault and the long and triple jumps. Melanie Taylor qualified in the 100-meter hurdles, the pole vault and the triple jump. Mary Grace Strozier qualified in the 800-, 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs. Jordan Allison qualified in the 400-meter dash as well as in the 300-meter hurdles. Katie Strozier qualified in the 400-meter dash and the 800-meter run while Alex Wilkins qualified in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs. Wilkins also qualified in the triple jump. Emily Shaw and Erin Long qualified in the high jump, Amelia Guthrie qualified in the pole vault along with Ladewig and Taylor, Ayala Seaborn qualified in the discus and Emorie Long qualified in the discus. The Lady Panthers’ 4×400- and 4×800-meter teams also qualified.

Dorian Austin qualified in the 200- and 400-meter dashes for the Pelham boys, while Bobby Letson was the only other boy from Pelham to qualify in more than one event as he qualified in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs. Peyton Strickland qualified in the 800-meter run alongside Letson, Donovan Ross qualified in the 100-meter dash and Dorian Tolbert qualified in the discus.

Chelsea had two athletes qualify for the state meet. Courtney Ivy qualified for the girls’ 100-meter hurdles and Daniel McClellan qualified in the boy’s discus. Briarwood did not have a girl qualify for state, although the Lady Lions will send each of their three relay teams, and had six boys qualify. Zack Howard qualified in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs while Griffin Oaks qualified in the 3,200-meter run as well. Daniel Johnston qualified in the discus while Ashton Domingue, Luke Dyson and Banks Nash all qualified in the javelin for the Lions.