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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

TRUSSVILLE – With the Chelsea Hornets, Oak Mountain Eagles, Spain Park Jaguars and Thompson Warriors hitting the track at Hewitt-Trussville High School on April 26-27, multiple athletes from the area rose to the top of Class 7A, Section 2 to reach the state championship.

Overall, Chelsea came in third in the boys team standings with 91 points and Oak Mountain finished fifth with 72 points. In the girls standings, Oak Mountain earned fourth with 102 points and Chelsea came in fifth with 76 points.

The top five individual athletes in each event and the top three relay teams earned automatic qualifiers to the state championship in Gulf Shores. In addition, wild card spots at state were given to the top four athletes from outside the top five at all four sectionals combined.

In the boys 100-meter dash, Chelsea’s Eryk Brown and Thompson’s Bradley Franklin qualified for state with personal records. Brown won the finals with a time of 10.60 seconds and Franklin took third with a time of 10.67 seconds.

In addition, Oak Mountain’s Sean Carson won a wild card as he came in sixth place with a personal-record time of 10.85 seconds.

The girls 100-meter dash saw county runners fill the scoreboard from second to fifth place with personal record to reach state.

Oak Mountain’s Samantha Bennett finished second with a time of 12.18 seconds, Jhaidyn Suggs of Thompson came in third with a time of 12.38 seconds, Thompson’s Cherish Brewer came in fourth with a time of 12.47 seconds and Oak Mountain’s Chrislyn Gray finished fifth with a time of 12.50 seconds.

Oak Mountain’s Jasmin Stokes secured a wild card with her eighth-place time of 12.70 seconds, also a personal record.

Brown also took the boys 200-meter dash for the Hornets with a time of 21.46 seconds. Oak Mountain’s Carson also wrapped up the final automatic qualifying spot with a personal-record time of 22.24 seconds.

Kayden Washington of Thompson advanced with a wild card thanks to his time of 22.56 seconds.

The girls 200-meter dash saw Bennett earn second for the Eagles with a time of 25.30 seconds. Thompson’s Brewer came in fourth with a time of 26.13 seconds and Chelsea’s Kamryn Hudson will also go to state with a personal-record time of 26.16 seconds.

Gray earned a wild card for Oak Mountain with her sixth-place time of 26.17 seconds.

Oak Mountain’s Catarina Williams won the girls 400-meter dash with a personal record time of 57.35 seconds. Chelsea’s Mia Dunavant is also moving on to state with a fourth-place finish and a time of 58.28 seconds.

The boys 400-meter dash saw Thompson’s Curtis Hill advance with a third-place time of 49.65 seconds. While he was the only automatic qualifier from the county, Chelsea’s Owen Key earned a wild card with his sixth-place time of 50.52 seconds.

Chelsea’s Ty Cason won the girls 800-meter run with a personal-record time of 2:11.74. Spain Park’s Delaney Vickers finished behind her in second with a time of 2:14.41 and Oak Mountain’s Catarina Williams moved on with a personal record of 2:14.64 in fourth place.

In the boys 800-meter run, Oak Mountain’s Cooper Jeffcoat finished in fifth place with a time of 1:57.47 and his teammate John Shoemaker will join him at state after he finished fifth with a time of 1:57.47. Whitt Kilgore then made it three Eagles moving on with his wild card winning time of 1:58.63 in sixth place.

County runners swept the top three places in the boys 1600-meter run as Chelsea’s Parker Campbell won with a time of 4:23.48, Oak Mountain’s Shoemaker came in second with a time of 4:23.57 and Oak Mountain’s Jeffcoat finished third with a time of 4:25.13.

Kilgore took a wild card spot with his seventh-place time of 4:26.37, a personal record for the Oak Mountain runner.

In the girls 1600-meter run, Chelsea’s Cason came in second with a time of 5:08.79, Spain Park’s Vickers finished fourth with a time of 5:14.66 and Oak Mountain’s Ava Fields came in fifth with a time of 5:17.87. Oak Mountain’s Lauren Cole picked up a wild card with her seventh-place time of 5:17.87.

Oak Mountain’s Shoemaker won the boys 3200-meter run with a time of 9:20.00. Chelsea’s Parker Campbell finished right behind him in second with a time of 9:26.20. Hudson Williams of Chelsea earned a wild card in sixth place with a time of 9:48.03.

Spain Park went one-two in the girls 3200-meter run as Vickers won with a time of 11:25.52 and Remy Richards came in second with a time of 11:26.06. Oak Mountain’s Hayley Datema earned a new personal record and wild card spot with her sixth-place time of 11:35.64.

Thompson’s Franklin won the boys 110-meter hurdles and set a new personal record in the process with his time of 13.57 seconds. Chelsea’s Connor Burley also earned a personal record with a time of 15.26 seconds, and he earned a wild card after finishing in sixth.

In the girls 100-meter hurdles, Chelsea’s Addison Foster came in second with a personal-record time of 15.33 seconds. Oak Mountain’s Julia Bueche came in fourth with a time of 15.74 seconds.

Franklin also won the boys 300-meter hurdles with a personal record of 37.28 seconds for the Warriors. Chelsea’s Owen Key came in fourth with a time of 41.05 seconds.

Chelsea’s Addison Foster won the girls 300-meter hurdles with a time of 47.38 seconds to advance to state.

In the boys 4×100-meter relay, Chelsea claimed third with a time of 42.39 seconds. Thompson earned a wild card with its fifth-place time of 42.71 seconds.

The girls 4×100-meter relay saw Oak Mountain earn second with a time of 49.29 seconds, Chelsea claim third with a time of 49.48 seconds and Thompson earn a wild card from fourth place with a time of 49.52 seconds.

In the girls 4×400-meter relay, Chelsea took second with a time of 3:56.75. Oak Mountain earned a wild card with its fourth-place time of 4:04.53.

Chelsea, Oak Mountain and Thompson all advanced off wild cards to the boys 4×400-meter state championship as the Hornets came in fourth with a time of 3:27.68, Oak Mountain finished fifth with a time of 3:28.48 and Thompson took sixth with a time of 3:29.12.

The same three schools also took wild cards in the boys 4×800-meter relay. Oak Mountain earned fourth with a time of 8:13.93, Chelsea took fourth with a time of 8:22.94 and Thompson was fifth with a time of 8:34.58.

In the girls 4×800-meter relay, Oak Mountain automatically advanced with a time of 9:36.80 in second place and Spain Park and Chelsea both earned wild cards with time of 9:46.18 for the Jags and 9:50.79 for the Hornets.

In the field, Thompson’s Akasha Dudley won the girls shot put with a throw of 41-01.00. Spain Park’s LaCoria Nelson had a personal record of 35-02.00 in second place and Gabrielle Hunter earned third for the Jags with a throw of 32-10.00. Thompson’s Jayla Forbes earned a wild card with her sixth-place throw of 32-04.00, which was also a personal record.

Thompson’s Fabienne Shuler had a personal-best throw of 48-01.00 in the boys shot put to earn fourth.

In the boys discus, Spain Park’s Zachary Erickson came in second with a throw of 150-02 and Shuler earned a personal record with his third-place throw of 143-05. Chelsea’s Jonathan Laughlin earned a wild card in sixth place with a personal record of 131-05 and Thompson’s Caleb Ballard also took a wild card in eighth place with his personal record throw of 124-11.

Thompson’s Alaura Myers came in second in the girls discus with a personal record of 103-06.

Chelsea’s Gabe Pendley won the boys javelin throw with a throw of 175-05.

In the girls javelin throw, Oak Mountain’s Sara Cothran took second with a personal record throw of 117-03.

Chelsea’s Wyatt Irvin will head to state in the boys pole vault with a fifth-place finish and a personal record of 13-06.00.

Oak Mountain’s Harper Richey and Thompson’s Alicia Whitman both earned wild cards in the girls pole vault as Richey earned sixth with a mark of 10-00.00 and Whitman was eighth with a mark of 8-00.00.

Chelsea’s Brandon Sims earned fifth place in the boys long jump with a personal-record mark of 22-05.25. Oak Mountain’s Corrin Hammett earned a wild card with a personal record of 21-05.75.

In the girls long jump, Chelsea’s Tamarah Rice came in third with a mark of 16-02.00, Oak Mountain’s Cothran took fourth with a mark of 16-02.00 and Oak Mountain’s Samiah Jones earned fifth with a mark of 16-01.00.

Thompson’s Gracie Baldwin came in second in the girls triple jump with a mark of 34-11.00, which was a personal record. Jones of Oak Mountain came in fourth with a mark of 34-02.00.

Oak Mountain’s Sean Ray claimed fourth in the boys triple jump with a mark of 43-04.25. Three area athletes will receive wild cards: Oak Mountain’s Hammett in sixth with a personal record of 43-03.00, Chelsea’s Drew Cheslock in seventh with a personal-record mark of 42-05.50 and Chelsea’s Raymond Bridgeman in eighth with a mark of 42-02.50.