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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The Shelby County Wildcats, Montevallo Bulldogs, Westminster at Oak Mountain Knights, Indian Springs School and Vincent Yellow Jackets all punched their tickets to the outdoor track and field state championships with their big performances at the sectional championships from April 26-27.

The top five individual athletes in each event and the top three relay teams earned automatic qualifiers to the state championship from May 2-4 in Gulf Shores for Class 4A and 5A and Cullman for Class 2A and 3A.

In addition, wild card spots at state were given to the top four athletes from outside the top five at all four sectionals combined.

Class 5A:

In the Class 5A, Section 2 Championship in Smiths Station, three members of the Shelby County Wildcats qualified to compete in four events at the state championship.

Carter Wood came in third in the boys 3200-meter run to qualify for the state championship. MaKonnen Falcon qualified as well with his fourth-place time of 10:58.32.

Wood will also represent the Wildcats in the boys 1600-meter run after he secured fifth place with a time of 4:55.11.

Brooke Busby came in fifth in the girls long jump after earning a mark of 15-05.50.

Class 4A:

The Montevallo Bulldogs will have two representatives in Gulf Shores at the Class 4A State Championship after their performance in the Section 3 Championship at Hewitt-Trussville High School.

Kyler Mitchell qualified for state by earning second place in the boys shot put with a personal-record throw of 44-03.00.

Hunter Jordan came in fifth place in the girls long jump with a season record of 14-01.00 to advance to the state championship.

Class 3A:

The Westminster at Oak Mountain Knights and Indian Springs earned sectional titles and a plethora of state championship spots in the Class 3A, Section 2 Championship in Wetumpka.

Westminster finished second in the girls  team standings with 124 points while the boys claimed fourth with 88 points.

Indian Springs’ Cara Huff walked away with two sectional championships as she won the girls shot put with a mark of 35-07.00 and the girls discus with a mark of 120-07.

Westminster earned a pair of qualifiers in the girls discus as well as Olivia Montgomery earned third place and a personal record with her throw of 79-07 and Sarah Jacobson also earned a personal record with her fourth-place throw of 76-08.

In addition, Huff qualified for the girls javelin state championship as she threw a personal record mark of 101-08 to take second place. Montgomery from Westminster came in third with a mark of 100-11.

Westminster’s Elizabeth Bandura won the girls 100-meter hurdles with a time of 17.65 seconds.

The Knights will send four runners to the girls 400-meter championship after Elizabeth Bandura won the sectional title with a time of 1:03.89 and Reese Robbins and Helen Harbert both ran personal records with Robbins taking second with 1:03.89 and Harbert earning fourth with 1:04.82.

Pippa Hussar claimed the girls 800-meter run title for the Knights with a personal-record finish of 2:25.24. Her teammate Sarah Adams finished fourth with a time of 4:37.45, also a personal record.

Hussar also won the girls 1600-meter run with her time of 5:28.22 to take two sectional titles into the state championships.  Natalie Porterfield also qualified for the state championship in the event with a personal-record time of 5:46.80.

Shelby County swept the podium in the boys 3200-meter run after Westminster’s Weaver Caldwell won with a time of 10:07.01, Indian Springs’ Quinn Conroy came in second with a personal record of 10:18.34 and the Knights’ Alexander Montgomery finished third with a time of 10:24.85.

Bandura came in second place in the girls 300-meter hurdles with a time of 48.81 seconds, which was a personal record. Robbins came in third with a personal record of her own of 49.82 seconds.

Micah Adams of Westminster finished second in the boys 800-meter run with a personal record of 2:02.83. Alexander Montgomery finished right behind him in third with a time of 2:06.31.

In addition, Micah Adams took third in the boys 400-meter dash with a time of 53.23 seconds.

Caldwell took second for the Knights in the boys 1600-meter run with a personal-record time of 4:40.38. Indian Springs’ Conroy came in third with a personal record of his own of 4:41.70. Westminster’s Alexander Montgomery finished fifth with a time of 4:47.81.

Conroy finished second in the boys 3200-meter run with his personal-record finish of 10:18.34.

Indian Springs’ Catherine Hinson qualified for two different events as she came in third in the girls 1600-meter run with a time of 5:36.70 and fourth in the girls 3200-meter run with a time of 12:33.49.

Zach Taylor of Westminster earned a personal record in the boys 300-meter hurdles with his fourth-place time of 46.09 seconds.

Westminster will send four relay teams to state after the boys 4×800-meter team won the sectional title with a time of 8:59.45 and three other teams finished in second.

The boys 4×400-meter team ran a time of 3:42.15, the girls 4×400-meter team finished in 4:23.81 and the girls 4×800-meter team ran a time of 10:46.92 as all three will advance to state with second-place finishes.

Westminster’s Daniel Godfrey qualified for two field events after he earned personal records in the boys triple jump and long jump. He finished fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 36-06.00 and fifth in the long jump with a mark of 18-11.50.

Robbins finished fifth in the girls triple jump with a mark of 30-06.75 to qualify for state.

Class 2A:

The Vincent Yellow Jackets will have multiple athletes representing them at the 2A championships in Cullman after their big performances at the Section 3 championships at Northridge High School in Tuscaloosa.

Jayden Roberts walked away with a pair of first-place finishes for the Jackets as he won the boys 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.07 seconds and the boys 300-meter hurdles with a time of 45.26 seconds.

Kaleigh Willis secured second place in the girls 3200-meter run with a personal-best time of 16:36.15.

Kendarius Chapman will represent Vincent at two different events at the state championship as he secured third place in the boys shot put with a mark of 41-11.00 and fifth in the boys discus with a personal record of 116-02.

Jackson Godwin secured fourth in the boys javelin with a mark of 133-07 and advanced to the state championship.

Kalin Cobb earned fifth place in the girls 300-meter hurdles with a time of 56.47 seconds.