A second place finish at sectionals Thursday in Auburn has earned the T.R. Miller girls cross country team the right to compete at the state track meet next week in Moulton.
The Lady Tigers placed second behind Montgomery Academy to earn the right to advance.
T.R. Miller totaled 55 points to Montgomery Academy’s 28 points. Bayside Academy qualified as the third team as they finished with 77 points.
The top three teams advance to the state competition while the top six individual runners from non-state qualifying team rosters advance.
Karisa Nelson led T.R. Miller as she placed first overall in the race with a time of 18:49.46.
Allie Nelson placed fourth for T.R. Miller with a time of 20:03.80 and Katie Nelson placed 10th with a time of 21:24.67.
Katie Baggett finished with a time of 22:51.32 for 26th place while Breann Huff placed 30th with a time of 23:41.29.
Taylor Guthrie finished with a time of 24:08.94 for 35th place and Amber Terry placed 38th with a time of 24:26.73.
The Lady Tigers earned the class 3A state runner-up trophy three years in a row.
The Lady Tigers fell 18 points short last year to Rogers 60-42. The year before, the Lady Tigers lost by two points to Montgomery Academy and in 2008, came up seven points short also to Montgomery Academy.
In the boys race Thursday at Kiesel Park in Auburn, the Tigers placed fifth out of six teams and failed to qualify for state as a team.
Montgomery Catholic came in first place with 63 points edging out Montgomery Academy’s 66 points. Bayside Academy finished in third place with 80 points edging out LAMP’s 81.
T.R. Miller scored 100 points ahead of Trinity’s 122.
Rob Stokes was the lone Tiger to qualify for state as he placed third overall Thursday with a time of 17:20.63.
Christian Carlson placed 14th for T.R. Miller and was one runner shy of advancing to state. Carlson finished with a time of 18:43.31.
Andrew Pollitte finished just behind Carlson in 15th place with a time of 18:59.59.
Ryan Snowden placed 36th with a time of 20:33.71 and Carter Frezell placed 39th with a time of 20:45.71.
Ramon Castro placed 49th with a time of 22:13.39 and Stewart Campbell, D’Angelo Thomas, Travis Carlson and Nash Diercks all placed 52-55 respectively. Campbell had a time of 22:34.08 followed by Thomas’ 22:43.07, Carlson’s 22:43.87 and Diercks’ 23:34.05.
Of T.R. Miller’s 10 boys runner’s Thursday, the grade breakdown is: junior, sophomore, eight grade, junior, freshman, senior, seventh grade, eighth grade, seventh grade and seventh grade. Of the 10 Lady Tiger runners: sophomore, seventh grade, sophomore, seniors, senior, senior, eighth grade, senior, sophomore, sophomore, senior.