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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

MOUNTAIN BROOK – With spots at the state meet on the line, the Oak Mountain, Spain Park and Thompson outdoor track and field teams gathered at Mountain Brook High School April 29-30 to compete in this year’s Class 7A, Section 3 meet.

In one of the most competitive sections in the state, the three teams saw their boys and girls perform well with several finishing on the podium.

In the team standings, Spain Park’s girls finished fourth, Thompson’s girls finished fifth and Oak Mountain’s girls finished sixth.

In the boys’ standings, Oak Mountain finished fourth, Thompson finished fifth and Spain Park finished sixth.

The Thompson boys and girls matched each other with fifth-place performances at sectionals, as both the boys and girls had five podium finishers with the girls posting two wins and the boys one win.

The boys were led by Bradley Franklin, who continued a remarkable season in the 110-meter hurdles and 300-meter hurdles.

He won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.61, while he finished second in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 39.61 seconds.

Outside of his strong day, the boys three other podium finishers, as Eli Sutton, Gavin Horton and Parker Mitchell all finished third in their respective events.

Sutton finished third in the triple jump with a distance of 45 feet, 7 inches, Horton finished third in pole vaulting with a height of 14 feet, 6 inches, and Mitchell finished third in the discus throw with a distance of 140 feet, 3 inches.

Jackson Hamlin and the 4X400-meter relay team added top-five finishes for the Warriors as well.

The girls were led by big days from Akasha Dudley and Skye Smith.

Dudley continued a remarkable season by winning the shot put with a distance of 38 feet, 2.5 inches, while she also finished second in the discus throw after a distance of 106 feet, 1.5 inches.

Smith added another win for the Warriors in the 300-meter hurdles behind a time of 46.13 seconds.

Trinity Williams and Whitney Clark also finished on the podium in two separate events.

Williams finished third in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.54 seconds, while Clark finished second in the javelin throw after reaching a distance of 115 feet, 3.5 inches.

Spain Park continued an impressive year at the meet as the highest finisher in the girls’ standings from the county, while the girls and boys both had winners at the sectional meet.

The highlights came from Mackenzie Culpepper and Keon Buck, who both finished first in their respective events.

Culpepper finished first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:13.17, while she also finished third in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:15.22 to earn two podium finishes.

Buck did the same in the 100-meter dash, winning with a time of 11.06 seconds as the defending state champ in the event.

He ended up being the only podium finisher for the boys, while John Landers finished just off the podium in the pole vault after clearing 14 feet, 6 inches.

As for the girls, Culpepper also finished fourth in the 400-meter dash, while Delaney Vickers did the same in the 1,600-meter run, finishing one spot behind Culpepper. Vickers also finished fifth in the 400-meter dash and 800-meter run.

Beyond that, the 4X400-meter relay team finished second with a time of 4:00.25. Indiana Ganett also finished fourth in the javelin throw with a distance of 93 feet, 6 inches.

Oak Mountain was led by eight different podium finishers, six from the boys and two from the girls.

The Eagles got three second-place finishes from Walker Hughes, Mitch Allen and the 4X800-meter relay team.

Hughes finished second in the javelin throw after totaling 162 feet, 11 inches, while Allen finished second in the triple jump after totaling 46 feet, 3 inches.

The 4X800-meter relay team finished second behind a time of 8:02.06.

The boys also got finishes of third from the 4X400-meter relay team behind a time of 3:24.77, while Quest Agee and Devan Moss both finished on the podium in third as well.

Agee did so in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.87 seconds, while Moss did it in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.24 seconds.

As for the girls, Faith Scardino was the top individual finisher, claiming third in the 3,200-meter run behind a time of 11:45.11.

The girls’ 4X800-meter relay team also finished third with a time of 9:59.21.