LAGRANGE – LaGrange High’s Sam Bowie, thanks to his first-place performance in the 3,200-meter run at Saturday’s Class AAAAA sectional at Starr’s Mill, is moving on to the state finals, and he’ll be joined by a handful of his teammates.

There were two Class AAAAA sectionals on Saturday, and the top eight finishers in each event qualified for the state finals.

Four LaGrange High athletes, including Bowie, made it through to the state finals.

LaGrange’s other state participants will be Jeremiah Wright (triple jump), Erica Emory (high jump) and Jada Grant (long jump).

The girls’ state finals will be held this week in Albany, and the boys’ finals will be next week in Jefferson.

Bowie, who finished sixth in the 1,600-meter run and ninth in the 3,200 at last year’s state meet, won Saturday’s 3,200 with a photo finish.

Bowie completed the eight circuits around the track with a time of 9:42.45, and that was less than half a second better than Alexander’s Braden Collins (9:42.86), who was second.

Bowie will be joined in Jefferson by Wright, a senior who had a third-place showing in the triple jump on Saturday.

Wright came through with a terrific jump of 35 feet, two inches, which was actually tied for the second-best jump of the day, but he placed third.

Emory and Grant will both be heading to Albany to take on the state’s best in their respective events.

Emory was one of the top performers in the high jump, placing third with her jump of 5-2.

Grant continued her big freshman season by finishing seventh in the long jump with a jump of 17-10.

LaGrange’s Chris Ford (110-meter hurdles) and Alaina Tomlinson (3,200) finished ninth, leaving them just one spot away from qualifying for state.

Reach Kevin Eckleberry at (706) 884-7311 or on Twitter @lagrangesports