The Spring 2012 Sports Book is pretty clear on this subject. On page 5, under "The Championship Program," it states: A school must compete in at least two meets prior to the section meets. There is no requirement for individual participation prior to the Sectional Meet. However, each team may enter only three participants in any single event and only one relay team in any relay event. The Sports Book may be found on the AHSAA website at ahsaa.com, under official publications (look down in the lower ight hand corner on the home page), or at this link
www.ahsaa.com/TEMPLATES/SpecialInterestPublication.....
It tell you just about all you need to know about Sectional and State competition.