BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Amia Bethea won one event and finished as runner-up in another, giving Union County High School two of its nine boys and girls regional berths at the District 3-2A track and field meet, which was held April 29 at Bolles in Jacksonville.
The top four in each event earned the right to advance to the Region 1 meet, which will be held Tuesday, May 7, at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. The field events begin at 11 a.m., while the running events begin at noon.
Bethea won the 200m with a time of 25.14 and was second in the 100m with a time of 12.16. The 100m time broke Bethea’s own school record.
Boys team member Deonte Jones was the runner-up in the 400m with a time of 51.95.
Three boys relay teams earned third-place finishes. The 4x100m team of Jones, Blake McCoy, Bo Thomas and Brycen Boney had a time of 45.08, while the 4x400m team, composed of those same individuals, had a time of 3:43. Boney, McCoy, Thomas and Gavin Smith teamed up to run 9:16 in the 4x800m.
Girls team member Holly Halfacre placed fourth in two events, finishing with a distance of 13-10.25 in the long jump and with a distance of 30-6.25 in the triple jump.
Taleya Smith also earned a fourth-place finish for the girls team with a distance of 79-7 in the discus. She just missed qualifying in the shot put, placing fifth with a distance of 29-8.
Faith Sirmones earned a fifth-place finish as well with a distance of 12-4 in the long jump.
Briena Haight contributed to the girls team score with a seventh-place finish in the discus (65-1) and an eighth-place finish in the shot put (25-10.25).
Union, which was fourth out of seven girls teams with 44 points, also had the following results: 100m — Sirmones 14.06, Daina Smith 15.97; 200m — Halfacre 29.73, Smith 34.6; shot put — Mari Williams 23-0.5, Ja’Kari Hill 19-11.5; and discus — Williams 46-0, Hill 42-4.
C.J. Ivey just missed qualifying for the boys team in the discus, placing fifth with a distance of 99-7. He was also eighth in the shot put with a distance of 36-0.25.
Union had two seventh-place finishes from McCoy in the long jump (18-7.75) and Matthew Rogers in the discus (89-1).
Other Union boys results were: 100m — Jones 11.61, 800m — Michael Hill 2:28, Smith 2:32, Dane Johnson 2:36; 1600m — Smith 5:23, Ashton Bunkley 6:13; long jump — Hill 17-2.75, Johnson 14-10; shot put — Jacob Jenkins 31-5.75, Dylan Lane 27-10; and discus — Lane 77-4.
