The following is a look at the high school varsity teams and individuals that won championships at the district, regional or state levels, earned medals in state competition or that qualified to participate in regional and state competitions in 2024. Any omissions are unintentional.
BY CLIFF SMELLEY
You could say Eva Whitehead made waves in 2024, swimming her way to a state championship to highlight the athletic accomplishments of Union County High School in 2024.
Whitehead went undefeated in the regular season and qualified for the Class 1A state finals for the third straight year, capturing a Region 1 championship in the process.
The postseason began with Whitehead swimming to third place in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:06.53 at the District 1 meet. She also placed fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:06.45.
At the Region 1 meet, which was hosted by Jacksonville’s The Bolles School, she swam the state’s fastest region-level time in any classification in the 200 IM, winning the championship with a time of 2:01.45, which earned her All-American status and set a record for the Bolles pool. Whitehead placed ahead of Bolles swimmers Ella Gotham and Lucy Mejia Arce, who took the top two spots at the district meet.
Whitehead also swam a personal-record time of 1:03.93 in the 100 breaststroke, which was good for fourth place.
The state finals saw Whitehead swim an even faster time in the 200 IM as she finished at 2:01.45 to win the championship. She placed 22nd in the event at the previous year’s state finals.
Whitehead would earn a medal in the 100 breaststroke as well, improving upon her region time in the event as well with a fourth-place mark of 1:03.25, which earned her All-American status.
Cheer team reaches finals at state meet
The competitive cheer team had the second-highest score in the semifinals of the Class 1A state meet, qualifying for the finals round and finishing seventh overall.
Union, which competed in the Medium Non-Tumbling division, earned the right to compete at state with a 10th-place finish at the Region 1 meet. The Tigers had a raw score of 61.6 and a final score of 56.6. The raw score is what sent Union to state.
In the state’s semifinal round, the Tigers had a score of 79.4 (29.1 building, 28.6 cheer, 22.7 overall), which factored in only one penalty point. That left them trailing only Pompano Beach.
Union had a raw score of 76.8 in the finals round and a final score of 72.8, which included only four penalty points. The Tigers had scores of 26.6 in building, 29.1 in cheer and 21.1 overall.
The team consisted of Kadence Adams, Brooklyn Bingham, Sydney Box, Zoe Elixson, Taliyah Harper, Terriana Holton, Bobbie Jo Montford, Calli Morrow, Aubrie Muse, Eshawna Rollins, Aliyah Smith, Taleya Smith, Brittany Stinson, Ashlyn Thomas, Ava Walker and Jahlivya Woodall.
2 girls weightlifters qualify for state
Girls weightlifter Alexia Cyr won district- and region-level championships and was one of two to qualify for the state finals.
Cyr won the District 6-1A championship in the 169-pound class with a 285-pound overall total.
Holly Halfacre and Riley Gibson were runners-up in the 110 and 119 classes, respectively, and earned the right to advance to region-level competition along with Cyr. Halfacre had an overall total of 185, while Gibson had a total of 230.
Also qualifying for regionals were Tai Allen, who was third in the 129 class, Briena Haight, who was third in the 169 class, and Emma Handley, who was sixth in the 119 class.
At the Region 2 meet, Cyr won her class with a 285 total, automatically qualifying her for state.
Gibson earned an at-large state berth with a third-place total of 235.
Halfacre and Handley each placed 14th with totals of 180 and 200, respectively.
Cyr finished 14th at the state finals with a total of 285 total, while Gibson had a 19th-place total of 220.
Barnett wrestles way to state finals
Union had four wrestlers win district titles, with Rodney Barnett going on to earn a state berth.
The Tigers were the District 4-1A runner-up as a team with a score of 185, which left them trailing Baker County, which had a score of 234.5.
Barnett went 3-0 in winning the 144-pound class, pinning all three of his opponents in times of 1:38, 50 seconds and 1:40.
Jonathan Howard won the 120 class, pinning two opponents in 1:28 and 3:34.
Alexander Cortese pinned two opponents in 1:06 and 1:14 to win the 190 class, while Dylan Lane won the 285 class with pins of 3:14 and 3:49.
Those wrestlers all earned the right to move on to regionals along with four other teammates who earned top-four finishes: Jameson Lang, Elijah Roberts, Gavin Sparkman and Maddox Wheeler.
Lang (165 class), Roberts (150) and Sparkman (138) were all runners-up in their classes. Sparkman had to defeat two opponents (both by pins) to reach the championship match in his class, while Lang and Roberts each had to defeat only one opponent to wrestle for their class titles. Lang and Roberts both made their championship matches off pins.
Wheeler took third in the 215 class. He bounced back from a first-round loss with victories by pin and disqualification.
At the Region 1 meet, Barnett went 3-1, finishing as a runner-up and earning a state-finals berth. He won by a 17-1 technical fall, a pin in 42 seconds and by a score of 10-6 to reach the championship match before getting pinned.
Howard and Lane each fell one win shy of reaching the third-place matches in their classes, which would’ve qualified them for state.
Barnett went 0-2 at state, losing by scores of 9-5 and 10-6.
Bethea represents UCHS at state, too
Amia Bethea earned two of Union’s nine region-level berths in track and field and went on to run her way to the state finals in the 100m.
At the District 3-2A meet, Bethea won the 200m with a time of 25.14 and took second in the 100m with a time of 12.16.
Boys team member Deonte Jones was 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, the 4x400m team of Jones, McCoy, Thomas and Boney, and the 4x800m team of Boney, McCoy, Thomas and Gavin Smith.
Holly Halfacre placed fourth in both the long jump and triple jump.
Taleya Smtih also earned a fourth-place finish in the discus.
The top-four finishers in each event advanced to the Region 1 meet. Smith just missed qualifying in two events total with a fifth-place finish in the shot put.
Bethea earned her state berth by placing fourth in the 100m at the Region 1 meet with a time of 12.28. She missed qualifying in the 200m with a fifth-place time of 26.0.
At state, Bethea ran a 15th-place time of 12.44, concluding a season in which she broke existing school records and then her own records in both 100m and 200m sprints.
Tigers reach state semis in football
Union’s football team went 8-1 in the regular season — not losing until the final game — and earned the number-three seed in the Rural Class playoffs.
The Tigers won two games in advancing to the state semifinals for the second time in three years before having their season end with a loss to eventual state champ Madison County.
Union began the postseason with a 42-20 win over Holmes County in which Drew Simmons rushed for 125 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries.
The Tigers, who built a 29-0 lead, got a touchdown run from C.J. Ivey and two touchdown passes from Trenton Klein, who completed 8 of 17 passes for 248 yards. One of the scoring tosses went to Gavin Jenkins, who finished with two catches for 101 yards, while the other went to Alec McClellon, who had two receptions for 46 yards.
Klein led the defense with nine tackles, while Ashton Newsom had seven.
Newsome and Jesse Chaikin each had a fumble recovery, while Jenkins had an interception.
Union advanced to take on Pahokee in the second round, getting two touchdown runs and one touchdown pass from Klein in a 28-18 win.
Two of Klein’s scoring runs, along with a touchdown run by Simmons, had the Tigers leading 22-0.
Klein, who rushed for 134 yards on 13 carries, threw a pass to Jenkins in the end zone to complete the Tigers’ scoring.
Simmons finished with 154 rushing yards on 28 carries.
McClellon led the defense with eight tackles, while Jenkins and Klein had seven and six, respectively.
Jenkins and Newsom each had a fumble recovery.
Union’s season came to an end with a 34-8 loss to Madison County.
Madison rushed for 301 yards in the first half, but was held to 82 total yards in a scoreless second half.
Klein had a touchdown pass to Jenkins and also ran for a two-point conversion as Union finished its season with a 10-2 record.
Baseball team plays for region title again
For the third time in four years, the baseball team advanced to a regional-championship game, but the Tigers lost 4-0 to Lafayette — the top seed in Region 3-1A.
Union and Lafayette were the top two seeds in the region and the top two seeds in District 6 also. They played each other for the District 6 title, with the Tigers reaching that game with an 11-1 win over Hamilton County in the semifinals.
The Tigers, who scored nine runs in the third inning of the district-semifinal win, got two RBI each from Preston Bonsall, Riggs Davis, Trenton Klein and Jake Walker, with Bonsall finishing 2 for 3 at the plate. One of Bonsall’s hits was a two-run double in the third.
Starting pitcher Kacen Thomassen threw all but one of the five innings. He didn’t give up his only hit until the fourth. Thomasseen allowed just one walk and struck out five.
Davis pitched a no-hitter in the final inning.
In the District 6 championship, Lafayette loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh and scored a run on a wild pitch to defeat the Tigers 2-1.
The Tigers scored the game’s first run in the top of the fourth. Thomassen walked, advanced on a Foster Smith double and scored on a single by Walker.
Smith was the game’s only batter with multiple hits, going 2 for 3.
Lafayette tied the score in the bottom of the fourth. Two batters walked, with a wild pitch scoring the tying run.
Union starting pitcher Ayden Androlevich gave up three hits through 3.1 innings. Devin Diggs and Clayton Poppell combined to give up no hits in 2.2 innings, while Bonsall allowed one hit in one inning.
The Tigers earned an at-large berth in the Region 3 playoffs and won their first game in the semifinals, defeating Liberty County 3-2 in nine innings.
Union loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth, with Walker hitting a single and Erick Lasseter and Diggs drawing walks. Landen Miller then drew a walk to force in the game-winning run.
Klein drove in the Tigers’ first two runs on a double in the third and a sacrifice in the fifth. He finished 2 for 3.
Lasseter went 3 for 3, while Bonsall and Walker went 2 for 4 and 2 for 5, respectively.
Starting pitcher Lasseter gave up two runs (one earned) on eight hits and one walk through 6.1 innings. He struck out three.
Bonsall and Poppell combined to allow no hits in 1.2 innings, while Androlevich earned the win, giving up no hits in the final two innings.
Union advanced to the Region 3-title game, where it was held to three hits in a 4-0 loss to Lafayette.
Diggs started on the mound, giving up two runs, five hits and two walks in 3.1 innings. He had five strikeouts.
Androlevich allowed two runs, three hits and no walks in 2.2 innings.
The Tigers finished the season with a 15-14 record.
UCHS almost beats state’s top volleyball team in region finals
The volleyball team defeated the state’s number-two team in the District 6-1A tournament and then again in the Region 3 semifinals before seeing its season end in the Region 3-title match against Branford, the state’s top-ranked team.
Union began the District 6 tournament with a 3-0 (25-8, 25-9, 25-17) quarterfinal win over Fort White. Jailyn Simmons and Layla Barber had 12 and five kills, respectively, with Simmons adding five digs and two blocks.
Kamryn Southerland led the team in assists with 11, while also recording six digs. Abby Williams had eight assists and seven aces.
Indi Knox and Bella Johns had eight and six digs, respectively, with Johns adding seven aces and five assists.
The win advanced Union to the semifinals to play a Lafayette team it had lost to twice in the regular season. This time, the Tigers came out on top with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 29-27, 25-12) win.
Lafayette was the second-ranked team in the state.
Simmons had 19 kills and two blocks, while Knox had 10 kills and 19 digs. Morgan Smith and Barber added nine and seven kills, respectively, with Barber adding 13 digs.
Southerland and Johns led the team in digs with 24 and 21, respectively. Williams added eight, while Bayley Staier had six.
The Tigers got 25 assists from Southerland, 14 assists from Williams and two blocks from Shaley Maloney.
In the district-championship match, the Tigers lost 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-16) to Branford.
Simmons and Smith were the match leaders in kills with 11 and 10, respectively. The Tigers also got eight kills from Barber.
Barber, Simmons and Smith each had two blocks.
Southerland recorded team highs with three aces and 14 digs, while Williams led in assists with 17. Southerland added 13 assists.
Williams had 12 digs, while Johns and Knox each had nine.
The Region 3 playoffs had Union facing second-ranked Lafayette in the first round, with the Tigers again getting a 3-1 win. Union won the first two sets 25-19 and 25-20. After Lafayette took a 26-28 in the third set, the Tigers closed it out with a 26-24 in the fourth.
Smith had 11 kills, while Knox and Barber had nine and seven, respectively.
Williams finished with 19 assists, while Southerland led the team with 22. Southerland also had 12 digs, while Williams had nine.
Johns led the team in digs with 17, with the Tigers also getting 15 from Knox, nine from Barber and eight from Simmons.
Simmons and Smith each had three blocks to lead the team. Barber added two.
The win set up a rematch of the District 6-championship match. Union dropped the first two sets, but rallied to force a fifth set before losing 3-2 (25-19, 25-14, 17-25, 19-25, 17-15) to Branford.
Simmons and Smith had 15 and 10 kills, respectively, while Barber and Knox each added nine. Knox and Smith each had two blocks, with Knox also recording 18 digs.
Barber had nine digs.
Johns led the team in digs with 32, while Southerland had 28. Williams added 10 digs.
Williams had a team-high 20 assists, while Southerland had 19 to go along with four service aces.
The Tigers finished the season with a 17-10 record.
Golfer Zoe Elixson qualifies for region
Girls golfer Zoe Elixson qualified for region-level competition with her performance at the District 3-1A meet. Elixson was the second-highest placing individual not on one of the region-qualifying teams, which allowed her to advance as well. She shot an 18-hole score of 105, which had her finish in 10th place overall.
At the Region 1 meet, Elixson had a score of 106 and was the fourth-highest individual from a public school.
This was Elixson’s third straight year advancing to regionals.
