BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Lake Butler Middle School’s track and field teams both finished as runners-up at the April 3 Suwannee Middle Athletic Conference track and field championships, which were held in Palatka.
The girls team got one win each from Latoya Hampton and Naliana Hampton and a total of 48 points in the discus and shot put in compiling 103 points, which left the Tigers trailing champion Interlachen by just one point.
Naliana Hampton took first in the discus with a throw of 50 feet, 5 inches. Latoya Hampton was second (46-11), while Genea Ivey was third (43-9).
In the shot put, it was Latoya Hampton taking first with a distance of 24-6.5. Ivey was second (24-3.75), while Naliana Hampton placed third (23-10.25).
Lake Butler was second in the 4x800m relay, with Kimber Andrews, Ryleigh Floyd, Naliana Hampton and Jillian Norman teaming up to run 12:33.
The 4x100m team of Makenzie Barry, Naliana Hampton, Mikayla Johnson and Susan McLeod ran a third-place time of 57.54.
McLeod placed fourth in the 400m and fifth in the 200m with times of 1:11 and 29.86, while Barry was fourth in the long jump (12-6.5). Kinley Phillips and Johnson were fifth and sixth, respectively, in the long jump with distances of 12-5.75 and 11-2.25
Norman earned fifth-place finishes in the 800m (3:07) and 1600m (6:50). Andrews took sixth in each race with times of 3:09 and 6:56.
Adding to the Tigers’ point total were Maddison McKenzie’s sixth-place finish in the 400m (1:13), Johnson’s seventh-place finish in the 200m (30.43) and Floyd’s eighth-place finish in the 1600m (8:14).
Lake Butler also had the following girls results: 100m — Barry 15.32, Phillips 15.58, Naliana Hampton 16.03, McKenzie 16.74; 200m — Phillips 33.13, Naliana Hampton 34.71; 400m — Johnson 1:22; and 800m — Floyd 3:49.
David Guadagnoli won one event for the boys team, which also got points in four events from Braylen Tyson. The Tigers had 83 points in the boys standings to finish behind Palatka, which had 124 points.
Guadagnoli had a distance of 72-9 to take first in the discus, which also saw Lake Butler’s Jenson Tetstone place fourth (62-5) and Hudson Parrish place fifth (48-3).
That same trio earned points in the shot put, with Guadagnoli placing third (30-9.25), Tetstone placing fourth (26-11) and Parrish placing seventh (16-10.75).
Tyson took second three events, running times of 11.88 in the 100m, 25.19 in the 200m and 1:01 in the 400m. He also placed third in the long jump (17-4.75).
The 4x100m relay team of Tyson, Carter Fitzpatrick, Kyson Waters and Zaden Williams ran a fourth-place time of 53.15.
Williams earned points in three events as an individual, placing fifth in the 200m (27.54), sixth in the 400m (1:04) and seventh in the 100m (12.73).
Fitzpatrick placed fifth in the 1600m (6:23) and sixth in the 800m (2:52).
Waters also competed in the 100m (14.65) and the 200m (30.25).
