BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Union County High School junior Amia Bethea continues to break her own school record in the 100m, only this time she also earned a state medal in the process.
Bethea earned two medals overall, which were awarded for top-eight finishes, at the May 9 Class 2A Florida High School Athletic Association Track and Field Finals at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
It was quite a battle for third place in the 100m, with two hundredths of a second separating the third and fifth place. Trinity Parham and Diamond Bryant — both of Cocoa — placed third and fourth, respectively, with times of 11.85 and 11.86, while Bethea placed fifth at 11.87.
Glades Central’s E’tesia Forbes won the championship with a time of 11.51, edging out Montverde Academy’s Dasia Reed, who crossed the line in 11.52.
Bethea’s time broke her previous UCHS record of 11.93, which she ran at the previous week’s Region 1 meet.
In the 200m, Bethea ran a seventh-place time of 25.14. The event was won by Montverde’s Reed, who had a time of 23.89.
Bethea was the first UCHS girl to compete at state since Tiana Sheffield in 2011.
The last UCHS athlete to earn two medals at the state track and field meet was Malcolm Odum in 2022. He competed in the 200m and 400m.
