BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Union County High School senior swimmer Eva Whitehead took her first official step in defending her state championship, qualifying for regional competition with her performance at the District 2-1A meet, which was hosted Oct. 21 by Jacksonville’s Episcopal School.
Whitehead, who won the 200-yard individual medley state title last season, placed third in the event at the district meet with a time of 2:06.98. She finished behind a pair of Bolles swimmers in Ella Gotham (2:03.81) and Grace Higdon (2:06.79).
It was the same as last year’s district meet, with Gotham placing first and Whitehead placing third.
Gotham would finish second to Whitehead in the 2024 regional and state meets.
Whitehead qualified for the Region 1 meet, which will be held Tuesday, Oct. 28, at Bolles, in two events after placing fifth at the district meet in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:05.93.
At last year’s regional meet, Whitehead won the 200 IM and placed fourth in the 100 breaststroke.
Union was also represented at this year’s district meet by second-year swimmer Courtney Manning and first-year swimmer Madison Adams. Manning had a 26th-place time of 36.17 in the 50-yard free and a 31st-place time of 1:25.35 in the 100-yard free, while Adams had a 36th-place time of 39.58 in the 50 free and a 36th-place time of 1:33.59 in the 100 free.
Whitehead will go into the Region 1 meet as the third seed in the 200 IM and the sixth seed in the 100 breaststroke. She is the reigning Region 1 champ in the 200 IM.
