BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Union County High School’s Amia Bethea won two races and helped the girls 4x100m relay team automatically qualify for region-level competition at the District 4-2A track and field meet on April 25 at Alachua’s Santa Fe High School.
Like Bethea, Holly Halfacre also ran in the 4x100m relay and qualified for regionals in two individual events.
The top four finishers in each event earned the right to advance to the Region 1 meet, which will be held Friday, May 2, at Pensacola’s Pine Forest High School.
Bethea won the 100m with a time of 11.99 seconds, with Eastside’s KeAisha Williams trailing her and crossing the line in 12.49.
It was Bethea and Williams placing first and second in the 200m as well, with Bethea running a winning time of 25.45 to Williams’ 25.99.
Bethea and Halfacre teamed up with Faith Sirmones and Brianna Taylor to run a third-place time of 51.46 in the 4x100m relay. Eastside won the event with a time of 49.66, while Palatka took second with a time of 51.21.
Halfacre earned her regional berths in the long jump and triple jump. She placed third in the triple jump with a distance of 32 feet, 1 inch, which left her trailing Eastside’s Tyesha Smith (38-0) and Palatka’s Destiny Williams (34-5.75). In the long jump, Halfacre jumped 16-2.5 to place fourth behind Interlachen’s Mya Shivers (17-7.5), Eastside’s Smith (16-9.25) and Palatka’s Jhane Fountain (16-8).
Melinda Mabrey earned points for the girls team with a seventh-place distance of 26-5 in the shot put.
The girls team, which placed sixth out of 11, also had the following results: 100m — Taylor 13.51, Hayden Robinson 14.33; 200m — Ivy Wilson 29.66, Elauna Roberts 34.71; 800m — Rachel Harris 3:21.61; 1600m — Harris 7:29.12; long jump — Gloryanth Reyes 8-10.25; shot put — Jamie Webb 22-7.25; and discus — 48-1.
Union had one individual and one relay team fall one spot shy of qualifying for the Region 1 meet on the boys side. The 4x800m team of Ashton Bunkley, Clayton Cason, Joseph Harris and Gavin Smith placed fifth with a time of 10:12.90, while C.J. Ivey had a fifth-place distance of 110-3 in the discus.
The Tigers had two sixth-place finishes, with Edward Durant throwing 104-5 in the discus and the 4x100m team of Jesse Chakin, Gavin Jenkins, Bo Thomas and Jabari Young running a time of 44.13.
Union, which placed ninth out of 11 teams, also got a point from Ivey in the shot put. He recorded an eighth-place distance of 36-7.75.
Thomas just missed out on scoring in the long jump with a ninth-place distance of 18-2.5.
Other results for the boys team were: 100m — Jenkins 11.21, Chakin 11.33, Young 11.90; 200m — Natwan Richardson 25.58; 800m — Harris 2:20.08, Gaultney Cole 2:56.25; 1600m — Harris 5:07.21, Bunkley 6:02.27, Cason 6:41.45; shot put — Durant 32-7; and discus — Matthew Rogers 96-6.
