BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Union County High School girls weightlifters Riley Gibson and Briena Haight won their weight classes in the traditional event at the District 6-1A meet, which was held Jan. 21 at Keystone Heights High School.
The Tigers placed third as a team in the traditional event with a score of 31, finishing behind champion Keystone and runner-up Fort White, who had 78 and 37 points, respectively.
Gibson had a 240-pound total (115 clean and jerk, 125 bench press) in the 119-pound class, putting her 25 pounds ahead of runner-up Alyssa Sanford of Keystone. Haight finished 40 pounds ahead of Hayden Herndon of Baldwin with a 370 total (160, 210).
Class winners automatically qualified for the Region 3 meet, which will be held Saturday, Jan. 31, at 2 p.m. at West Nassau High School in Callahan. At-large qualifiers will be announced later.
The Tigers had two second-place finishers: Emma Handley with a 240 total (115, 125) in the 129 class and Alexia Cyr with a 290 total (145, 145) in the 139 class.
Allaya Blocker was fourth in the unlimited class with a 285 total (140, 145), while Union had two fifth-place finishers: Kieren Seay with a 165 total (85, 80) in the 183 class and Brooke Hunt with a 205 total (100, 105) in the 199 class.
Union’s Jessa Dekle placed seventh in the 119 class with a 165 total (90, 75), while Courtney Manning was eighth in the 154 class with a 205 total (105, 100).
Brooklyn Coffman was ninth in the unlimited class with a 230 total (110, 120).
Utilizing the Schwartz/Malone Formula, which factors body weight vs. pounds lifted, Haigh was the event’s third-best overall lifter, while Gibson was fifth overall.
