BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Bryce Miller tied for second in the high jump, while two other Keystone Heights Junior High School students tied for seventh in the girls high jump at the Florida Youth Running Association Middle School State Track and Field Championship, which was held May 21 in Bradenton.
Miller and Suwannee Middle School’s Lou Jack Smith both cleared 1.72 meters to finish as the runners-up to Emerald Coast Middle School’s Brody Troutt, who cleared 1.77 meters.
The high jump was one of three events Miller, an eighth-grader, competed in. He ran a 14th-place time of 15.69 seconds in the 100m hurdles and had a 20th-place distance of 5.3 meters in the long jump.
Alyssa Sanford (seventh grade) and Alexis Taylor (eighth grade) also made it to the medal podium with their seventh-place distances of 1.37 meters in the high jump. They also tied with Ava Fanchi of My Sister’s Keeper and Sophia Killin of St. Johns Striders.
Ryder Thomas (seventh grade) also competed for KHHS, running a time of 4:54 in the 1500m.
Coach Jessica Thomas said, “I am very proud of them for their accomplishments all season to get to this level as seventh- and eighth-graders. I am looking forward to next year and taking more athletes.”
Keystone Heights’ Ryleigh Thomas, a third-grader, also took part, winning her heat and finishing with a 16th-place-overall time of 5:55 in the elementary school girls 1500m.
