Telegraph Staff Writer
Union County High School freshman Eva Whitehead earned two top-three finishes — including being the runner-up in the 200-yard individual medley — at the District 1-1A swimming championships on Oct. 25 in Gainesville.
Whitehead earned the right to compete in the 200 IM and the 100-yard backstroke at the Region 1 championships, which will be held Tuesday, Nov. 1, at The Bolles School in Jacksonville at 3 p.m.
This is the first year UCHS has participated in the sport of swimming. Abby Gainey, a junior, also competes for the Tigers and earned a 10th-place finish at the district meet.
Whitehead earned at automatic Region 1 berth by placing second in the 200 IM with a time of 2:17, which left her trailing P.K. Yonge senior Gwen Shahboz, who had a time of 2:07. Whitehead finished four seconds ahead of Maclay senior Meg Howell.
In the 100 backstroke, Whitehead placed third with a time of 1:01.63. P.K. Yonge junior Lillian Nesty and Maclay senior Shelby Pautsch finished first and second, respectively, with times of 0:58 and 1:01.47.
Whitehead earned one of 18 at-large Region 1 berths in the event. Her time was seventh best overall out of the three district meets in the region.
Gainey swam a 10th-place time of 1:40 in the 100 breaststroke. She also participated in the 50 freestyle, finishing with a time of 41.15 seconds.
