Sydney Bacon of North Union prepares to toss the shot put during the Division II regional track meet. Bacon finished in ninth place with a personal best of 37-1.
(Photo submitted)
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The Pioneers of Jonathan Alder and Wildcats of North Union opened their Division II regional track and field meet at Lexington High School on Thursday.
Unfortunately, many of the athletes came to the end of their season.
Jon Alder went into the preliminary round of the meet competing in seven events.
At the end of the day, one athlete was able to move on to the next stage.
Clayton Boggs advanced to the 400-meter dash finals when he took second place in the qualifying race with a time of 50.89.
The Lady Pioneers came up a little short in the 4×800 relay when they took seventh place in a time of 10:07.
The team was made up of Morgan Hicks, Reggan Gray, Maddie Davis and Maddy Killian. Only the top four teams advanced to the state finals.
The Pioneer boys 4×800 relay team suffered a similar fate as it took 12th place in the finals with a time of 8:44.31.
The team was comprised of Zach Hicks, Colyn McDaniel, Caleb Freyhof and Luke Malone.
The Lady Pioneer 4×200 relay team of Audrey Davis, Helena Hall, Hailey Lisska and Killian finished its regional race in a time of 1:50.91, which was good enough for 15th place.
The Pioneers’ boys 4×400 relay team of Boggs, Tanner Lumpkin, Henry Walker and Jordan Herrick also found itself in 15th place after finishing the race in a time of 3:39.
The Pioneers suffered a similar fate in the field events.
Daniel Heinig took ninth in the discus with a toss of 142-2. Teamate Luke Stalnaker threw 120-3 for 13th.
Donna Semenishin cleared 5-0 in the girls high jump event for ninth place, while teammate Helena Hall did not record a height for 15th place.
The Wildcats of North Union advanced a single athlete to the regional meet. Sydney Bacon competed in the shot put and took ninth place with a toss of 37-1, setting a new personal best and school record.
Jonathan Alder will have a chance to advance athletes to the state level with eight competitors in the regional finals on Saturday.
Ashlyn McDaniel will compete in the 1600-meter run.
Luke Malone and Zach Hicks will run in the 1600 as well, with Malone also competing in the 3200-meter run.
Killian will take on the 800-meter run, while Morgan Hicks will compete for a regional title in the 3200.
Joey Walker will jump in the high jump, while Hall will compete in the long jump. Heinig will compete in the shot put.
NU’s Bacon will compete in the discus throw in the regional finals.
The field events are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., while track events will start at 12:30 p.m. at Lexington High School.