Richy James placed in two events, including third in the high jump.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Suwannee, Branford, Lafayette and Hamilton County all had participants in the 2019 FHSAA Track and Field State Championships on Friday and Saturday as 18 area athletes competed.

There were standout performances by participants from each school as the Bulldogs, Buccaneers, Hornets and Trojans were able to earn points. The top performer was Lafayette’s Richy James.

James came in third place in the Class 1A high jump with a mark of 1.87 meters. James also took sixth place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.61. Also competing in the Class 1A 200 meter dash was Hamilton County freshman Jeremiah Gibson, who finished in eighth place with a time of 22.7 seconds.

For Suwannee High, Hunter Merola finished in fourth place in the Class 2A pole vault with a mark of 4.20 meters. For the SHS girls, Mon’tayasia Jones and Dariniya Martin earned points in the high jump. Both jumped 1.57 meters with Jones finishing sixth and Martin seventh. Brianna Mays earned a point for the SHS girls with an eighth-place finish in pole vault at 3 meters.

Branford’s Dakota Stevens placed seventh in the triple jump (13.10 meters).

The LHS 4×800 relay team of Dakota Hilton, Brian Posada, Emmanuel Tovar-Negrete and Truett Maund finished 14th out of 24 squads. According to LHS track coach Mark Beach, their time of 8:37 was a school record.