West Stanly track and field athletes qualify for state finals

Published 5:57 pm Thursday, June 24, 2021

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This Saturday morning at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, the 2A track and field state finals will feature several West Stanly athletes.

At last week’s 2A Midwest Regionals, three West Stanly athletes earned regional titles: Natalie Almond, Onii Bivens and Jacob Buczinski.

Almond, the reigning Rocky River Conference Runner of the Year, earned three regional titles in distance running. She claimed the 800-meter run finishing in 2:30.68 with a margin of victory of just under 1.5 seconds.

The junior won the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:45.99, winning by nearly 8.5 seconds. In the 3,200-meter run, Almond made it 3-for-3, winning with a time of 12:48.43. She was the only athlete in the event under 13 minutes.

West junior Onii Bivens won two regional titles. She claimed the long-jump crown with a distance of 17-foot-3. Bivens was the only competitor at the Midwest meet with a jump of 17 feet or longer, winning by five inches.

Bivens also won the 2A Midwest title in the 400-meter dash. Her time of 59.74 seconds was the only sub-one minute result at the meet in the event. She will also compete in the 100-meter dash after finishing third with a time of 12.56 seconds, .14 seconds out of first place.

The other regional title came off the hands of West senior Jacob Buczinski, who won the 2A Midwest shotput title by just under three feet after a throw of 47-foot-10.5.

Buczinski will also throw the discus at the 2A finals after finishing second at regionals with a distance of 128-foot-7.

Also qualifying for West was the team’s 4×100-meter relay team, including Christian Bowden, Cole Carter, Braden Hartsell and Matthew Parker.

James Shue, a junior, will run for West in the 3,200-meter run after placing third with a time of 10:16.23, just over seven seconds behind the winner.

About Charles Curcio

Charles Curcio has served as the sports editor of the Stanly News & Press for more than 16 years and has written numerous news and feature storeis as well. He was awarded the NCHSAA Tim Stevens Media Representative of the Year and named CNHI Sports Editor of the Year in 2014. He has also won an award from Boone Newspapers, and has won four North Carolina Press Association awards.

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