By By Matthew Nascone
The Hunter has found his prey and will attack tomorrow in Jacksonville, Fla. The prey is the field of athletes in the Florida High School Athletic Association track and field regional meet and the Hunter is Desmond Hunter, shot put thrower for the Northview High School track and field team.
Hunter placed second overall in the shot put at the district meet April 12 at Woodham High School. The NHS 400-meter relay team will join Hunter in Jacksonville. That team is Nakita Myles, Deonta Davison, Ahmadh Simpson and Kyle Sebestyen.
Sebestyen is a replacement for Wes Leathers, who qualified with the team at the district meet, but will not be present at the regional meet.
"We are proud of these guys," NHS head coach Mark Heaton said. "They have qualified and now they have to go and compete. I believe they will do well."
Heaton said several other athletes finished fifth, but no others advanced to the regional meet. Athletes had to finish in the top four overall to qualify for the regional meet.
Hunter tied for first at the district meet, but the tiebreaker took the throwers' last throwing average in their previous meet and Hunter placed second for this reason.
Heaton said this is the first time NHS has sent an athlete to the regional competition in at least two years.
"It is great to have our guys be successful," he said.