Mayo — ORANGE PARK-There is an old saying, always a bridesmaid never a bride.

The saying couldn’t be more true for the Branford girls track and field team, as the Bucs finished district runner-ups for the fifth consecutive year.

With only a few remaining events left, host St. Johns Country Day held a slim 1.5 point lead over Branford but the Spartans pulled away to hold off the Bucs 219.50-191.00 to win its seventh consecutive district title. Hilliard was third with 102 points, Bell was fourth with 41, Hamilton County was fifth with 39, Trenton was sixth with 11.50 and Lafayette was seventh with 11.0. 

Things started off well for the Bucs, Logan Boss (7-06), Shantenna Cruz (7-00), Jullianna Roush (5-00) and Traci Baldeon (4-06) finished second, third, fifth and seventh in the pole vault Tuesday in Branford to pick up 21 points.

Boss (4-10) and Montana Bailey (4-08) held off Hamilton’s Jasmine Jackson (4-08) to finish second and third in the high jump. Baldeon (4-04) finished in a three-way tie for fifth to give the Bucs 16.50 points in the event.

Hamilton’s Bria Davis (14-05) finished third, Branford’s Olivia Boney (14-02) finished fourth, Branford’s Tiffany Williams (13-09) was fifth, Hamilton’s Jasmine Dobson (13-06) was sixth and Branford’s Stephanie Copeland (13-05) was seventh in the long jump.

Williams (29-07) finished second in the triple jump ahead of Dobson (28-06) and Branfordís Tiphani Whitley (26-03).

Copeland (35-00), Williams (27-09) and Erica Clark (27-06) finished first, third and fourth in the shot put, while Hamilton’s Jasmine Daniels (27-03) finished fifth. Copeland (98-00) made it a sweep winning the discus.

Boney (13.78) and Bailey (14.62) placed third and fifth in the 100 dash, while Boney (29.23) finished third in the 200. 

Melissa Dingus (1:10.90) and Kristel Sanders (1:11.50) finished third and fourth for the Bucs in the 400 dash. Lafayette’s Lauren Solano (1:14.40), Hamilton’s Samantha Marcano (1:17.70) and  Shelby Dodge (1:19.40) finished sixth through eighth.

Bailey (2:45.90) placed fourth in the 800 and was joined by teammates Jena Deas (2:58.20) and Katrina Hale (2:58.90), whom placed seventh and eighth, in the top eight.

Branford’s Ashley Horn (5:53.00) held off Lafayette’s Kaley Koon (5:57.00) to finish third in the 1600 run, while teammates Claudia Chance (6:43.00) and Amiee Brasfield (6:55.00) finished seventh and eighth.  

Horn (13:00.00) placed second in the  3200, while teammates Kendall Hall (14:44.17), Chance (15:50.00) and Heather Woodman (16:51) finished fourth through sixth.

Boss (19.07) and Lauren Suggs (20.37) finished fifth and sixth in the 100 hurdles. Boss (53.48) and Lafayette’s Chanteria Thornton (1:03.32) finished second and sixth in the 300 hurdles.

 Hamilton County (57.03) held off Branford (57.39) to finish third in the 4x100 relay. Branford (4:57.98) was second in the 4x400 relay and won the 4x800 relay with a time of 11:56.10, while Hamilton County (13:04.00) was third.

The top four in each event at districts advanced to the Region I-1A meet Friday at the Bolles School in Jacksonville. The top four at regionalís move on to the Class 1A state meet Friday April 30 at Winter Park.