Butterflies and Bridges enjoys great conditions
Published 8:10 pm Saturday, April 18, 2015
What looked to be a rainy day turned out to be a perfect day for the eighth annual Butterflies and Bridges Run.
Clouds lined the sky, but there wasn’t a drop of rain in sight, as just over 100 people took part in the run.
“I am overjoyed and humbled by the people that choose to come out here on Saturday morning and especially those that we have come every year,” said Selma High School Athletic Director Patrick Evans. “We can’t really put a price on how much we appreciate it. We know that they take their time to come out here, and we can’t really do anything but say thank you.”
The event, which raises money for the Selma High School Athletic Department, brought in about $4,000 this year.
“This event helps us to offset some expenses with some of our sports that are don’t generate as much revenue as our sports that do generate revenue,” Evans said. “It also helps us provide summer development programs for our student athletes with camps that we have scheduled for our teams.”
Regardless of how much money is raised, Evans is thankful for all of the support the athletic department receives.
“We just want to thank all of our coaching staff,” Evans said. “I want to thank all of the parents, the student athletes and everyone for their support and of course, without a doubt, the community for everything that they have done to support us and continue to support us in the future.”
Just like in years past, the run included an 8k and a 2-mile fun run.
With a time of 31:57, Tony Johnson took home first place for the men’s 8k.
“It means a lot [to win first place],” Johnson said. “I couldn’t be more proud of myself to come in first place. My time was fine … but to my standards I could have done better.”
Johnson has participated in the Butterflies and Bridges run for three years now, and he enjoys coming back each year.
“I enjoy the camaraderie and everybody is competitive and wants to run or walk,” Johnson said.
“Everything about the whole entire event is competitive, and that is what I enjoy about it.”
The women’s 8k winner was Ann McClendon with a time of 42:50. The 19 and under winners for the 8k were Taylor James and Valencia Bryant with respective times of 37:20 and 1:16:46.
The 2-mile fun run winners were Jacquetta Dailey with a 28:58 time, and Aidan Potter with a 20:30 time.
Winners were awarded cash prizes and medals.