Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

Trina Thomas in action Wednesday. (Photo submitted)

Trina Thomas, a freshman at Paul Dunbar High School in Lexington, placed sixth in the 800-meter run at Wednesday’s AAU Junior Olympic Games track and field competition.

Competing in the girls’ ”Youth” division (birth year 1995) at Des Moines, Iowa, home of the famed Drake Relays, Thomas qualified for Wednesday’s finals by placing second in her qualifying heat on Monday, timed in 2:23.11.

She dropped her time to 2:22.64 Wednesday.

Sidney Hayes of York, Pa., won the race in 2:17.67.

As an eighth-grader competing for Dunbar last spring, Thomas led off the Bulldogs’ fifth-place 4-by-400 relay and placed sixth in the 400 meters at the Class 3A State High School Championships.