Depth carries River Ridge to second straight SAC title
By JAMAL THALJI
Published April 1, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - River Ridge coach Mike Marlin knew his team had the depth and strength to win a second straight Sunshine Athletic Conference championship, and he was right.
The Royal Knights won the program's second SAC title on their home floor Wednesday.
River Ridge beat runnerup Mitchell by 21 points. Only 12 points separated second through fifth. Mitchell had 35, Zephyrhills 33, Wesley Chapel 24 and Ridgewood 23.
Marlin's only concern was he didn't know what Zephyrhills or Wesley Chapel would bring to the meet.
"Of all the people we faced, we knew we were the deepest team," Marlin said. "The majority of our guys lifted well.
"I said if we got everyone in the meet and they just lifted what they've done before, we'll be all right."
The Knights were led by two SAC champions: 169-pounder Andrew Hutchison and heavyweight Devin Monroe. Both hit personal bests, and Hutchison's efforts established the senior as a threat to the state record.
Hutchison benched 380 pounds and clean-and-jerked 300. The state record bench in his weight class is 370, and Hutchison's 680 total pounds is close to the state record of 690, set last season. But he has to do it at the April 24 state championship in Gainesville to set the record.
"We're in great shape," Marlin said. "(He) did 680, and realize we had at least 10 more in the bench and 10 in the clean that he could have put on there. He was good for 690, and we have three weeks to train."
The senior, a four-time SAC champion, credited his tutor in the clean, Dan Hogan, a Gulf graduate and lifting champ himself.
"All I needed to do was put it together," Hutchison said. "Now I've done it three weeks before the state meet, and I want to bring home a state championship."
Monroe benched 365 and cleaned 280 to total 645, winning the heavyweight class by 45 pounds. The Royal Knights' runnersup were Ryan Wierenga (139), Tom Starala (169) and Jordan Powell (183). Tyson Nix (119), Ryan Mistal (154) and Anthony Daugherty (199) took third while Zach Perry (129), Joe Hankinson (139) and David Onorato (199) finished fourth.
Wesley Chapel senior Tommy Edwards also is a state contender after putting up a 385 bench and 285 clean to win the 183 class with 670 total pounds. Teammates Kevin Boyd (154) and Derek Zabko (199) also won.
Mitchell's Spencer Brown and Adam McManus finished 1-2 at 219 while Matt Monaco won 139 and Spiro Tsagaris won 238. Zephyrhills' Marky Beverlin won 119, and Ridgewood's Ryan Fisher took 129.
"We were confident, but we were also kind of wary because we had no idea what some teams could do," Monroe said. "There was that x-factor. But other than that, we were ready."
