Tampa Prep Invitational

By KEITH NIEBUHR
Published October 7, 2005

SITE: Tampa Prep; University of Tampa

WHEN: Today and Saturday

ADMISSION: $5.

TEAMS: Berkeley Prep, Boca Raton Spanish River, Durant, Fort Myers Evangelical Christian, Fort Myers, Gainesville, Gainesville Buchholz, Gainesville P.K. Yonge, Jacksonville Bishop Kenny, Jacksonville Bolles, Norcross (Ga.) Wesleyan, Plant, Tallahassee FSU, Tampa Prep, Venice, West Boca Raton.

ODDS AND ENDS: This is the tournament's 21st edition. It began in 1985, when Tampa Prep defeated Tallahassee Maclay for the title. Back in the early days, this was the area's only major tournament and one of the few in Florida. The host Terrapins have won four times, second only to Berkeley Prep (eight). As usual, this year's field is loaded. Six of the Florida-based entrants reached the final four in their respective classifications last year. Wesleyan was a Georgia state champion. The field is broken up into four pools, and each team plays three matches today within its pool. The top team in each pool competes for the championship Saturday. "Every pool is up for grabs," Tampa Prep coach Mike Flynn said. "Every match is going to be hotly contested. There's not an easy match and that's why teams like to come to this tournament. They know they're going to get challenged from the time they walk into the gym to the time they leave Saturday night."

ON THE WEB: A complete schedule is at www.tampaprep.org/athletics

[Last modified October 7, 2005, 01:50:23]