Calvary Christian boys triumph

And Seven Rivers' Rachael Capra wins the high jump, 100 meters.

By DOUG KATES
Published April 12, 2006

INDIAN ROCKS - Calvary Christian boys coach Erik Lipham had two jobs Tuesday night.

His easy job was running the computer which kept track of results at the finish line. His toughest was trying to keep his emotions under control as his team steadily put together a great meet.

Finally, when the last race was over, Lipham let loose. Calvary Christian picked up its second athletic trophy in school history when the boys scored 165 points for first place. Northside Christian was second with 144 and Indian Rocks Christian third with 128.5.

"It was a huge team effort," Lipham said. "We had people score who hadn't even scored before."

The school's only other team trophy was a district soccer title several years ago.

Three athletes were double individual winners for the champs. Braden Dollar won the 300 hurdles and high jump. Joe Cathey won the 1,600 and 3,200 meters. Charlie Robinson won the long jump and triple jump.

"We knew we had a chance to win if everyone did their best," said Dollar, a sophomore who qualified for his first individual region events next week at Shorecrest.

For the girls, Indian Rocks took the team title with 153 points, followed by Cambridge with 139 and Northside Christian with 132.

"I thought we would have a pretty good shot at it," Indian Rocks coach Chris Williams said. "Some of them really jumped up in their performances in the last couple of weeks."

IRC junior Amanda Montzka not only took first place in the pole vault and 800 meters, but she ran legs on two winning relays. She went home with four first-place ribbons.

Rachael Capra of Seven Rivers Christian, Catharine Major of Tampa Prep and Lauren Bateman of Cambridge also were two-time individual winners. Capra took the high jump and 100-meter titles. Major was first in the triple and long jumps. Bateman had the top throws in the shot put and discus.

For Capra, a sophomore, the final results were a little surprising.

"I was hoping for first place in the high jump, but I didn't expect to get first in the 100 dash," she said. "I thought there were going to be girls a lot faster than me, but when I looked at the sheets with all the times I felt a little bit better."

[Last modified April 12, 2006, 01:07:16]