Jesuit outdistances district competition

Nine individual wins keep the Tigers at the top of the pack.

By ROD GIPSON
Published April 12, 2006

TAMPA - Something new and plenty of something old highlighted the revamped meet at Berkeley Prep on Tuesday.

The new came in a district lineup pitting schools from Hillsborough County with squads from Pasco and Hernando counties. And plenty of old as in Jesuit (208) routing its competition en route to another district crown. Zephyrhills was second with 112 points.

The girls meet featured closer competition, though dominated by two Pasco County squads, before Zephyrhills (139) slipped past Pasco (121) to claim its third straight title.

Pasco took first in the high jump and long jump (both won by Molly Barthle) and the triple jump (Isaria Ranson), but Zephyrhills used Kristin Donahue's first place in the 1,600 meters and Marta Heidenreich's win in the 100 hurdles, teamed with other quality finishes, to claim first overall.

Robinson's Rikka Lovely was outstanding in the sprints, winning the 100-, 200- and 400-meter events. Hernando's Valerie Blount had a solid meet as well, claiming the top spot in the shot put and discus.

"The key was that every one of our girls did outstanding jobs in their events," Zephyrhills coach Michael Stanton said. "Our seniors gave us a lot of leadership out there and we knew these other teams have a lot of quality and developed talent.

"We just wanted to be competitive."

For Jesuit, being competitive was guaranteed. The Tigers claimed nine first-place finishes. Jesuit built a lead early in the meet and was never really threatened, excelling in relays, distance and field events.

James Osborne claimed first in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters for the Tigers while Michael Ylagan won the 110- and 300-meter hurdles races. The Jesuit relay squads took the 4x400 and the 4x800, and Nick Plasencia (discus) and David Piccirilli (shot put) won their events. But the most dominant Jesuit performance may have come in the 800 meters, where the Tigers claimed each of the top four spots (Michael Akins, Cade Rivard, Connor Rivard, Bennett Singletary).

Zephyrhills' Bryan Thomas managed to interrupt the Jesuit dominance with some of his own, claiming the 100- and 200-meter races and the long jump. The Bulldog boys also won the 4x100 relay.

[Last modified April 12, 2006, 01:08:07]