Wildcat girls earn second

By IZZY GOULD and JEREMY RASMUSSEN
Published April 28, 2006

TITUSVILLE - Wesley Chapel's girls left Titusville Astronaut believing they had put on a good performance.

Unfortunately, they didn't know how good.

The Wildcats were originally awarded sixth place until a scoring discrepancy was discovered. A recount of the events showed Wesley Chapel actually earned 54 points, good enough for second.

The runner-up trophy was given to Leesburg, which finished with 53 points and everyone was long gone before the mistake was identified.

"I was wondering about that," Wesley Chapel coach Kristi Frye said by phone. "Do they have the trophy?

"It was bothering me we came in sixth. They weren't posting stuff that great so I wasn't paying attention to the score. My goal was second."

The incident overshadowed a solid night of performances by Pasco County schools.

Steven Bell ran with power, confidence and heart and left few packed in the stands or along the fence believing he can't win at least one state title next week.

Bell won the 1,600 meters (4:17.45) eclipsing his personal best by three seconds. He also claimed the 3,200 (9:35.48) title winning that race by more than 10 seconds. He already has the best time in the state (9:10.04).

As he does after each race, Bell greeted his teammates at the finish line. He then ran off with a smile to go celebrate.

"Like I've said before, I've been preparing for this for six years," Bell said. "I'm not stopping. I will get this."

Also winning was Springstead sophomore Jennifer Knoer with a 5-foot high jump. Three girls jumped 5-0, but Knoer had the fewest scratches.

Also of note was Central junior DuJuan Harris, who advanced to state with second-place finishes in the triple (45-21/2) and long jumps (22-111/4), and a third in the 200 (22.63).

For the girls, Lecanto senior Tara Haddock qualified in multiple events with a third-place finish in the 1,600 (5:23.63) and fourth in the 800 (2:22.54).

Wesley Chapel senior Jerrica Cabrera finished third in the 100-meter hurdles (15.66) and fourth in the 300 (48.37).

The Wildcats also sent Jasmine Pleasant in the 200 (26.30), Kirsten Fee in the 3,200 (12:23.84) and Chandler Preddy in the 110-meter hurdles (14.99).

Wesley Chapel's 4x100 team also qualified with a second-place finish (48.91).

Lecanto had multiple qualifiers with Brian Burns in the pole vault (12-6), Nick Farrington in the 1,600 (4:32.80) Shaneatha Gates in the shot put (37-9) and sophomore Victoria Mele, who finished fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 34-21/2.

TAMPA - Mitchell's Jeff Surmin was the top county performer in the region meet at Gaither, finishing second in the 3,200-meters. He battled Sickles' Derek Wehunt in the final just as they had in last week's districts. Wehunt finished first in 9:51.42, while Surmin was next at 9:52.80.

Host Gaither won the boys meet with Countryside second. Vero Beach won the girls.

[Last modified April 28, 2006, 02:23:52]