 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Ferguson's absence doesn't slow Eagles
By GREG AUMAN © St. Petersburg Times, published February 28, 2001 SPRING HILL -- Springstead boys track coach Fred Hudson had to be pleased with his team's performance Friday after dominating five other schools on its home track. The Eagles racked up 171 points, doubling its competition except for runner-up Leesburg, which had 132. Even more impressive is the fact Springstead managed the feat without one of its top athletes at full strength. Senior Steve Ferguson, who recently finished basketball season as the school's all-time leading scorer, is still nursing an ankle injury that limited him on the hardcourt. Ferguson is normally a point-scoring machine, capable of scoring in the jumps, sprints and relays, but Hudson held him out of all but the Eagles' 4x100-meter relay Friday. "I want to make sure he's healthy before we get him back out there," said Hudson, who said Ferguson should be able to compete at this week's Chasco Invitational at Gulf. "I think he'll be okay once we know his ankle's okay." In Ferguson's absence, junior Sentell McDonald won the high jump by clearing 5 feet, 10 inches, and Leesburg earned much of its scoring in the field events, winning the long and triple jumps, as well as the pole vault and shot put. Hudson was pleased by the times posted by senior Clinton Pierce, who won the 300-meter hurdles in 42.6 seconds and finished one-tenth of a second behind teammate Alton Hughes in the 100 hurdles. The county's top two sprinters last year were Springstead's Quinton Wallace and Hernando's Aondre Greene, who seemed to finish within a nanosecond of each other at every meet. Both graduated, but Springstead's Ron Paulin and Hernando's Derrick Mobley seem to have taken their spots -- if not as fast, they're at least as closely matched. Give Mobley the first victory between the two, running the 100 meters in 11.15, just one-hundredth of a second faster than Paulin. Hudson said he's still getting new athletes who are finishing up their winter sports. Ferguson is still recovering from basketball dings and bruises, and there was a new face Monday: freshman Tommy Walker, a state qualifier in the 103-pound class in wrestling last week. Walker, who is Hughes' younger brother, has the speed to make an impact in the sprints and potentially the hurdles as well, Hudson said. CENTRAL: The Bears' boys and girls finished third out of four teams in a quad meet on their track Friday, and boys coach Vic Cervizzi said his team fared about as he expected. "I liked some of what I saw, and we're going to move some of the kids around," Cervizzi said. "Some of the sprinters will get a look at hurdles, so they have more of an opportunity to contribute. Our depth isn't what it was before, so we're relying more on young kids to contribute." One area where Cervizzi will enjoy more depth is on his own coaching staff. With girls coach Julie D'Avila resigning just before the season started, he has kept an eye on both teams. But boys assistant coach Alan Solomon, the Bears' longtime wrestling coach, took over the girls squad Monday after returning from the state wrestling championships in Lakeland. Cervizzi said he and Solomon will work extensively with both teams. "He's a good friend, and we complement each other well," Cervizzi said. The Bears finished behind Ridgewood and Citrus, but there were several individual performances worth noting. Senior Jerry Daniels, who will play football at Bethune-Cookman this fall, matched his career-best in the triple jump by clearing 40 feet. Daniels also won the 100 meters (10.9 seconds) and 200 meters (22.4), coming within three-tenths of a second of the school record in the latter. The Bears' only other victory was by Chris Dyer in the pole vault (10-6). Cervizzi was impressed by both David Ramoses on his squad -- one, a senior, cleared 6 feet in the high jump for a second-place showing, while the other, a sophomore, ran the opening leg of the 4x100 relay, combining with Chris Nelson, Jason Martinez and former basketball standout Mike O'Connell for runner-up honors. On the girls side, Central got first-place efforts from sophomore Alaya Smiley in the shot put (31-4) and 100 meters (12.97), with senior Erin Courtney (3,200 meters) and junior Tiffany Mobley (200 meters) also winning. The Bears' 4x100 relay team came in first in 53.1, with senior Leiko Munford, Mobley, Smiley and freshman Jaime Costanzo executing "three perfect handoffs," according to Cervizzi. Costanzo filled in admirably for senior Daisha Holland, who has run the relay the past three years but is not running track this spring, opting instead to keep a part-time job.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Hernando Times |
