 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Area athletes flirt with title
By KEITH NIEBUHR
© St. Petersburg Times, Kate Wheeler is shy, Rick Miller is quietly confident and Jordan Darga is a bundle of energy. To say that the trio of Citrus County athletes have dissimilar personalities would be an extreme understatement. But in the field of competition, they share one common thread -- success. In the spring of 2001, each made strong runs at individual state titles -- Wheeler and Miller in track and Darga in weightlifitng. All of them fell one spot short of winning gold, but not without first putting up a serious fight. Wheeler, a junior at Lecanto and arguably the area's most outstanding female athlete, qualified for the Class 2A track and field meet in the high jump, triple jump, 300-meter hurdles and 4x400. She finished sixth in the triple jump, then took second in the high jump after being edged by Sarasota Cardinal Mooney's Megan Wallin. In a jumpoff for the state championship, Wheeler and Wallin each missed nine attempts ranging from 5-0 to 5-4. Finally, Wallin hit a 5-2 leap to win it. "I'm happy with this," said Wheeler, the Times All-Citrus/Hernando Female Track Athlete of the Year. "The high jump is my favorite event. And last year, I didn't even get a medal. So I feel good about this." Miller also came close. After finishing third in the 800 meters of the 2000 state meet, the Citrus senior and Times All-Citrus/Hernando Male Track Athlete of the Year came on strong at the end of this season. Miller captured first in conference, district and regional competition, setting the school record by finishing the regional in 1 minute, 56.39 seconds. At state, Miller won silver (1 minute, 56.9 seconds) just behind the favorite, Pensacola Catholic's Daniel Soule (1:54.36). Soule also finished first in 2000. "I wanted the state title, but I can't be ticked off finishing second one year and third the other," Miller said. "You can't have everything." Darga, an energetic Citrus senior, became his school's third individual state champion in 2000. He claimed first in the 169-pound division of the Class A meet. This spring, it looked as if Darga would win another title and become the Hurricanes' first two-time champ. But after destroying the competition during the regular season, he had a below-average performance at state. He bench pressed 325 pounds and posted a 265-pound clean-and-jerk, but finished second at 169 by 10 pounds to Chindra Stephens of Williston. "Everything was going great," Darga said. "I felt great. And I had it in my mind to win the state championship. And then I missed my first lift." Despite finishing second, Darga will be remembered as the top lifter in Citrus history.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
Citrus Times |
