Prep Notes

By ROD GIPSON

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 2, 2001

Cross country teams have mixed results

The opening meets of the cross country season found several northern Hillsborough runners and squads picking up where they left off a season ago. Wharton and Chamberlain's boys and girls teams performed well at the Central Hillsborough Invitational on Tuesday at King High while Leto, Gaither, Sickles and Alonso had mixed results at the West Hillsborough meet.

Chamberlain's Nathan Adams fought off a pack of runners early and cruised to the individual title at the Central meet, finishing in 17:20. He was followed by Wharton's Greg McCarthy, who was second at 18:28. But those finishes wouldn't be enough team-wise as the Chiefs placed fifth and the Wildcats were second. Host King won the boys team title. On the girls side, Wharton and Chamberlain placed in the middle of the pack at third and fourth, respectively, behind winner Tampa Bay Tech.

At the West meet, hosted by Gaither at Lake Park, Leto placed two runners in the top 10. Cynthia Rodriguez was seventh at 21:24 while Jessica Shepherd place ninth at 21:37. Cowboy runner Kate Truesdale was 10th at 21:55. The Gaither girls placed second behind Plant, which dominated the race. Leto placed third while Sickles was fourth and Alonso was seventh. In the boys race, Leto placed second after three Falcons placed among the top 10. Sickles was third, followed by Gaither at fifth and Alonso at sixth. Falcons Eric Speer (third) and Josh Salas (fifth) broke the 17:00 mark and teammate Coe Federenko (eighth) wasn't far behind at 17:09. Sickles had two runners in the top 10 as Adam Sisler was second among individuals at 16:32 and Dan Gollins was ninth at 17:29.

The boys and girls squads of Alonso, Gaither, Chamberlain, Sickles, Wharton and Leto will all be in action Sept. 9 at the Raider Invitational at Sansone Park in Plant City.

BOYS GOLF: Wharton is 4-0 after defeating Gaither 143-160 Tuesday at Pebble Creek Golf Course. Brian Wertz and Mike Giammaresi led the way with nine-hole scores of 34 and 36, respectively. Patrick Gibson added a 36 and David Tiffenberg shot 37 as the Wildcats dominated the Cowboys. Gaither was led by sophomore T.C. Seibert, who posted a 35. In other action, Sickles improved to 3-1 after winning a tri-match with Hillsborough and Blake at Rogers Park Golf Course. The Gryphons shot 157, followed by the Terriers at 159 and the Yellow Jackets at 246. Also, Chamberlain remains unbeaten in three matches after a 154-179 win against Brandon at Babe Zaharias Golf Course. In upcoming action, Gaither and Chamberlain square off Tuesday at Babe Zaharias, Wharton hosts Brandon on Thursday, and Leto, Sickles and Alonso meet up Sept. 10 at Silver Dollar Golf Course.

VOLLEYBALL: The northern Hillsborough teams tip off their seasons this week. On Tuesday, Gaither plays at Sarasota Riverview, Leto hosts Wharton and Sickles hosts Tampa Bay Tech. On Wednesday, Chamberlain hosts first-year Alonso.

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