At least a handful of Hernando County athletes are guaranteed to make the trip to the FHSAA Track and Field State Championships this Friday.
Last Friday, Nature Coast competed in the Region 2A-2 meet at Astronaut High in Titusville, with the boys tying with King’s Academy for fourth place with 68 team points.
Jasir Harvin, Ethan Warford, Trent Montgomery and Zayden Mckenzie combined to run a time of 42.15 in the 4×100-meter relay to earn a regional title in that race. The top two finishers in each event automatically advanced to states, with the rest waiting on at-large bids.
Additionally for the Sharks, senior Jamari Simpson won the boys triple jump with a distance of 43’1/2” and sophomore Joseph Lizor tossed the javelin 148’1” to take second.
Springstead was also in action on Friday in the Region 3A-2 meet at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and the girls team placed fourth overall with 50 points. Senior De’Aijah Tullis won the girls high jump, leaping a distance of 5’3 3/4” for the Eagles, and also registered a 35’10 3/4” for first in the triple jump.
Freshman Lainee Mercer will join Tullis at states after finishing second in the girls 3,200 with a time of 11:17.67.
Weeki Wachee’s lone female qualifier at the 3A-2 meet, Emani Henderson didn’t earn an automatic spot at states, but could be well-positioned for an at-large spot, having taken third in girls high jump (5’1 3/4”).
Sophomore Justin Lawson will represent the Hornets in the Para-Athlete Division State Championships, also at UNF on May 9. At the regional meet, he ran a 15.62 in the 100-meter ambulatory, 34.55 in the 200 ambulatory and had a top throw of 14’5 1/4” in the shot put ambulatory.
While the Hernando High flag football team won its region to make the Final Four, and the Hernando baseball team won its regional semifinal series to reach this week’s regional final series, many county teams saw their postseason runs come to an end last week.
Hernando’s softball team made it to the District 3A-6 championship game last Thursday at Crystal River. Unfortunately for the Leopards (14-10-1), the Pirates had Michigan State commit Violet Flynn on the mound. The junior struck out 13 over seven shutout innings as Hernando fell 4-0. Aubrey Knierim and Lily Jernigan were both 2 for 3 in that game for the Leopards, who did not receive an at-large spots in regionals.
Springstead’s baseball team was swept in two games by River Ridge in a Region 5A-2 semifinal series. The Eagles (17-13) were eliminated on Friday with a 5-2 loss in Game 2, with the Knights scoring four times in the top of the seventh. Nathaniel Sabino went 4 for 4 for Springstead and Joey Rief was 2 for 2 with a two-run home run.
Two Hernando County flag football teams dropped regional semifinal matchups on April 28. Springstead lost at Belleview 14-6 in a Region 3A-2 contest. Tija Holland scored on a 3-yard touchdown run for the Eagles (12-7).
Nature Coast suffered a 19-6 loss at Clay. The Sharks finished the season 13-5, just missing the chance to face Hernando for a fourth time in the regional final.
In beach volleyball, both Hernando and Nature Coast lost their Region 2A-3 quarterfinals on April 29. The fourth-seeded Leopards fell to fifth-seeded Braden River 4-1, completing the season at 13-3. The Sharks, seeded seventh, lost to second seed The Villages 5-0, to end up 11-5.
The county’s lone qualifiers in state tennis, the Hernando High No. 1 girls double teams of Annabelle Chamberlain and Mia Liu, lost 6-0, 6-1 to Kristina Despotuli and Norah Smucker of American Heritage in the first round of the Class 2A FHSAA State Championships on April 30 at Sylvan Lake Park in Sanford.
