Track and Field

It was no secret that Springstead’s baseball team entered the Class 6A, District 6 Tournament as the prohibitive favorite to repeat as champion.
But the Eagles certainly didn’t fall short of those expectations this week, recording two blowout wins to collect another first-place trophy.
“We just played real well,” Springstead head coach Shawn Laferty said. “Defensively, we made one error. That’s been our M.O. all year. We played good defense, had good pitching and hitting when we need to.

Suffice to say, Springstead’s softball team’s road to a repeat district championship hit a significant speed bump halfway through Thursday night’s Class 6A, District 6 final.
Host Crystal River had shown it could stand up to the once top-ranked Lady Eagles a few weeks earlier, holding on for a 2-1 win at Springstead’s home field on April 4.
This time around, the Lady Pirates built a 4-0 advantage through the top of the fourth, but couldn’t stave off the top seed, who rallied to tie it up twice and eventually pulled out a 7-6 victory in eight innings.

District championships have become a tradition for the Nature Coast track and field team, and nothing changed on Friday at Anclote High.
Both the boys and girls defended their Class 2A, District 7 crowns, the Lady Sharks tallying 199 points to far outdistance second-place Weeki Wachee (108), while their male counterparts totaled 159, well ahead of Zephryhills with 116.

As a team with Final Four aspirations, Springstead softball can’t be accused by anyone of playing a soft schedule.
The Lady Eagles, ranked fourth in this week’s Miracle Sports state poll for Class 6A, took on the No. 1 team in 2A, Academy at the Lakes in Land O’ Lakes, on Monday and suffered a 4-0 loss.
After dusting 6A-District 6 foe Lecanto the next night, 12-2, behind home runs by Kayla Cruz, Paige Pfent and Kama Woodall, Springstead (19-3 overall, 8-2 6A-6) knocked off Belleview, which came into the week ranked fifth in 6A, 3-1 on Thursday night.

The names and faces have changed, yet for Nature Coast’s track and field program, the results remained the same in the Hernando-Citrus Classic.
All nine schools from the two counties converged on Weeki Wachee’s football field on Thursday, and both the Nature Coast boys and girls remained the defending champs.
For the Lady Sharks, it was a bit of a surprise, though they scored 170 points to finish well ahead of second-place Lecanto with 135.

Springstead’s softball has been holding down the top spot in the Miracle Sports state softball rankings for Class 6A, and the Lady Eagles looked the part in two shutout district wins this past week.
On Tuesday, Springstead (16-1 overall, 7-1 6A-District 6) defeated Citrus, 7-0. Delaney Woodall went 2-for-4 with a run and two runs batted in, while Kayla Cruz and Kama Woodall each were 2-for-4 with one RBI. Paige Pfent was 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Kama Woodall, who also doubled, threw a 1-hitter with 11 strikeouts.

At least two Hernando County lifters are bound for states next month following Saturday’s Class 1A, Region 6 Meet at Belleview.
The winner of each weight division earned state berths, while the rest will wait to see if they receive at-large spots at the FHSAA Finals, taking place on April 8 at DeLand High.
For Central, senior Dominique Walker took first at 199 pounds, benching 320 pounds and lifting 260 in the clean-and-jerk for a 580 total. Walker actually tied with Austin Quandt from Citrus, but won due to weighing in four pounds lighter.