The Navarre High School Raiders spent their spring break playing in the Aggie Classic last week in Pensacola – and probably wish Oklahoma schools took some other week off.
The Raiders faced three opponents from the Sooner State and came out on the wrong end of the score in each contest. (Photo by Amy Frederick: Chase Meek pitches for the Raiders.)
MOTOR SPORTS
NASCAR driver hospitalized
Denny Hamlin suffered a compression fracture in his lower spine during a last-lap crash while racing for the win against former teammate Joey Logano, and Joe Gibbs Racing gave no indication Monday how long its driver could be sidelined.
"I just want to go home," Hamlin tweeted from a hospital in Southern California. He later posted a photo of himself giving a thumbs-up and appeared to be wearing a back brace.
The team said he had what is called an L1 compression fracture; essentially, the first vertebra in the lumbar section of his spine collapsed.
Hamlin was released from the hospital Monday night, and JGR said he'd return to North Carolina to be evaluated by Dr. Jerry Petty of Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates. A reporter from USA Today spoke to Hamlin outside the hospital and reported Hamlin, wearing a back brace, walked out on his own.
NASCAR does not race this weekend, but returns to action April 7 at Martinsville Speedway, where Hamlin, who is 10th in the Sprint Cup standings, is a four-time winner.
MISC.
Table tennis tournaments
The Pensacola Table Tennis Club recently announced it will host Pensacola’s USO Open starting at 9 a.m. April 13 at the Fricker Community Center, 901 North E St. in Pensacola. For more information, call 436-5195.
RUNNING
The Pensacola Sports Association is accepting registrations for the Pensacola Marathon, which will be run Sunday, Nov. 10. The 2012 marathon sold out for the first time in its history with 1,500 runners competing in the marathon and 800 running in the half-marathon.
The race begins and ends at Veteran's Memorial Park on the Pensacola Bay front, then winds its way along a 13.1 mile circuit of the city for the half marathoners and a full 26.2 loop for the full marathon. The course features historic neighborhoods, the downtown district, scenic water views, cliffs, bands, and cheering Pensacolians. The finish line is next to Pensacola Wall South, the only replica of the National Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.
For those runners still needing to qualify for the Boston Marathon, the Pensacola Marathon is a quality certified course. For full details on the race visit the Pensacola Marathon website at marathonpensacola.com or call (850) 434-2800. Runners can register online at www.marathonpensacola.com, by completing and returning the form printed from the website or in person at Running Wild in Pensacola.
SOFTBALL
Adult softball
The City of Milton is accepting signups for adult spring softball leagues. Spring softball league play will include a co-ed league on Mondays, church league on Tuesdays, a men’s league on Wednesday, and a church co-ed league on Thursday’s. Cost is $350 per team with play getting underway April 8. For more information, call Robert Arnold at the Milton Community Center at 983-5466 or go to the city’s website, www.ci.milton.fl.us.
Coastal Paddle Co. will host the second Five
Flags Paddle Board Classic beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 20, at the Grand
Marlin Pensacola Beach.
Southern Raceway in Milton is returning to the NeSmith Chevrolet Old Man’s Garage Weekly Racing Series for the 2013 season. Southern Raceway officials are currently putting together a schedule for their Crate Late Model Division during the 27-week season for the series that began March 25 and runs through Sept. 29.
Florida Youth Soccer Association coaches recently selected Robert Holderman IV, a Holley-Navarre Middle School seventh-grader, to play on its Olympic Development Program team for players born in the year 2000.
The current crop of Navarre High School track and field athletes were overmatched at Florida State University Relays last weekend in Tallahassee, but some former Raiders had more success.
Sabrina Seignemartin, a 2009 NHS grad and a senior on the University of West Florida Argonauts cross country team, placed eighth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 12 minutes, 24.99 seconds. Her finish was the best by an Argonaut at the prestigious competition.
"Sabrina ran really well on Friday," UWF cross country coach John Bergen said. "She was only 14 seconds off her own school record. For her to put that kind of performance together in her first race of the spring is pretty good."
Cody Haden, a 2011 Navarre graduate, finished 20th in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:43.16.
Distance runners also provided the only bright spots for Navarre in the high school division of the FSU Relays. Tanner Wilcox and Jonah Griego finished eighth and ninth, respectively, in the 1,600-meter consolation run and the Raiders 4 x 800-meter relay team of James Mullin, Trent Beck, Dominic Dudai and Wilcox placed ninth. Wilcox finished the course in 4:30.54 and Griego in 4:37.99. The Raiders’ relay team’s time was 8:16:45.
The Raiders are scheduled to compete at 9 a.m. today, Thursday, March 28, at the EscaRosa Championships at Booker T. Washington High School in Pensacola. Navarre will participate in the Andrews Invitational in Gulf Breeze on Thursday, April 4; the District 1-3A meet is April 19 at Washington’s track in Pensacola.
West Florida’s cross country teams will compete Friday and Saturday at the University of North Florida Invitational in Jacksonville. For information on all UWF athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.
While other Santa Rosa County students were enjoying the first day of spring break, weightlifters from eight schools competed in the District 1-2A championship held March 18 in Navarre. Teams from Navarre, Pace and Pine Forest tied for first with 20 points each. Milton placed fourth with 15 points.
Raiders T. J. Woodberry, Kody Kelley, Nick Benton, Jay Warren and Marvin Darby advanced to a sectional meet April 3 at Fort Walton Beach; Dre Taylor and Colton Mapoles will attend as alternates.
For the complete story, see the March 28 issue of Navarre Press or subscribe online.
The City of Gulf Breeze will sponsor the Quentin Cooper Liver Life 5K Run/Walk beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday at Dolphin Stadium. The race, organized by the Gulf Breeze High School Student Government Association, will honor GBHS senior and liver cancer patient Quentin Cooper. Cooper has been battling liver cancer for two years and is undergoing chemotherapy treatments. He recently was removed from the liver transplant list because cancer had spread beyond his liver. Besides helping with Cooper’s medical costs and benefitting an organization of his choice, proceeds from the race will help create a fund to benefit Gulf Breeze students with medical needs in the future.
Cost to participate is $20. Participants can register before the race Saturday.
The University of West Florida on Tuesday announced that Argonauts cross country head coach John Bergin will resign at the end of the season, his fifth with UWF.
“I am thankful for the support and resources provided by (the University of West Florida) administration to allow myself and our student-athletes a great chance to be successful,” Bergen said. “This program will continue to flourish in the future, and I am proud to have been a part of it.”
In his time as head coach, Bergen was named Gulf South Conference Women’s Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2012. Bergen led the UWF women’s cross country team to the program’s first NCAA national championship appearance in 2011 and again in 2012. The two-time conference coach of the year also led the Argonaut women’s cross country team to back-to-back Gulf South Conference championships.
During Bergen’s tenure, 24 student-athletes have earned All-GSC honors while five received All-GSC Academic Honors. Bergen coached two GSC freshmen of the year award winners (Seth Rosanina, Kelley Bahn) in his tenure as head coach and saw the UWF women’s cross country honored by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association with all-academic team honors in 2010.
When named cross country coach in 2008, Bergen was no stranger to the UWF Field House, as he spent six years as an assistant professor of exercise science in the Health, Leisure and Exercise Science Department, which was housed for four of his years in the UWF Field House. Bergen took over as the interim sports information director, a position that he held until taking over the cross country coaching position.
For more information on all UWF athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.
Pensacola to play Knoxville in best-of-three playoff semis beginning Thursday.
Sport: Softball
Class: 2014
Pensacola is a baseball town.
The City of Five Flags has produced Hall of Fame football players, professional basketball players, boxing champions and world-record-setting runners. But Pensacola’s affair with baseball is older, richer and more ingrained in the city’s history than any other game. (PHOTO: Author Scott Brown)
Several dozen fans lined the Pensacola International Airport concourse Sunday to greet the 2013 Pensacola Blue Wahoos. (PHOTO: Karah Heal, 6)
Navarre’s Lady Raiders’ softball team played three games in three days last week and won come-from-behind victories against non-district foes from Phenix City, Ala., and Gulf Breeze, but could not rally back against district-rival Milton. (PHOTO: Crystal Evans)
For the complete story, see the April 4 issue of Navarre Press or subscribe online.
CROSS COUNTRY
UWF coach to resign
The University of West Florida announced last week that Argonauts cross country head coach John Bergin will resign at the end of the season, his fifth with UWF. In his time as head coach, Bergen was named Gulf South Conference Women’s Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2012. Bergen led the UWF women’s cross country team to the program’s first NCAA national championship appearance in 2011 and again in 2012. The two-time conference coach of the year also led the Argonaut women’s cross country team to back-to-back Gulf South Conference championships.
For more information on all UWF athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.
HOCKEY
The Pensacola Ice Flyers swept Mississippi in two games in the first round of the Southern Professional Hockey League’s President’s Cup playoffs last week and will face the Knoxville Ice Bears in a rematch of last season’s semis.
Game 1 will be played at 6:30 p.m. tonight, Thursday, April 4, in Knoxville, Tenn. Game 2 is scheduled at 7:05 p.m. Saturday in Pensacola. If Game 3 is necessary, it will be played at 6:05 p.m. Sunday in Pensacola.
The Ice Flyers are encouraging fans to wear white to "White Out the Hangar" for each home playoff game. White semifinal playoff t-shirts will be available for $10 each near the end of the week in the Ice Flyers' office and at the game.
Fans can watch Game 1 live at New York Nick's on South Palafox Place in downtown.
Tickets for Games 2 and 3 in Pensacola are available now at the Pensacola Bay Center Box Office or online at ticketmaster.com.
Fans that purchased tickets for Game 3 of the first round can use those tickets for Game 2 Saturday in Pensacola.
MISC.
Homeschool PE classes
The Fort Walton Beach Family YMCA will offer physical education classes from 1:30-2:30 p.m. Fridays in April for home-schooled children ages 5-14. Classes in April, taught by YMCA program coordinator Bob Grant, will feature baseball, softball and t-ball. Grant has taught homeschool PE for more than 25 years. Cost is $20 per child per month. For more information, call 863-9622.
Table tennis tournaments
The Pensacola Table Tennis Club recently announced it will host Pensacola’s USO Open starting at 9 a.m. April 13 at the Fricker Community Center, 901 North E St. in Pensacola. For more information, call 436-5195.
RUNNING
The Pensacola Sports Association is accepting registrations for the Pensacola Marathon, which will be run Sunday, Nov. 10. The 2012 marathon sold out for the first time in its history with 1,500 runners competing in the marathon and 800 running in the half-marathon.
The race begins and ends at Veteran's Memorial Park on the Pensacola Bay front, then winds its way along a 13.1 mile circuit of the city for the half marathoners and a full 26.2 loop for the full marathon. The course features historic neighborhoods, the downtown district, scenic water views, cliffs, bands, and cheering Pensacolians. The finish line is next to Pensacola Wall South, the only replica of the National Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.
For those runners still needing to qualify for the Boston Marathon, the Pensacola Marathon is a quality certified course. For full details on the race visit the Pensacola Marathon website at marathonpensacola.com or call (850) 434-2800. Runners can register online at www.marathonpensacola.com, by completing and returning the form printed from the website or in person at Running Wild in Pensacola.
SOFTBALL
Adult softball
The City of Milton is accepting signups for adult spring softball leagues. Spring softball league play will include a coed league on Mondays, church league on Tuesdays, a men’s league on Wednesday, and a church co-ed league on Thursday’s. Cost is $350 per team with play getting underway April 8. For more information, call Robert Arnold at the Milton Community Center at 983-5466 or go to the city’s website, www.ci.milton.fl.us.
MOBILE, Ala. – Navarre has excelled in middle-distance running events most of the 2013 track season. On Saturday, April 6, the Raiders’ 4 x 800-meter relay tested its mettle in the Mobile Challenge of Champions invitational meet and finished fourth.
“That’s not bad,” coach Tom Lintz said of the finish. “That’s fourth against 11 of the best teams in the South; it’s an invitation-only meet and they invite the best.”
The foursome of Trent Beck, Jonah Griego, James Mullin and Tanner Wilcox finished in 8 minutes, 16.75 seconds. First-place finisher Baton Rouge, La., Catholic ran a blistering 7:59.65, McGill Toolen Catholic of Mobile was second in 7:59.73 and Niceville finished third in 8:07.56.
Navarre’s weren’t the only area athletes represented at St. Paul’s School in Mobile, site of the event. Austin Droogsma of Gulf Breeze, a senior committed to competing for Florida State University, won the shot put and discus events. His shot put covered 60 feet, 9 inches, a full 17 inches further than the second-place competitor. Andy Fryman of Mason County, Ky., holds the event record of 62-10, set in 2003.
Droogsma hurled the discus 176-1, almost 28 feet more than the next-best throw.
Other area athletes included:
n Johnta’ Whitaker, Pine Forest: 300-meter hurdles, first, 42.42; 100-meter hurdles, second, 13.73
n Lamia Miller, Pine Forest: shot put, first, 40-9; discus, second, 119-11.5
n Nicolas Morken, Niceville: one-mile run, second, 4:20.7
n Thomas Howell, Niceville: two-mile run, second, 9:26.94
n Sifa Finau, Pine Forest: discus, third, 147-5
n Loren Moorer, Pensacola: 400-meter dash, third, 57.69
n Christina Wiggins, Pine Forest: pole vault, third, 11-6
n Jessie Droogsma, Gulf Breeze: discus, fourth, 118-3.5
n Pine Forest girls 4 x 400, first, 3:54.70
n Niceville girls 4 x 800, third, 9:46.34
(PHOTO: Johnny Robinson-Pettus) Navarre senior Elijah Appel finished second in the Andrews Invitational triple jump last week in Gulf Breeze, bounding 42 feet. Not bad, considering the competition and the fact that Appel hadn’t competed in the event this season.
The Navarre High School baseball team returned to action Tuesday, April 2, after an 11-day layoff and hosted district rival Escambia. Navarre had soundly defeated the Gators earlier in the year, but the outcome in this contest would be much different.
The Budo Dojo Martial Arts Club recently competed in the Northwest Florida Spring Martial Arts Championships sponsored by Gordon Martial Arts in Crestview. Six students competed in a variety of divisions, earning a total of 10 trophies.
James Mullin, center, a Navarre High School senior and standout distance runner, on April 3 signed a letter of intent to compete in cross country for Saint Leo University, an NCAA Division II school northeast of Tampa.