Pace High School won its fourth straight district baseball title Thursday with a 2-1 win against top-seeded Tate. The Patriots (18-9), seeded second, managed just two hits but stole home for one run and scored the eventual winning run when the Aggies' pitcher balked.
District 1-6A champion Pace will host District 2-6A runner-up Lynn Haven Mosley and Tate (21-6) will play at 2-6A champion Crestview; both games are scheduled at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Navarre High School distance jumpers Nick Benton and Elijah Appel will compete at the Class 3A state track and field meet Friday, May 3, at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
Benton finished second in the tirple jump and third in the long jump Thursday at the Region 1-3A meet in Tallahassee. Appel finished fourth in the triple jump. The top four finishers in each event advances to state competition.
Pole vaulter Roman Spear and distance runners James Mullin, Dominic Dudai, Trent Beck and Tanner Wilcox also competed in the regional meet but failed to qualify for the state field.
Benton finished 1.5 inches short of winning the triple jump. Terrance Sims of Pine Forest won the event, clearing 45 feet, 5 inches; Benton, who struggled most of the spring while recovering from a thigh injury, landed a jump of 45-3.5. Appel, who had not competed in the triple and long jumps until April, jumped 44 feet, 0.5 inches.
Johnny Robinson-Pettus, who performed well in both events all season for Navarre, is not eligible for Florida High School Athletic Association postseason competition because of FHSAA age restrictions. Robinson-Pettus will turn 20 later this year.
Rapheal Webb of Gainesville won the long jump with a leap of 23-7; Benton was third at 22-3.
Mike Rowland came across the finished line this morning at the Navarre Fun Fest 5K. We would love to tell you his time, but the clock at the race quit working before he came across the finished line. And, as you can see, Mike doesn't have a Garmin watch. When Mike is asked about his time, he can say, "First." Congrats Mike!
The Navarre High School baseball team advanced to the second round of a district tournament for the first time in four years with a dramatic 13-inning win against Milton, but the Raiders’ struggles against Pace continued in the District 1-6A semifinals.
The biggest surprise that came out of the District 1-3A track meet two weeks ago may have been the emergence of Navarre High School triple-jump third-place finisher, Elijah Appel. (PHOTO: Appel, center, with teammates and jump coaches Nick Benton, left, and Johnny Robinson-Pettus.)
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes-Northwest Florida honored one baseball and one softball player from each high school in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties Monday at its annual Extra Innings Banquet at First Baptist Church in Pensacola. Navarre High School honorees were Jason Frederick, second from left, and Brooke Murphy. Also pictured are baseball coach David Murphy, left, and softball coach – and Brooke’s father – Scott Murphy. (PHOTO by Amy Frederick)
The Pensacola Sports Association on Sunday announced that the Florida College System Activities Association will hold its Women’s Fast Pitch Softball Championship tournament in Pensacola May 3-5.
The University of West Florida Argonauts will play West Alabama at 9 a.m. Thursday, May 2, in the first game of the 2013 Gulf South Conference Baseball Championship Tournament at AT&T Field in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Navarre High School distance jumpers Nick Benton and Elijah Appel are the only Raiders competing at the Class 3A state track and field meet Friday, May 3, at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
Monday night, outfielder Donald Lutz pinch-hit for the Cincinnati Reds to become the first German-developed player to play in Major League Baseball. Lutz was also a member of the German National Team that competed in the Qualifiers for the 2013 World Baseball Classic and is the second graduate of the Major League Baseball International European Academy to play in the Major Leagues.
Vicki Maxwell, 17, of Milton High School, prepares to serve the volleyball Friday at the 2013 Raiders Games at Navarre High School’s Bennett C. Russell Stadium while school mate Dylana Lauer, a junior, watches. Exceptional students in kindergarten through 12th grades from Milton and Navarre participated in a variety of physical activities at the second annual event.
Barlow hits walk-off home run in 11th, Argos advance in GSC tourney.
UWF will face either Delta State or Valdosta State on Saturday
JACKSONVILLE – Sixty-four boys’ teams scored points Friday at the FHSAA Class 3A State Track and Field Championships, including Navarre High School – with one half of one point.
Nicholas Benton finished tied for eighth place in the long jump, soaring 21 feet, 11 inches on his final attempt. Rapheal Webb of Gainesville won the event, jumping 23-4.5.
The eight best finishers in each event earned points for their teams.
The Raiders’ Elijah Appel, a newcomer to competitive jumping, just missed adding a point in the triple jump. The senior, who hadn’t competed in the event until late March, bounded 42-9.5 and finished ninth overall. Benton was 10th with a jump of 42-4.5.
Hillsborough’s Jeremiah Green won the championship with a 48-2 effort.
Rain delayed the beginning of the championship meet at the University of North Florida. Bartram Trail earned the boys’ team championship with 47 points, followed by Miami Northwestern with 39. Niceville finished seventh with 24 points and Gulf Breeze was 10th with 20.
No Lady Raiders qualified for the state meet, won easily by Miami Northwestern with 74.5 points, 20.5 more than runner-up Hallandale. Panhandle powerhouse Pine Forest finished third with 43 points.
Navarre High School baseball coach David "Bubba" Meredith throws the ceremonial first pitch Sunday at Bayfront Stadium before the host Pensacola Blue Wahoos' game against the Montgomery Biscuits. (PHOTO by Amy Frederick)
Argos scheduled to face Delta State at noon today
CARROLLTON, Ga. - The 2013 Gulf South Conference Baseball Tournament has again been delayed by rain. The first game of Monday's schedule at West Georgia was completed, but the rain came in before the game between Delta State and West Florida was able to start.
The other two games that were to be held Monday at West Georgia have been moved to Tuesday, and the rest of the tournament schedule has been moved back one day. UWF will now play Delta State at noon on Tuesday, followed by a 3 p.m. game between Valdosta State and West Alabama.
For information on all UWF athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.
Argos fall to Delta State in 10-inning thriller at GSC tournament
UWF looks ahead to NCAA tournament selections on Sunday
Runners Laura and Stephen Pifer met at the University of Colorado, where both competed for the Buffaloes. A few years later, the couple is married and raising sons Jameson, 5, and Vincent, 4, in Jacksonville, where Stephen is a technical representative and educator for Boulder, Colo.-based Newton Running. Laura is a stay-at-home mother and an Internet entrepreneur, marketing fashions made from repurposed materials from her web-based business, Trash to Couture (www.trashtocouture.com).
And, of course, the 28-year-olds still make time to run.
Imagine if a game was played and the fans remained silent in the stands. For Navarre High School’s cheerleaders, that silence is not an option.
For area high school football fans, New Year’s Day was May 1.
That’s the first day Florida High School Athletics Association teams could practice.
“It’s the same every year,” Navarre High School coach Jay Walls said. “We’re starting off a new year…Certainly, we had a great year last year, and we’re proud of that, but it’s time to move on.” (PHOTO: Offensive line coach Greg Greenhaw instructs his charges.)
Raider Games is an exceptional event for exceptional students. Held Friday at Bennett C. Russell Stadium, home of Navarre High School’s football, soccer, and track and field teams, Raider Games isn’t about winning and losing. The games are about what games should be about – playing. (Photo: Peri Whitworth, 11, center, dances with West Navarre Intermediate teacher Stacey Oatman, the Raiders' mascot and cheerleaders.)