Plant City High School 2014 OL/DL Montel McBride continues to rack up awards and attention at post-season combines and camps. Most recently, McBride took the Top Offensive Lineman Award at the Valdosta MVP Camp over the weekend in Valdosta, Ga. McBride went to the camp with teammates from TeamNextLevel. McBride was the only player in […]
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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Sergio Garcia
Plant City senior Sergio Garcia has been a bright spot in the lineup for Plant City baseball in this early stage of the 2013 season. The second baseman is hitting .650, with a triple and two doubles going into Tuesday night’s game with Hillsborough. He has played all four years on varsity for the Raiders. […]
Continue ReadingSHOW ME THE MAUNEY: The true meaning of ‘student athlete’
We’ve all heard the stereotypes. Some popular ones include the derogatory phrases “meatheads” and “dumb jocks.” Athletes across the globe defy these misconceptions every day, and Plant City area athletes certainly are doing their part of squashing these stereotypes. The more I cover local high school sports teams, the more I take note of the […]
Continue ReadingHumble beginnings fuel Crest foursome
Seniors Yasmine Gardiner and Brittany Barber remember what it was like. “When we started off, we were kind of the joke of the school,” Gardiner said of the the inaugural Strawberry Crest girls track team in 2009. Both young and raw talents as freshmen, the duo flew below everyone’s radar that year. When current juniors […]
Continue ReadingHeysek brothers lead Raiders team
Harrison Heysek remembers playing tennis with his mother, Mary, when he was just 6 years old. “We would hit back and forth in the driveway,” he said. “It just expanded from there.” Harrison is one of a set of triplets. His brothers, Alex and Spencer, also grew up playing tennis, gaining interest from their mom. […]
Continue ReadingTwo area grapplers qualify for state meet
Durant’s Austin Haley and Plant City High’s Lance Dounges both qualified for the Class 3A FHSAA State Wrestling Championship, which will be held Feb. 15 and 16, at the Lakeland Center. Haley placed second in the 126-pound weight class for the Cougars at the Class 3A Region 2 championship last weekend at Osceola High School, […]
Continue ReadingChargers rising senior stands out
Strawberry Crest wide receiver Alex Carswell performed well at a 7-on-7 All-Star game between Unsigned Preps and the Next Level Nighthawks Feb. 10, at Ferrell Middle School. The rising senior is having a great offseason at camps, combines and workouts, and at 6-4, 200 pounds, he already has gained notice by some colleges, most notably […]
Continue ReadingATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Lance Dounges
Plant City junior Lance Dounges decided to take up wrestling this season to help with conditioning for football. He ended up getting a lot more out of the sport. Dounges finished as runner-up at both the district and region wrestling tournaments in the 285-pound heavyweight class to become the only Plant City wrestler to qualify […]
Continue ReadingSHOW ME THE MAUNEY: Signing Day hoopla a slippery slope
We’re more than a week removed from National Signing Day, but some story lines are still at the forefront of sports media. Signing Day is just the beginning of a continuous high school football recruiting process where players, including several local players, will ink with colleges in the coming weeks, mostly with smaller schools. While […]
Continue ReadingParks department plans youth derby
The Plant City Recreation and Parks Department is planning to kick off its 17th year of fishing derbies in March (date to be announced) with its winter Youth Fishing Derby for ages 5-15. The free, biannual fishing derbies allow area youth to fish in the pond behind the Randy L. Larson Softball Four-Plex off Gordon […]
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