Hallback triumphs in comeback fight
Plant City’s own Chevelle Hallback may have been out of action for five years, but she hasn’t forgotten how to win in the boxing ring.
Hallback’s Sept. 21 fight against Szilvia Szabados ended with Hallback winning by unanimous decision in six rounds at the St. Petersburg Marriott Clearwater. Taking down a ranked opponent gave Hallback more than just a confidence boost in the ring: with the win, she’s now ranked first in the USA and sixth in the world among qualified super welterweights on BoxRec.com. The goal, Hallback told the Plant City Observer in August, is to move up to middleweight and fight Claressa Shields.
Area parks hosting events
Global Sports Alliance Florida will hold its Gulf Coast League play tournament in Plant City this weekend. The tourney runs from Saturday through Sunday with games starting between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on both days. Games will be played on multiple fields at the Randy L. Larson Softball Four-Plex and Mike Sansone Park.
Next weekend, GSA will host its Backyard Brawl VI tournament on multiple fields at the Randy L. Larson Softball Four-Plex, Mike Sansone Park, Ellis-Methvin Park, Snowden Park and the MLK fields. Games start at 6 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 4 and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 5 and 6.
Crest hosts XC quad meet
Durant, Brandon and Spoto visited Strawberry Crest on Sept. 19 for a cross country quad meet.
On the boys side, the Durant and Crest teams finished in first and second place, respectively. The Cougars recorded a total team time of 1:36:16 and the Chargers finished together in 1:14:16.
Three of that race’s first five finishers represented Durant, including winner Haydon Patrick (18:08), second-place Jacob Malinchak (18:34) and fourth-place Raven Skousen (19:06). Riley Walker (seventh place, 20:03) and Aiden Maroney (ninth place, 20:25) also finished in the top 10 for Durant. Colin Rockway led all Chargers with a third-place time of 18:43, and Crest’s other top-10 finishers included Gabriel Rosales (sixth place, 19:47) and Tyron Mathews (10th place, 20:33).
On the girls side, Crest placed second overall with a team time of 1:03:34 and Durant placed third with a time of 2:27:44.
The race was won by Brandon’s Marielas Claudio, but Crest’s Paige Reagan finished second with a time of 22:17. Kristina Chavez (seventh place, 24:45), Elizabeth West (ninth place, 25:23) and Angeles Irigoyen (10th place, 25:25) were also among the top 10 finishers. Durant only had one top 10 finisher, Jayda Reece (eighth place, 25:06), but Jordan McClellan was not far behind her with a 12th-place time of 26:40.
