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VOLLEYBALL
+ Thornton, Miltner earn honors
Hillsborough County’s volleyball coaches got together for the annual Western Conference Volleyball end-of-year awards, and Plant City-area teams have made their mark in two of the three divisions.
In the Federal division, which includes Durant and Plant City, Lady Raiders Head Coach Jessica Thornton was named Coach of the Year for 2014. Two of her players, Kasi Maguire and Kellie Pernula, won first and second-team All-Star honors, respectively.
For Durant, Rachael Rice and Lindsey Robinson earned first-team honors, and Madison Adkins was named to the second team.
In the National division, Strawberry Crest’s Morgan Miltner was named Coach of the Year. Two Lady Chargers were named to All-Star teams, with Terra Brooks making the first team and Jailene Caraballo making the second team.
+ Durant falls in regionals
For the second year in a row, Durant’s playoff run has been stopped by Steinbrenner.
Playing in Tampa on Tuesday night, the Lady Cougars were swept, 25-15, 25-21, 25-23. Durant held leads in the final two sets, but the Lady Warriors’ attack was enough to swing the momentum each time.
CROSS COUNTRY
+ PCHS advances to regionals
The Plant City cross country team keeps on proving that it can go the distance.
At last Saturday’s district meet, both Raider teams recorded top-five finishes and advanced to Saturday’s regional meet at North Port High School.
The boys placed fourth overall, but sophomore Luke Whitmore won the whole thing — his time of 17:04, while not a new personal record, was a full eight seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Cody Facer, Plant City’s second-fastest finisher, placed 13th overall with a time of 18:20.
The girls placed third overall, thanks to sophomore Hannah Stowe and freshman Cassie Highsmith finishing seventh and eighth with times of 22:26 and 22:27, respectively. Madison Manley was the team’s third-fastest finisher, finishing 15th overall in 23:46.
In tomorrow’s action, the girls will begin running at 8:30 a.m., followed by the boys at 9:10 a.m.