Top 5 Athletes
1. Ashley Blessin: On a statistical level, Blessin’s last high school game paints a perfect picture of her as an athlete: 18.2 innings pitched, 72 batters faced and 29 strikeouts — more than twice the opponents’ total between two pitchers. Arguably the best pitcher in the state, Blessin hit 1,000 career strikeouts this year (and 379 for the 2019 season, 139 of which came in her first 10 games) and finished the year with 20 wins and an 0.12 earned run average through 179.1 innings of work. The Raiders went 20-5 this season and got to the regional semifinals, where they fought Sickles well for 19 innings in a 2-1 loss. Blessin left PCHS with a strong case to be considered one of the greatest athletes in Raiders history.
2. Katherine Ruppert: The FHSAA added girls javelin as a showcase sport for the 2018-19 school year with plans to make it a full-fledged event this school year, and it didn’t take long for someone from the Plant City area to make a splash. Ruppert had never thrown before her senior season but got so good so soon as to make it to girls javelin’s first-ever state championship competition. She gave that javelin a 35.58-meter heave at states, which set a new personal record, netted her a silver medal and helped her land a spot on the University of Central Florida’s team. Not bad at all, especially for a literal rookie.
3. Chevelle Hallback: Five years out of the ring would be a death sentence for most fighters’ careers. That didn’t apply to Chevelle Hallback, however. The longtime boxing pro finally got an opponent, Silvia Szabados, on Sept. 21, almost exactly five years and one month since her last fight. Hallback won by unanimous decision in six rounds in her big comeback, then did it again in the Nov. 2 rematch to prove to whatever doubters there may have been that her return to the scene was no fluke. Hallback’s opponent for Feb. 29 has not been finalized yet, but she wants “three or four” more fights this year — ideally with one against Claressa Shields — before retirement. The “Fists of Steel” are finally back in action.
4. Mario Williams: Williams’ football stats weren’t as eye-popping as last season’s, but stats don’t always tell the whole story. The speedster’s junior season game tape showed improvement across the board and, especially as the focal point of the offense, proved he can keep a team in the game as long as he somehow gets the ball in his hands. Though football season wasn’t as successful as last year’s, Williams did become a state champion in baseball with gridiron teammate Chris Rodriguez and batted .280 with 21 runs scored, 10 stolen bases, three triples and plenty of difficult catches made in center field.
5. Hendon Haley: The youngest of Durant High School’s flagship wrestling family (there has been at least one brother on the team for 11 years and counting), Hendon Haley wanted to become the first in the family since his oldest brother, Chase Haley, to place at states. Wrestling at 132 pounds, he placed second at districts, won the regional tournament with a 10-0 major decision and kept winning through the state semifinals. His fourth-place finish not only checked a major goal off his list, but it was also two spots higher than his brother’s. After that goal was achieved, only one thing remained: to win the state championship as a senior.
Top 5 Teams
1. Plant City High School Baseball: For years, Plant City High School’s baseball team has been chock full of talent but couldn’t find a way to put it all together and get to the big show. That all changed in 2019 with the best season in the program’s history. The Raiders went 30-2 behind an elite offense that averaged almost six runs per game and an elite defense that only allowed 1.7 runs per game. They won their first-ever district and regional titles en route to states, where they exploded for an 8-0 win over McArthur before taking a 3-1 win over Crest in an all-time great baseball game that more than lived up to the hype coming from an all-area matchup.
2. Strawberry Crest Cheerleading: Most of the members of Crest’s competitive cheer team had no prior experience at the varsity level before the 2018-19 season. It didn’t matter. Crest still performed at the highest level when it mattered most, like when it posted a state-high (all divisions counted) score of 89.50 in the regional tournament. After a fall ruined the Chargers’ hopes of winning Western Conference, they went to states and won their fifth consecutive championship with an 88.30. Crest got back to UCA nationals and, in a complete turnaround from last year’s early exit, learned a brand-new routine in five days and placed fourth in the nation in its division. This team’s been elite for half of its school’s existence.
3. Strawberry Crest Baseball: If you looked at Crest’s 13-10 record at the end of the regular season, you might not have penciled them into the state championship round. But a deep bullpen, timely offense and valuable lessons learned from the previous season’s state Final Four run served Crest well this time around: the Chargers tore through their district tourney and the regional quarterfinal (outscoring opponents 21-1), then persevered through back-to-back-to-back one-run games to meet PCHS in the grand finale. Though the Chargers lost that game, they still deserve all the credit in the world for both how they got there and how well they played the Raiders.
4. Plant City Dolphins Midgets: The PCD Midgets have been one of the most consistently great teams in the TCYFCC for the last four years, and this may have been the best team yet. Plant City went undefeated in league play, cruised through the playoffs and broke a 0-0 tie at halftime of the Superbowl with 14 unanswered points to take home their fourth title in four years. They then won their division in the inaugural Strawberry Jam Turkey Bowl in Plant City, then followed that up by winning their division in the UYFL national championships in early December. Can they make it five in a row in 2020?
5. Strawberry Crest Girls Basketball: The 2017-18 season wasn’t kind to the Strawberry Crest Chargers, who finished the year with a losing record (11-12) and couldn’t make it out of the district semifinal. One season later, Crest finished with a 22-7 record and made it to the regional semifinals despite averaging just one more point scored per game and a five percent increase in field goal percentage (up to 39 percent as a team). What was the kicker? A recharged defense (steals per game skyrocketed from 9.7 to 16.1) helped Crest both stay in more games and come out ahead in them. With a winning record in the 2019-20 season, things still look good for the Chargers.