Central Rules, But All-County Honors Spread Out

For the third time in as many seasons, a new county champion was crowned in girls track and field.

Central High won with relative ease, outdistancing the nearest competitor (Nature Coast) by 20.5 points at the county meet at Hernando High's Tom Fisher Memorial Stadium.

Yet two of the three state medalists in the county came from Nature Coast (Danielle Doucet) and Hernando (Gino Potito). Plus Springstead High took a relay team to states.

Likewise the county honor roll featured a wide spread of competitors from all four schools, making the Hernando Today All-County Team an evenly-divided collection of local talent.

Still, Central's first-year head coach, Christina Brandel, was an easy choice as Coach of the Year, while Doucet took home Player of the Year honors, awards voted on by the county's coaches.

"That is a very high compliment," Brandel said. "I wouldn't have expected that. It was a team effort. I didn't do it by myself.

"That (winning the county) was fun, that was exciting just to see what we could do in our first year together and we have a lot of talent. But we have more to accomplish and this is just the beginning."

Young guns get it done

Central had two freshmen qualify to compete in the Class 3A State Championship at Showalter Field in Winter Park: Mikayla Bogulski and Tikiera Relaford.

Relaford joined Doucet and Potito as a state medalist after her performance in the high jump. She finished fourth in that event at 5'4".

A 5'6" at regionals set the county standard, and she beat Potito in a tiebreaker at the county meet, ending Potito's three-year run as champion in that event.

Bogulski, a multi-sport athlete at West Hernando Middle School, had already established herself in local distance-running circles and her experience showed.

She reached states in the 800, where she came in 10th with a time of 2:20.90, just missing medalist honors (top eight). That time also marked the high for the county in that event.

Bogulski also earned a county championship in the 800 and 1,600, and had the county's top time in the 1,600 (5:38).

"They're very talented, young athletes," Brandel said. "They will excel in whatever they do. Whatever you asked them to do, they were able to excel.

"...Next year I would expect Mikayla to start off in the low 2:20s again. She's already set goals for what she wants to accomplish. She's willing to work and she wants to improve, same as Tikiera."

Another freshman, Melia Orrell, posted a 12:54 to pace the county in the 3,200. She won the county meet in 13:16.

But it wasn't all about the underclassmen for the Lady Bears. Two seniors earned All-County honors as well - Jasmine Hudson and Amy Mihok.

Hudson ran a 12:36 for the best time in the 100, while Mihok repeated as the county leader in the pole vault at 8'6". Both advanced to regionals, and Mihok won her third straight county title.

"She loves it," Brandel said of Mihok in the pole vault. "My pole vaulters, they love pole vaulting. They put time in hoping to learn new and better ways to do it. They put to use the advice given. To do what they do, you have to have a lot of faith in yourself and be willing to follow through.

"Jasmine, she's just outstanding all-around; character, work ethic, leadership. It's my first year, I kept hearing 'Oh, you've got Jasmine, you've got Jasmine.' I was waiting to see if this athlete was all that and she was. She works hard in practice everyday."

In addition, Central junior Kady McCandless, the county champion in the 100 and 300 hurdles, posted the best time in the latter at 54.00.

Hudson and Relaford joined Amanda Bradley and Angela Wooster on the county's best 4x100 relay. That quartet's regional time of 51.66 set the mark.

Doucet and then some

The sophomore Doucet reached states in the 400 and 200 for the second year in a row and medaled in the 400 for the second time, as well.

Predictably, she had the county's best times in those two events, a 57.88 in the 400 state final and a 25.72 in the 200.

But Nature Coast brought more to the table, including Shareka Maner (tops in the triple jump, 33'3") and Taylor Agricola (best in the 100 hurdles, 17.10).

Gina Potito, a Hernando senior and the reigning Player of the Year, earned her third state medal in four state appearances in the high jump, leaping 5'0" for seventh.

However, it was the long jump in which she paced the county at 16'2". She became a four-time county champion in that event, the seventh county crown in her career.

"Very coachable," Hernando coach Shawn Bigham said. "Whenever she makes mistakes, you let her know and she capitalizes on it. She's the kind of athlete that listens, corrects her mistakes and she has a lot of fun doing what she does, too. That helps, too.

"She was ecstatic (to medal at states). She wanted to compete a little better at states, but finishing seventh overall is a huge accomplishment."

Two throwers from Hernando, senior Ava Baylor and sophomore Jasmine Sharpe, also earned All-County nods. Baylor threw the shot put 36'5" and Sharpe tossed the discus 100'7". Both went to regionals in those events.

"One of the things we emphasized this year is lifting. It showed a lot of improvement in my throwers," Bigham said. "Jasmine, for her to go to regionals was a huge accomplishment. Ava, this was her first year doing sports at Hernando. She did very well."

Springstead did not repeat as county champion this year and had no individual All-County honorees. But part of that was by design, as the Lady Eagles concentrated heavily on relays.

That work paid dividends, as the 4x400 relay of sophomores Jackie White and Cassandra Crisci and juniors Caroline Monzo and Taylor Tuomey advanced to states after two years of near misses.

Their regional time of 4:09.14 set a school record and put Springstead on top of the county in this relay for the third straight year.

Also, freshman Sasha Spalding, Tuomey, Monzo and White formed the best 4x800 relay with a time of 10:05.48. This is the second year the Lady Eagles have earned All-County bids in that race, as well.

"They've gotten better and better every year," said Springstead Head Coach Joel Myers of a group that includes no seniors. "It's our strength because we can put four of them together.

"What they've accomplished is fantastic. They ran a new school record just about every time we ran. It's due to the hard work of the girls, doing cross country, lifting weights and they just keep getting better for next year."

2008 Hernando Today All-County Girls Track and Field Team
Name                                      Yr            School                    Event
Taylor Agricola                    Jr             Nature Coast         100 hurdles
Ava Baylor                            Sr            Hernando              Shot put
Mikayla Bogulski                 Fr            Central                   800, 1,600
Amanda Bradley                  Fr            Central                   4x100
Cassandra Crisci                  So           Springstead           4x400
Danielle Doucet*                 So           Nature Coast         200, 400
Jasmine Hudson*                                Sr            Central                   100, 4x100
Shareka Maner                     Jr             Nature Coast         Triple jump
Kady McCandless               Jr             Central                   300 hurdles
Amy Mihok*                        Sr            Central                   Pole vault
Caroline Monzo#                 Jr             Springstead           4x800, 4x400
Melia Orrell                           Fr            Central                   3,200
Gina Potito^                          Sr            Hernando              Long jump
Tikiera Relaford                    Fr            Central                   High jump, 4x100
Jasmine Sharpe                     So           Hernando              Discus
Sasha Spalding                     Fr            Springstead           4x800     
Taylor Tuomey#                  Jr             Springstead           4x800, 4x400
Jackie White*                       So           Springstead           4x800, 4x400
Angela Wooster                  Jr             Central                   4x100

Player of the Year: Danielle Doucet, Nature Coast
Coach of the Year: Christina Brandel, Central
* Denotes repeat selection
# Denotes three-time selection
^ Denotes four-time selection