PCHS athletes shine at track and field districts
Several Plant City High School Raiders stood out from the field (and the track) over the weekend in the 2021 Class 4A-District 7 championships, in which the PCHS boys placed second and the girls placed fifth out of nine teams. A total of 23 Raiders are moving on to the 4A Region 2 championships this Saturday at George Jenkins High School, 6000 Lakeland Highlands Road, Lakeland.
Individual event winners include Jackson Knotts (boys javelin), who won with a mark of 47.39m and still holds the state record for longest throw (57.23m on March 6), and Ian Jolly, who set a new PR with his 6.83m long jump. The boys 4x400m relay team also set a new school record with a first-place time of 3:26.98.
A pair of other school records were broken by runner-ups who will also advance to regionals. Mattilynn Hill’s 10.25m triple jump and Jae Sawyer’s 400m time of 50.69 rewrote the PCHS record books.
Admission for the Region 2 meet is $7 per person.
The Class 4A state championships will be held May 8 at Hodges Stadium at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. A complete schedule of events is viewable online at fhsaa.com/sports/2021/4/1/TRACK_Event%20Schedule.aspx, though all of the action starts at 4 p.m. and ends shortly after 9:20 p.m., with team awards to be handed out at 9:50 p.m. Admission is $12 in advance or $15 at the gate. Both fees cover the cost of parking and all attendees are asked to use Parking Lot 18.
Thompson makes SCHS tennis history
For the first time in Strawberry Crest High School’s history, the Chargers sent an athlete to the FHSAA boys tennis state championship tournament.
Jaden Thompson, who was one of four Chargers to win a singles championship at districts, made the cut for this week’s state championship series and will represent Crest in the highest level of play.
Also joining Thompson from the Plant City area are four athletes from Plant City High School. The doubles team of Ryan Smith and Tanner Rollyson qualified for the boys tournament and the duo of Jalayah Shaw and Vlada Pike made it into the girls tournament. Shaw also qualified for the individual tournament.
The Class 4A state championship tournament ends tomorrow.
