Sophomore Lucas Parrett shot an unbelievable four-under par 68 to claim the individual District Championship at Windermere Country Club and Men’s Golf shot a team score of 288 to win their first District Championship since 1999. Senior Ben Huizinga came into the clubhouse at one-under par 71, junior Jonathan Sundstrom carded a one-over par 73 and sophomore Jacob Huizinga pulled in with a four-over 76 to complete the scorecard. For good measure, freshman Zack Justice gave everyone a glimpse into the future with a five-over 77. DP’s 288 team score topped Olympia by two strokes and West Orange by 11. It also marks the program’s best District Championship performance since 1998 (284) when the team went on to a State Runner-Up finish. DP’s lowest team score was set on the second day of the 2004 State Tournament when they set the state record with a round of 277. The Panthers advance to the Regional Championship Monday morning in Tampa.
Women’s Golf has experienced a resurgence this year and they continue to impress on the links as they earned the District Runner-Up Monday morning at West Orange Country Club. DP’s team score of 339 was second behind Olympia and nine strokes ahead of third place West Orange. Sophomore Sophie Benetti fired six-over par 78 to lead the way while sophomore Mao Young (80) sophomore Cristine Lee (83) and sophomore Abby Goodin (98) rounded out the card. Their performance marks the Panthers’ highest finish in the District since a runner-up finish in 2006 and advances them to Monday’s Regional Championship at Windermere Country Club.
JV Volleyball defeated Masters Academy with a four-set victory, 25-12, 25-16, 21-25, 25-18 to improve to 11-7 on the season. Rebecca Colon and Danielle Villegas stood out offensively with 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Claire Maher picked up 22 assists while the stellar serving of Tiane Kong (14 points, six aces) lifted the Panthers to a come-from-behind victory in game two.
Friday night’s victory over Edgewater was good enough in the eyes of USA Today, who moved the Panthers (7-0) up three spots to # 22 in their national poll.
The Cross Country teams made great strides over the weekend as senior standouts Bridget Blake and Amber Johnson placed second and third, respectively, in a 154-deep field as Women’s Cross Country captured third place among 18 teams at the Hagerty Invitational. Johnson’s time of 18:58 toppled her season-best by a second while Blake equaled her lowest time of the year at 18:41. Three of DP’s next four runners set personal bests. Sierra Middleton crossed the finish in a PR 20:26, good for 14th place, followed by Annika Sison (46th in a PR 21:42), Abbey Baron (60th at 22:11) and Maddie Dolengowski (82nd in a PR 22:46).
Men’s Cross Country saw six of its seven runners not just eclipse personal records, but obliterate them. Adam Lawrence knocked 26 seconds off his personal best with a time of 17:06 to finish 14th in the field of 181 runners. Coulson Canty crushed his own personal record by 27 seconds, finishing 35th at 17:52 followed closely by Tommy DiMauro in 38th place, whose own PR was shattered by 33 seconds (17:56). Anthony Rojas pulled in at 18:28, good for 67th place, with DP’s next three runners dropping considerable time. Darren Warrington’s time of 18:46 was a staggering 64 seconds faster than his previous mark, Jan Hildebrandt dropped 19 seconds at 18:46 and Marcus Murphy shaved 48 seconds off his previous best time with a 20:05 finish. As a team, the Panthers placed eighth in the 22-team field.
