Headlined by a pair of first place finishes by senior Bridget Blake, Women’s Track and Field brought home a second place team finish at the 56-team deep Steinbrenner Invitational in Tampa. Blake easily won the 1600m in 4:59.40 and came back with a 10:49.60 finish to take the gold medal in the 3200m as well. Blake also factored heavily in DP’s silver medal finish in the 4 x 800m relay with Jah-Nay Anderson, Brianna Ballatt and Amber Johnson (9:59.64). Amber Johnson also had a solid showing in the 1600m, placing fourth in 5:14.53. Junior Ionna McKenzie placed fourth in the triple jump (36′ 2) and the Panthers had two relay teams finish in the top ten. The 4 x 100m team of Jovani Culver, Marly Joseph, Kim Nesmith and Haille Walker was seventh in 49.99 while the 4 x 400m team of Jah-Nay Anderson, Jovani Culver, Marly Joseph and Kira Myers came in ninth with a time of 4:13.34. DP will now focus on this week’s Metro Conference Championship at Showalter Field Wednesday and Thursday.
Senior Reggie Glover is poised to etch his name into another school record. At the 54-team Steinbrenner Invitational, Men’s Track and Field placed seventh with Glover taking home the gold medal in the 400m (48.14) and a silver medal in the 200m with a time of 21.28, a mere one hundredth of a second shy of tying former US Olympic Trial sprinter Chris Hargrett (2002). Glover also helped the 4 x 400m relay team to a silver medal (3:24.64) with Alvin Bryant, Deionte Gaines and Jamari Smith. Senior Deonte Williams was seventh in the high jump with a season-best 6′ 2 and the 4 x 100m relay of Marvin Brown, Tony Davis, Deionte Gaines and Reggie Glover placed eighth in 43.13.
Junior Adam Polansky pitched four scoreless innings and senior Ronnie Mitchell blasted a two-run home run to lead Baseball to an 8-0 victory over Tallahassee Maclay. DP (10-2), winners of seven straight, jumped on the Marauders for three runs in the first inning. Nic Strasser led off with a single to left and went to third on a perfectly executed hit and run base hit to right by Mike Flaherty. Flaherty stole second, drawing the throw, allowing Strasser to score easily from third for the game’s first run. Catcher Dan Autiello’s sacrifice fly brought home Flaherty to make it 2-0 and Jakob Probst, who reached base after getting hit by a pitch, scored on Ronnie Mitchell’s shot off the second baseman’s glove. Up 3-0, the Panthers went back to work in the third. Ronnie Mitchell drew a two-out walk and went to second on Robbie Barrett’s base hit through the hole to left field. Zach Holbrook walked to load the bases and Matt Sullivan did the same to bring home Mitchell for a 4-0 lead. In the fourth, Ryan Larson laced a one-out single to right field and scored on an error by the Maclay shortstop, whose potential double play throw to first sailed into the dugout. With two outs and Probst on first, Ronnie Mitchell jacked a two-run home run deep over the left field fence to make it 7-0. DP would tack on another run in the fifth when Matt Sullivan punched a single to left field and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Larson. Polansky was nearly perfect on the hill through four innings and was relieved in the fifth by Griff Anderson, who gave way to Kyle Marman in the sixth. DP has now outscored their last five opponents 54-7, the program’s highest offensive output in a five-game stretch since 1995.
DP Men’s Basketball player RaShawn Powell on being named first team All-Central Florida and first team All-Orange County by the Orlando Sentinel as well as Metro Conference Player of the Year. Women’s Basketball also had plenty of honors announced recently with Sydnei McCaskill earning Metro Conference, Orange County and Central Florida Player of the Year. Hannah Schaible was named to the first team for All-Central Florida, All-Orange County and All-Metro Conference. Jade Cheek made third team All-Orange County, Matea Britvar was fourth team while Ionna McKenzie and Stephanie Ratliff were given Honorable Mention as well.
On Saturday, Brett Forward scored for goals and assisted on four more as Men’s Lacrosse overcame an early three-goal deficit for a thrilling 12-11 victory over visiting Olympia. Down 4-1 in the second quarter, DP (7-2) reeled off four consecutive goals and headed into the halftime break tied, 5-5. In the third quarter, the pace picked up with each team trading scores but it was Forward who kept DP in the game with a pair of goals as well as assists to Jake Gillen and Doug Essig. With the score knotted at 9-9 after three quarters, Olympia struck first in the fourth but Gillen found the back of the net for the tying goal and 35 seconds later, Forward put the Panthers on top with his third goal of the game for an 11-10 lead. Doug Essig doubled the DP lead with his third goal to make it 12-10 and the Panthers held off a late surge to secure DP’s first undefeated District record in school history, securing the top seed in the upcoming District Tournament. Kevin Hoppeywas tremendous on defense with nine ground balls as was Edwin Wiley with eight. Nick Forward added a goal and an assist, Ian Decker finished with two goals and an assist as well. That Panthers will jump back into Metro play Monday against Wekiva and again Tuesday at West Orange. JV Lacrosse had a tough game against Olympia with a shorthanded defense, falling to the Titans, 9-3. Dillon Scammon, Rob Leeds and Richard Dalton scored the DP goals with Christian Huber picking up eight saves in goal.
For the first time in the school’s 26-year history, Softball locked up the top seed in the upcoming District Tournament after a 4-1 victory over Cypress Creek. DP, winners of five straight, got some help from the Creek defense in the fourth inning. Donna Ryan singled to right field, Caitlyn Jones reached on a two-base error and Kalie Hernandez loaded the bases, reaching first on a dropped third strike. Sarah Lang stepped in and drove in both Ryan and Jones and DP (8-6) was in business, 2-0. Cypress Creek halved the lead in the top of the fifth but DP responded twofold in the bottom of the inning. Marisa Lagos opened up with a leadoff double down the third base line and Allison Schwarz reached base on an error, bringing in Lagos. Donna Ryan, who finished 3 for 3, drove in Schwarz with an RBI base hit for the 4-1 final. Ryan pitched five innings, scattered two hits and struck out four to earn her third victory of the season.
