Bracy is the defending state champion in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 4×100-meter relay. He posted the fastest 100-meter time in the country as a sophomore with a wind-aided mark of 10.19 seconds.

Over the weekend, Bracy recorded a time of 10.26 in the 100-meter dash at the Florida Relays in Gainesville. Jones High School sophomore Levonte Whitfield (10.53) finished second.

A number of other local student-athletes also turned in impressive marks at the annual meet.

Chris Curtis of Dr. Phillips took fourth in the triple jump (44-feet, 5 inches) while Colonial’s Derek Knott came in sixth (44-feet).

The 4×1600-meter relay team from Dr. Phillips placed second (18:05.96) and the 4×100-meter relay team at Jones placed third (41.72).

Wekiva senior Jovan Davis took second in the 110-meter hurdles (14.37) and third in the long jump (22-09.75), while Wekiva’s 4×200-meter relay team took third at 1:28.07 to finish just ahead of Jones.

Bracy will be challenged in the Dream 100 by Remontay McClain of Covina, Calif., who was the winner of the adidas Meet of Champions. The defending California state champion in the 100 meter and 200 meter has recorded a top-time of 10.35 seconds in the 100.

In its seventh year, the adidas Grand Prix will take place at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island. Visit www.adidasgrandprix.com for more information.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

Whatever the extent of that animosity was, some back-and-forth between players over which team’s uniform sponsor held the most clout clearly bothered members of the Wolfpack.

The feud led to an intensely physical football game in front of an announced crowd of 48,962. And N.C. State got the last word with a 23-7 statement win over the Mountaineers (9-4).

Jarvis Williams (5) and James Washington (24) returned to Orlando on Tuesday in the Champs Sports Bowl. (Photo by Scott McCall)

“We came out with a chip on our shoulder,” said former Boone High School running back James Washington. “They challenged us at the luncheon and we just wanted to come out and show that a team that wears Adidas can beat a team that wears Nike.”

Whatever source of inspiration is necessary, I suppose.

“The Nike team was talking a lot of mess,” former Jones High School standout Jarvis Williams confirmed. “They were underestimating us. We could tell that they thought they had this game in hand all week long.”

Williams finished his final game at N.C. State with a game-high six catches for 77 yards and a touchdown with 3:55 to play. Washington, a sophomore, ended the night with a game-high 62 yards on 18 carries and caught two passes for four yards.

“We knew that we were going to come in the underdogs, but sometimes it takes you being the underdog to win the game,” Washington said.

The homecoming for the college teammates capped off a 9-4 season for the Wolfpack. It also brought back a flood of memories for the Orlando natives.

“Jarvis has really grown – off the field and on the field,” N.C. State Coach Tom O’Brien said. “He’s matured a lot. He was elected as one of the captains by the team this year and was excited about the opportunity to come back here and play in the shadow of his former high school.”

Williams, who played his home football games for the Tigers at the Citrus Bowl, was thrilled about having one more chance to play in front of his hometown fans.

Jarvis Williams (Photo by Scott McCall)

“We got some new grass here, I see,” said Williams with a smile as he looked down at the newly planted artificial turf.

But it wasn’t really all about where his last collegiate football game was being played, rather how it would end once the clock ran out.

“I wanted to make sure I left (N.C. State) with a big statement and helped our team have a positive note to end the season,” Williams said.

For Washington, he was able to leave the Citrus Bowl field on a much brighter note than he did as a senior for the Braves in 2007.

“Last time I was in this stadium we lost in the state championship, but we’re just happy that we won this game today,” Washington said.

Turns out, though, that it was the hard work he put in while in high school that led him right back to Orlando after all.

“He’s another guy that was very excited to get back here,” O’Brien said of Washington. “One of the things we liked about him in high school was that he carried the ball about 40 times a game and never tired. He was about as strong in the fourth quarter as he was in the first quarter.”

Washington, who O’Brien said was not fully functional until sometime in November, pulled his hamstring in training camp and missed out on a chance to play in Orlando against UCF in the second game of the season.

Yet when a second chance presented itself, he took the ball and ran with it the best he had all year long.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com or follow @OrlandoSportsJC and Carnahan Chronicles) –

A slow start for Boone (23-10) in its Class 6A title-game loss to Tampa Plant (24-6) only got worse as the match went along. The Braves fell 25-13, 25-13, 25-16 to a Plant team that won three-straight Class 5A titles from 2006-08 and came in as the defended 6A champs this time around.

Boone had not won a region playoff game in program history until this season.

“We had a slow start and could not get out of it and get back together,” senior Kristin Faust said. “We tried not to let it get in our heads but I think in a way it did because that’s all we were focused on.”

Boone had trouble finishing plays for points and was unable to answer serves consistently from Tampa Plant.

“They served us to the point where we were not able to serve-receive well,” Boone Coach Mike Ladewski said. “They served tough and made sure we weren’t able to run our offense.”

Plant also set the tone from the start.

“Keys to our success in the past have been having big wins in the first game,” explained Ladewski. “Getting that first win changes everything.”

After easily taking care of Miami Dr. Krop (25-3) in the semifinals 25-14, 25-15, 24-26, 25-19, the final game of the season was a major letdown as the Braves led only briefly in the second game.

“We started overthinking everything and we weren’t having fun and doing what we knew we had to do,” senior Rachel Mason said. “We kind of stopped playing as a team.”

Faust finished with just seven digs and four kills while senior Jesse Collins had 11 digs and sophomore Caroline Jordan added five kills.

“We were playing scared and were impatient when the ball wasn’t going down,” said senior Taylor Menk. “It was really hard to get back into it. We just all fell apart.”

Against Dr. Krop, Faust led the team with 15 kills and 15 digs. Menk had 36 assists, five kills and five service aces while Collins finished with 23 digs.

Arguably the best volleyball game at the state tournament last week at The Lakeland Center took place in a Class 3A semifinal between Bishop Moore (26-5) and Tampa Berkeley Prep (29-2).

Bishop Moore was vying for its first state volleyball title since going back-to-back in 1999-00. They’ll have to wait another year after losing to the eventual back-to-back state champions in five sets 26-24, 19-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-9.

The match was packed full with long volleys and fantastic finishes for points. A total of eight players between the two teams recorded double-digit figures in digs, proving just how tough those points were to come by.

The loss for Bishop Moore brought to an end the prep careers of Madison Monserez, Denise Dearman and Carolina Rivas. Bishop Moore also lost to Berkeley Prep in four sets on Sept. 29.

“Our passing broke down a little bit in the fourth game but they did everything I asked of them and they never stopped fighting,” Bishop Moore Coach Tanya Jarvis said.

Bishop Moore appeared to grab momentum at the end of the opening game when Dearman pounded home a kill for the win. But they were unable to keep hold of the momentum.

“In the second game we started off way too slow and by the time we fought back it was a little too late,” said Jarvis, who played for the Hornets the last time they won a state title.

The Hornets controlled the pace in the third game, just as Berkeley did in the fourth game to set up the finale.

Dearman finished with 18 kills while Rivas had 57 assists and Monserez turned in a 21 dig, 14 kill effort. Lindsey Owens had 24 digs and 24 kills in the loss.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com or follow @OrlandoSportsJC and Carnahan Chronicles) –

On Wednesday the Florida High School Athletic Association gets the games underway at the Lakeland Center with semifinal matches in the lower classifications. Winners from each game will advance to the state finals on Thursday.

– At 2 p.m. South Daytona’s Warner Christian Academy takes on St. Petersburg Canterbury School of Florida in Class 1A. Warner Christian, who won the title a year ago, advanced with wins over Orlando Christian Prep (3-0), Foundation Academy (3-1) and Bradenton Christian (3-0).

– At 6 p.m. Bishop Moore faces off with defending state champion Tampa Berkeley Prep in Class 3A. Bishop Moore made the final four following wins over Melbourne Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy (3-0), Lake Highland Prep (3-0) and Ocala Trinity Catholic (3-0).

– At 8 p.m. The First Academy meets up with Tampa Preparatory in Class 2A, where TFA is the defending state champion. They earned tournament wins over Father Lopez (3-0), Orangewood Christian (3-0) and P.K. Young Developmental (3-1).

– On Friday at 8 p.m., Boone High School plays in its first state volleyball semifinal game against Miami Dr. Krop. The Braves had never won a region playoff game until this season. They made their way through the Class 6A bracket by way of wins over Oviedo (3-1), Lake Mary (3-2) and DeLand (3-1). The state final in 6A is scheduled for Saturday.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com or follow @OrlandoSportsJC and Carnahan Chronicles) –

Following the first region tournament win in program history last week against Oviedo, the Braves benefited from the energy of its home crowd as they won a nail-biter on Tuesday against Lake Mary in five sets.

Down 10-3 in the fifth and final game of the region semifinal, the Braves fought back to keep their season alive with a 16-14 decision.

“That’s a score you just don’t come back from,” said Boone Coach Mike Ladewski. “It was all about us keeping our composure and poise.”

That’s been nothing new for this team throughout the season, though.

“With the desire this team has to win, it doesn’t surprise me that they would come back,” he said. “But yet it’s still a surprise that they were able to do it.”

Boone won the first game 27-25 then dropped the following two 25-19 and 25-18. They then coasted in the fourth game 25-15 to set up the exciting finish. With the win the Braves improved to 20-9 on the season and have now won eight in a row. They lost to Lake Mary in three games in September and Oviedo in three games in October.

This time around, though, the Braves defeated Oviedo by pulling out another come-from-behind effort of sorts. Trailing 24-19 in the fourth game of the match, they fought back to force extra serves before eventually ending the match with a 30-28 score. Boone dropped the second game in the match 25-23 and won the first and third games by 25-19 decisions.

On Saturday they expect another tough opponent to enter their gymnasium, where another enthusiastic crowd is likely to be on hand to cheer on the home team.

Boone hosts DeLand in the region finals at 2 p.m. Also still in contention in Class 6A is Olympia, who opened the tournament with a win in three sets over Gateway then won 24-26, 25-17, 27-29, 25-7, 15-11 on the road at Vero Beach.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com or follow @OrlandoSportsJC and Carnahan Chronicles) –

The final chapter in a four-year varsity volleyball career began this week for Boone High School senior Kristin Faust, who verbally committed to Clemson before the start of the season.

Kristin Faust (Photo courtesy of Boone Volleyball)

Faust joined the Braves as a freshman with already plenty of talent. And coaches say she’s since blossomed into a leader her team can turn to when the game is on the line.

“In her sophomore year she went from being just another weapon to being the weapon for us on the team,” said Boone Coach Mike Ladewski.

It was the same way with her travel team as well, as Faust was named most valuable player while leading Top Select Volleyball Academy to a national tournament win in 2008.

“At crunch time, you can count on her for a point,” said Foundation Academy Coach German Del Valle, who coached Faust over the past few years at Top Select. “She has been the spirit and heart of our teams.”

That can also be said of her contributions at Boone. Despite her role as an outside hitter who primarily plays the back row in rotations, she led the Braves in digs a season ago while showing off a knack for being able to put the ball away.

“Her defensive skills are the most impressive,” said Ladewski. “She understands where the ball is going to go.”

That’s why college programs were recruiting Faust as a defensive-oriented libero instead of offering her the chance to play at her desired position. Coaches say Clemson will be getting a versatile athlete who can contribute anywhere on the floor and possesses the kind of IQ that should serve an NCAA Tournament team well.

“She has become a smart hitter, not just a powerful one,” said Del Valle.

And there’s still one more high school volleyball season left to continue to get even better.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

The Florida Gators, seeded No. 3 in the tournament, advanced to the field of eight for the sixth time in program history and first time since 2005. They defeated the Miami Hurricanes 4-3 in 10 Innings on Saturday night in front of a large crowd of 5,783 at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville.

The Hurricanes committed seven errors in the game, including one in the top of the 10th by right fielder Chris Pelaez, who misplayed a fly ball hit by freshman shortstop Nolan Fontana, out of West Orange High School. Fontana would end up scoring the game-winning run on a RBI double by Austin Maddox.

Lake Brantley High School alum Greg Larson entered the game in the bottom of the 10th with one on base and one out. The sophomore proceeded to catch freshman Michael Broad looking on strikes and then force sophomore Rony Rodriguez to ground out to Fontana at shortstop, who fired a bullet across the diamond to Preston Tucker at first base for the final out. Larson collected his third save and was greeted by teammates as the celebration began.

The Hurricanes made nine errors in their two games of Super Regional play, which as a result denied local kids such as freshman Steve Ewing out of University High School and Ethan Bornstein from Winter Park High School a chance to make it to Omaha. The Gators opened Super Regionals with a 7-2 win on Friday night.

Fontana and Larson join sophomore Ben McMahan and senior Clint Franklin as players from the Central Florida area with spots on the Florida roster. McMahon played his high school ball at Bishop Moore while Franklin played at Timber Creek.

Joining the Gators at the World Series are the Florida State Seminoles, who are making the trip for the 20th time in program history and 14th time under head coach Mike Martin. The Seminoles defeated Vanderbilt 7-6 in the decisive Game 3 of the team’s Super Regional matchup at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee.

FSU, like the Gators, have four players from the Orlando area on its roster including senior outfielder Ohmed Danesh out of Dr. Phillips High School. Junior infielder Stuart Tapley and freshman Corben Madden both played baseball at Boone High School. Junior pitcher John Gast hails from Lake Brantley, where he was a teammate with Florida’s Larson from 2005-07.

For Gast, Tapley, and Danesh, this marks their second trip to Omaha in three years as FSU advanced in 2008, going 0-2 after losing to Stanford and Miami. The Seminoles open play this time around against TCU while Florida takes on No. 6 UCLA. The two state rivals could meet up early on as both are in the same bracket.

– More Local Players In College World Series –

Senior second baseman Mike Freeman out of Edgewater High School and sophomore shortstop Brad Miller from Olympia High School helped Clemson advance to the World Series. The Tigers take on No. 1 Arizona State to start the week’s final round of elimination play. Junior utility player Robert Beary out of Apopka started in 22 games for South Carolina, playing in 41 games on the year. The Gamecocks get underway against Oklahoma.

In the second day of the MLB First-Year Player Draft, local baseball players began to be selected by big league clubs. Below is a look at who they were, where they were picked, and what team made the call.

– 2010 MLB Draft Top-10 Local Picks –

– LHP Justin Nicolino (University) selected No. 80 overall by Toronto in 2nd round. WESH Video

– RHP A.J. Cole (Oviedo) selected No. 116 overall by Washington in 4th round.

– CF Mason Williams (West Orange) selected No. 145 overall by NY Yankees in 4th round.

– LHP Alex Burgos (Osceola/State College of Florida) selected No. 163 overall by Detroit in 5th round.

– LHP John Gast (Lake Brantley/Florida State) selected No. 199 overall by St. Louis in 6th round.

– RF Jose Dore (The First Academy) selected No. 244 overall by San Diego in 8th round.

– SS Mike Freeman (Edgewater/Clemson) selected No. 331 overall by Arizona in 11th round.

– RHP Cody Allen (Boone/UCF/St. Petersburg JC) selected No. 480 overall by Cleveland in 16th round.

– RHP Owen Dew (UCF) selected No. 630 overall by Cleveland in 21st round.

– C Shane Brown (Winter Park/UCF) selected No. 715 overall by NY Yankees in 23rd round.

– More Local MLB Draft Picks –

LF Chris Duffy (Cypress Creek/UCF) at No. 801 overall to Philadelphia (26th round); CF Jay Gonzalez (Freedom) No. 833 overall to Boston (27th round); RHP Tim Griffin (Rollins College) No. 852 overall to Seattle (28th round); LHP Ronald Schreurs (Freedom) No. 1,296 overall to Toronto (43rd round); LHP Jimmy Hodgskin (Bishop Moore) No. 1,311 overall to Philadelphia (43rd round); OF Tyler Marincov (Timber Creek) No. 1,453 overall to Detroit (48th round).

– Draft Notes –

– The UCF Knights have had nine different players selected in the MLB Draft over the last three years, including Brown, who has now been drafted twice by the Yankees. Last season he was picked in the 47th round. In all, UCF has had its baseball players drafted by MLB organizations 73 times since 1979. Dew was taken in the 33rd round in 2009 by the Los Angeles Angels. Duffy, who was selected in the 9th round out of high school, completed his four-year career as a finalist for the 2010 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award as one of the top amateur players in the nation.

– The Florida Collegiate Summer League had the highest number of current or former baseball players drafted over the three-day MLB selection process as 25 FCSL players were taken, including five in the first eight rounds. A complete list of draftees is available at Florida League.

Boone's Lucas Rawlings (Photo by Justin Kane)

Just 16 seconds remained when Rawlings withstood a ferocious rush from the West Seniors at the line of scrimmage and connected on the 32-yard game-winning field goal.

“It was very tense,” said Rawlings of lining up for the attempt. “I was just focused on getting my leg through it and getting the ball through the upright. That’s all I had on my mind.”

The tense part came when Rawlings was given a little extra time to think things over as he was held up by a timeout from the West sideline. Once the ball was snapped a fierce collision took place up front before the kick hit its mark with plenty room to spare, prompting the celebration to get underway.

“It was indescribable,” Rawlings said with a grin while reliving the moment. “I knew right there that it was the game winner.”

The field goal capped off a 13-play drive that began midway through the fourth quarter and drained the remaining five-plus minutes to virtually nothing. Oak Ridge quarterback Baylin Trujillo converted on fourth-and-two during the drive on a keeper up the middle while several others played key roles.

The East got big gains on the ground from Colonial’s Jermaine Broomfield and University’s Curtis Riley, along with a 23-yard pickup on a throw from Pine Castle’s Michael Slack to Orlando Lutheran tight end Faysal Shafaat down the stretch.

Boone's Lucas Rawlings (Photo by Justin Kane)

Slack finished 6-of-9 passing for 126 yards as he delivering precise passes that landed right on target while Broomfield tallied 52 yards on eight carries. Shafaat caught four balls for 66 yards, one of which he kept a hold of even after taking a jarring hit over the middle from an opposing player.

“He told me ‘Great throw. If you would of threw it any higher I would have gotten laid out even worse’,” said Slack of the good-natured encounter they shared in the huddle following the play.

It was Slack’s touchdown toss of 39 yards to Boone’s speedy Denard Lucas, while in stride with 3:27 remaining in the third quarter, that tied the game at 14-14 and breathed new life into an East squad that had little trouble moving the ball. If only they could have turned those yards into points by reaching the end zone earlier.

Lucas was eager to get the call though after already having told a teammate he was bound to score a touchdown. He did so two plays after hauling in a 42-yarder from Trujillo.

“The (defensive backs) were playing man (coverage) and they were trying to bump me, but it wasn’t happening,” said Lucas, who finished with three receptions for 94 yards in the win.

Boone's Lucas Rawlings (Photo by Justin Kane)

Those two scores in the second half by the East were set up by a stingy defensive effort, most notably from defensive lineman Jordan Little from Cypress Creek who was in on two sacks on third downs which resulted in punts the other way.

They came on drives where the West routinely found themselves working for room to run from deep in their own territory as they tried to hang on to a 14-7 lead after returning to the field from the halftime break.

Among the East defenders making it tough on the West were Joseph Jones and Andres Jurado of Cypress Creek, Ryan Moore and Sean Brown from Colonial, Conrad Walko and Josh Kerlin of Pine Castle, along with Timber Creek’s Jacob Wainwright and Winter Park’s Corey Gonslaves.

Those efforts proved to be beneficial after having watched Ocoee’s Chris DeVaughn jump on a Trujillo pass in the flats for an interception which he raced 72 yards along the sideline to paydirt less than three minutes into the night.

But the equalizer was set up when a fumble that Boone’s Tabarie Sullivan landed on in a pile of players was recovered following a muffed punt near midfield. Eleven plays later, which included a fourth-down conversation, the game was tied at 7-7 just a minute into the second period as Riley faked to a running back, swung around wide to the right, and sprinted his way into the end zone past defenders.

“When I took off towards the sideline I seen some people in front of me and I knew I had to put a move on them,” said Riley. He would finish with 53 yards on 10 carries and 29 yards passing on 2-of-4 attempts.

The West Seniors promptly replied with their best drive of the game two series later. They took the lead with a minute left in the first half when Robbie Matay hooked up with Dr. Phillips teammate Greg Slones in the corner of the end zone from four yards out. Only the momentum wouldn’t carry over into the final two quarters.

In the loss, Dr. Phillips running back Matt Williams had five strong runs for 39 yards and Apopka’s Joe Dennis made big tackles on defense for the West. Other defensive standouts included Matt Hunt and Matt Lambert of Bishop Moore, Delroy Steele (Jones), Jarret Leppert (Apopka), Michael Lewis (Ocoee), Cornelious Sigler (West Orange) and Donnie Bartolomucci (Olympia).

The game started with a bang for Boone when senior defensive end Kyle Adams recovered a fumble from Edgewater senior quarterback Kent Gainous, who lost the ball deep in the Eagles’ territory. After scoring an early touchdown Boone senior quarterback Sam Hutsell connected with senior Denard Lucas for a big 20-yard reception to get the Braves inside the 10-yard line. Hutsell then sent a lob pass to Adams for the second score on the night.

Freshman running back A.J. Turman would later break away for a 65-yard run to the Edgewater 10-yard line before taking a pitch to the left on fourth down and getting free before reaching the end zone. Gainous responded for Edgewater late in the second quarter by breaking tackles and running in for a score from 13-yards away to cut Boone’s deficit to 21-7 at the half.

Gainous later connected with senior Latavious Smith with 55 seconds to go in the third quarter for a 22-yard touchdown, but that would be it for the Eagles.

The Braves got interceptions and pass break-ups from seniors Tabarie Sullivan and Garrett Lattin while seniors Ryan Orlando, Travis Armstead, and Sage Shearhouse each had sacks in the win. R.J. Altman had an interception and Smith had a sack for Edgewater.

On Friday, Boone travels to Apopka to face the Blue Darters in the first round of the playoffs and the Eagles play host to Haines City.