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• Ashley Smith, a senior utility player/pitcher at Land O’ Lakes High School, has committed to play softball at St. Petersburg College, a Division I junior college program. Smith was one of the Gators’ top hitters last season, leading the team in home runs (four), doubles (seven), triples (five) and RBIs (30), to go along with a .390 batting average. As a pitcher, Smith won four games, posting a 4.67 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 18 innings.
• Foday Kamara, a Pasco-Hernando State College basketball alum, has transferred to McDaniel College, an NCAA Division III program in Westminster, Maryland. Kamara, a 6-foot-1 guard, last played for PHSC in the 2015-2016 season, where he averaged 3.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Prior to attending PHSC, Kamara played high school basketball at Sandy Spring Friends School in Washington, D.C., where he was a four-year varsity starter and three-time Second Team All-Conference selection.
• Donovan Jennings, a senior offensive tackle at Gaither High School, has picked up a scholarship offer from Liberty University, an NCAA Division I FBS (Football Subdivision) program in Lynchburg, Virginia. It marks the 13th Division I offer for the 6-foot-5, 310-pound Jennings, who’s regarded as one of Tampa Bay’s top offensive line prospects. Schools who’ve offered include, Marshall, Old Dominion, Central Florida, South Florida, Toledo and Virginia universities, among others. Multiple recruiting outlets pin Jennings as a three-star recruit, with 247Sports ranking him the nation’s top 150 offensive line recruits for the 2018 class.
• Darin Green Jr., a 6-foot-4 junior shooting guard at Wharton High School, has picked up a basketball scholarship from Florida Gulf Coast University, an NCAA Division I program in Fort Myers. Green Jr., who also holds an offer California State University-Fullerton, helped guide Wharton High to a 20-6 mark and Class 8A regional quarterfinal last season.

On Oct. 10, Pasco-Hernando State College freshman libero Morgan Church was named NJCAA Region 8/FCSAA Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week, after averaging 6.4 digs per set over five matches, totaling 122 digs. Church, who graduated from Harmony High School in Saint Cloud, paces all Region 8 players with 345 digs on the season.

Land O’ Lakes resident Brian Morgan completed the ULTRA Beast Spartan Championship in Lake Tahoe, California on Oct. 1. He hiked 36 miles, with 75 grueling obstacles and elevation changes of more than 16,000 feet — accomplishing the feat in 14 hours and 35 minutes. The course, considered one of the most difficult challenges in the world, draws well over a thousand competitors, with many failing to finish. Morgan, 28, did the bulk of his training in Dade City and Zephyrhills, hiking up and down U.S. 301 with a 50-pound sandbag. Morgan attended Land O’ Lakes High School and Pine View Middle School as a youth.

Saint Leo senior Colett Rampf continued her historic running career, smashing her own women’s 5K school record with her first-place time at the Queens University of Charlotte Royals Challenge 5K, on Sept. 29 at McAlpine Creek Park, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Rampf crossed the finish line with a winning time of 17:05, nearly 27 seconds faster than the Saint Leo 5K record time she set at last season’s University of Florida Mountain Dew Invitational. The mark was 2 seconds faster than the second-place finisher, Emily Kearney from Savannah College of Art and Design-Atlanta.

Four Saint Leo women’s runners joined Rampf to finish among the top 25: junior Alyssa Bayliff (sixth overall; 17:52), junior Laura Tobin (16th overall; 18:20) and senior Lauren Csubak (22nd overall; 18:27).

Rampf’s strong performance, meanwhile, earned her U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II Women’s National Athlete of the Week — the second of her career.

“Colett is a tremendous athlete, and earning another national athlete of the week honor exemplifies her dedication to the sport and our program,” Saint Leo head cross country coach Kent Reiber said, in a release. “I’m very proud of the work that she has put in so far, but her aspirations are much higher than national athlete of the week…”

The team’s next race is Oct. 13 for the University of South Florida Invitational on Oct. 13, at The Claw in Tampa.

• Alonzo Sampson, a senior linebacker/running back at Zephyrhills Christian Academy, recently picked up another football scholarship, this time from Lawrence Tech University, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) program in Detroit, Michigan. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound athlete also holds offers from Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) University, Culver Stockton (Missouri) College and Warner (Lake Wales) University. Sampson leads Zephyrhills Christian in rushing (562 yards on 56 carries, four touchdowns), and is the team’s second-leading tackler (43 total tackles, six tackles for loss, three sacks).
• Logan Coward, junior pitcher/utility player at Wesley Chapel High School, has verbally committed to play softball at Lander University, an NCAA Division II program in Greenwood, South Carolina. In 24 games last season, Coward batted .265, with four extra base hits, 18 runs and 10 RBIs, plus four stolen bases. As a pitcher, she went 3-0, posting a 1.79 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 27.1 innings pitched. Coward transferred to Wesley Chapel from Pasco High School following her freshman year in 2016.

In an effort to serve member schools affected by Hurricane Irma, the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) has launched a portal on its website to help schools connect with businesses, community members and others to aid in the replacement of equipment, or other items, that was destroyed or lost by the storm.

FHSAA officials say the organization has been inundated with telephone calls and emails across the country from schools and state associations looking to help member schools affected by the hurricane. In order to better organize the requests, the FHSAA created a portal located at FHSAA.org/hurricane-relief.

The portal is designed to connect schools with groups or individuals that can assist and expedite the delivery of goods to the schools as quickly as possible. Schools affected by the storm are encouraged to visit the link, click the “Add New Request” button, and list what items they are most in need of. In addition, those seeking to assist schools in Florida can also visit the portal and post along with a description of their available donation. All ads will be posted at FHSAA.org.

“Hurricane Irma impacted our state and our membership in so many different ways. We wanted to provide a mechanism for those in need to connect directly with people and organizations who can assist,” FHSAA executive director George Tomyn said, in a release. “It is our hope that this portal will allow the FHSAA membership, residents of Florida, and anyone who wants to help, an opportunity to provide direct support.”

Saint Leo senior Amanda Jakobsson was named the Sunshine State Conference Women’s Golfer of the Week, following her first-ever individual championship at the 2017 University of North Carolina-Pembroke “Battle at Old South,” Sept. 23 and Sept. 24.

Jakobsson fired a 72 in the first round and followed up with a 68 in the final round. The 68 tied for Jakobsson’s second-lowest collegiate round, and tied for sixth-lowest round in program history. The individual title at the “Battle at Old South” was the second time in three seasons that Jakobsson has won a tournament on that course, and the third tournament title of her collegiate career.

Saint Leo women’s golf will be back on the links Oct. 9, and Oct. 10, competing in the Nova Southeastern GolfRank Invitational at the PGA National Golf Club, in Palm Beach Gardens.