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Sunlake senior softball player Cassidy Roberts signed her letter of intent to Webber International (Florida) University on April 15. Roberts, the Seahawks’ starting shortstop the past three years, wrapped up her high school career with the following numbers: 95 games played, .408 batting average, .451 on-base percentage, 137 hits, 52 RBIs, 82 runs and 20 doubles. She is accompanied by Sunlake coach Nelson Garcia in the photo.

 

Four youth gymnasts from Premier Gymnastics in Wesley Chapel will compete in the USA Gymnastics Regional Championships in Asheville, North Carolina, from April 22 to April 24. Ryan Elizabeth Avery, 12 and Kaitlyn Christiano, 11, will participate in the Region 8 Championships as Level 6 gymnasts, while Elizabeth Aitken, 12, and Dallas Cornish, 13, will compete as Level 7 gymnasts. To advance to regionals, the girls beat out several hundred competitors at their State Championship competition in February.

Sunlake High senior catcher Gianna Basilone hit her eighth home run of the season against River Ridge on April 7, tying the school single-season record set in 2009 by Samantha Dittman. Basilone now holds the school record for most career home runs with 15. She currently leads all of Pasco County in the category, and is batting .476 with 36 RBIs. She plans to play college softball at Oklahoma State University.

Rising senior running back Antwione Sims will miss a portion of the 2016 regular season after he tore his ACL at a football camp about a month ago. Last year, Sims rushed for a school-record 2,093 yards and 24 touchdowns, and was named a third-team, Class 5A all-state selection. The 5-foot-11, 196-pound back has offers from five schools, including Boston College, a Football Bowl Subdivision school. The next player up on the depth chart is rising junior Elijah Thomas, a 5-foot-6, 150-pound scat back. Thomas rushed for 222 yards on 18 carries in 2015. The Bulldogs will be led by first-year head coach Nick Carroll.

The Western Conference boys and girls basketball teams are selected by the head coaches of public schools in Hillsborough County.

All-Western Conference Boys Basketball
American Division
Second Team
Tyler Carter, Steinbrenner

National Division
Coach of the Year: Cedric Smith, Freedom
First Team
Sheldon Odunna, Freedom
Josiah Crawford, Wharton

Second Team
Evan Trice, Wharton

All- Western Conference Girls Basketball
American Division
First Team
Infinity Lyle, Gaither
Ashleigh Ingram, Steinbrenner

Second Team
MK Miller, Steinbrenner

National Division
First Team
Nari Gardner, Freedom
Diamond Wells, Wharton

Second Team
Megan Clark, Freedom
Lauren Wall, Wharton

Land O’ Lakes senior softball pitcher Shannon Saile notched her 200th strikeout in a complete game, no-hit shutout against Fivay on April 5. Saile has thrown 18 complete games and three no-hitters so far this season for the Gators (22-2-1).

Saile, a Florida International University softball commit, has a 0.71 ERA in 98 innings pitched. She currently has 448 strikeouts for her high school career.

Land O’ Lakes junior right-hander Lance “McCabe” Sargent has been nearly unhittable for the 19-1 Gators varsity baseball team. His miniscule 0.49 ERA in 43 innings is the best mark in Pasco County. He’s won all seven of his starts, three being complete games. Sargent is also a standout hitter with a .400 batting average and 15 RBIs.

Sunlake High School sophomore Jamila Cardwell had enough energy to shatter three school track records during one meet. At the Sunshine Athletic Conference East Track and Field Championship March 31, she outpaced the competition in the 1-mile, 800-meter and 2-mile runs. Cardwell won the 1-mile in 5:23.79, the 800-meter in 2:26.94 and the 2-mile in 11:40.78, all school records.

Steinbrenner High School’s Andre Washington set a school in the shot put at the Hillsborough County track championships on March 29. The high school senior threw the shot put 50 feet, 2 inches, winning the event at the county meet. He also won the discus event, launching it 126 feet, 8 inches. Washington was a standout defensive lineman on Steinbrenner’s 9-2 football team this past season.

The Wharton boys and girls track and field teams fared well at the Western Conference National Division meet on March 23 at Armwood High. The girls won the meet with 194 points, while the boys took second with 127. Both teams competed against eight other schools in Hillsborough County (Freedom, King, Tampa Bay Tech, Middleton, Hillsborough, Chamberlain, Armwood and Strawberry Crest).

The boys scored individual event victories in the following:

• 1-mile by sophomore Noah Damjanovic in 4:39.83
• 2-mile by Damjanovic in 10:19.42
• Pole vault by senior James Santana by clearing 10-feet, 6-inches

The girls scored individual event wins in the following:

• Pole vault by senior Gabby Paul by clearing 9-feet, 6-inches
• 1-mile by junior Bryanna Rivers in 5:29.13
• 400-meters by junior Searra Woods in 57.71 seconds
• 800-meters by junior Rivers in 2:23.45
• 4×400-meter relay in 4:16.81
• 4×800-meter relay in 10:43.75