By Rod Gipson
MaxPreps.com
When Seffner Armwood’s football squad lines up on opening night in the fall of 2008, they’ll do so with new uniforms. The Hawks, a perennial Tampa Bay-area power who won state championships in 2003 and 2004, have entered into an agreement with Nike.
The agreement will provide up to $10,000 worth of uniform equipment to the team. The deal, which was approved by the Hillsborough County Athletic Department, is not new to the state of Florida. Lakeland, Miami Northwestern, Miami Booker T. Washington and Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas each has a similar deal with the sportswear giant.
Nike first approached Armwood about the deal during the 2007, according to school officials. Armwood also was in talks with Under Armour about a deal but negotiations did not proceed.
Signing Day Creeps Closer
As National Signing Day (Feb. 6) nears, more Tampa Bay-area athletes are revealing their college plans.
The latest big announcement came this week from standout Largo running back Brynn Harvey.
A 6-foot, 213-pounder, Harvey orally committed to Central Florida. This past season, Harvey led Largo to an unbeaten regular season and a 13-1 overall mark. He set a Pinellas County single-season rushing record with 2,581 yards and scored 31 touchdowns.
Harvey selected the Knights over Memphis, Ball State and Middle Tennessee State.
Other football commitments recently announced included Tampa Middleton quarterback DeAndre Presley (Appalachian State) and Tampa Plant offensive-defensive lineman Tyler Evans (Murray State).
Tampa Chamberlain underclassmen softball players Samantha Holle and Stephanie Medina also made their intentions known. Holle, a junior shortstop said she will attend the University of Florida while sophomore Medina pledged to play for South Florida, where her older sister JoJo currently is a sophomore infielder.
Wrestling: Same Old Brandon
Before its quest to defend its state championship begins next month, Brandon captured the Hillsborough County championship last weekend.
In a meet featuring the county’s 24 public high schools, the Eagles were their dominant selves, out pointing their closest competitor by 145 points. Brandon topped second-place Plant City Durant 367.5 to 222. Tampa Alonso (203), Valrico Bloomingdale (190) and Lithia Newsome (128) rounded out the top five.
Brandon won eight weight classes to claim the title: Sean Padgett (103 lbs.), Terry Dawson (112), Eric Grajales (130), Kevin Timothy (135), Joey Cozart (140), Zaq Berridge (160), Phil Uno (215), Aaron Fullenwider (285).
Up and Over
It hasn’t been a standout season for the Tampa Bay Tech boys basketball team.
But Tech senior guard Dezmond Walker has been a bright spot. During Tech’s loss to Lithia Newsome on January 22, Walker poured in 30 points to surpass 1,000 for his career.
Walker, who now stands at 1,014 career points, is averaging 17 points a game this season. The Titans are 6-9 on the year.