John Carroll's Cody Menke, Pine's Emerson Brinn win events at Region 4-1A track
John Carroll Catholic senior Cody Menke blew away the competition in the shot put at Wednesday’s Region 4-1A championship at Southridge Park in Miami, winning the event with a toss of 16.06 meters.
Menke set a personal best and will enter the FHSAA 1A state championship with the top mark in his class.
Pine School eighth-grader Emerson Brinn won the pole vault with a top mark of 2.70 meters, and along with Karolina Swan, Amelie Galbraith and Fripp Stringfellow finished third in the 4x800 meter relay that will have a chance at earning an at-large berth to state for the Knights.
John Carroll Catholic sophomore Paige Lalicon grabbed a runner-up finish in the javelin with a best toss of 29 meters.
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The 1A state championship kicks off the meets for all competitors on Wednesday at James G. Pressly Stadium on the campus of the University of Florida.
Eight Cobras to continue their careers in college
Fort Pierce Central celebrated the signings Wednesday of eight student-athletes who will continue their career at the next level, including four players from the girls soccer team.
Sisters Emma and Abbey Brosnihan will join forces at Francis Marion University in South Carolina.
Cassidy Olszewski will play at Greensboro College in North Carolina, and Mariah Matta will play at Warner in Lake Wales.
Baseball player Hunter Miller will play at South Carolina Beaufort, and pitcher Ethan Griffith will go up north to Wright State Lake Campus in Ohio.
Sami Rahman, one of the top scorers for the basketball team this season, will stay in Florida to play at St. Thomas University, and Hunter Wagner, a defensive back on the football team, is also bound for St. Thomas.
St. Edward's, Jensen Beach earn top academic honors
Jensen Beach in 4A and St. Edward’s in 2A were honored by the FHSAA as Academic Team Champions for their respective classifications for the 2021-22 school year.
The Falcons bested Suncoast and the Pirates were ahead of Naples First Baptist. The schools will receive commemorative plaques.
In the spring, Jensen Beach’s baseball team had the high marks with a 3.62 team GPA and the girls and boys track and field teams also topped the lists with a 3.89 and 3.67 GPA respectively.
Four spring sports for St. Edward’s placed in the top five among 2A schools, and in the winter, the girls basketball team had the top team GPA with a 3.85.
South Fork in 6A was the team runner-up behind Gulf Breeze, led by the softball team sporting a 3.83 team GPA to lead their sport and both the boys and girls wrestling teams in the winter leading their class.
Jensen’s Ward voted FACA District 19 Player of the Year
Jensen Beach senior and Florida Atlantic signee Patrick Ward was voted the FACA District 19 Baseball Player of the Year as chosen by area coaches.
Ward, the 4A Player of the Year, currently is batting .434 with 10 doubles, two triples, five home runs and has 30 RBIs and has a 0.00 ERA in 11⅔ innings pitched with 13 strikeouts.
Ward, Vero Beach senior Jake Randolph and Martin County senior Tyler Murphy will all represent the area at the FACA State All-Star Game in Lakeland.
Randolph was voted 7A Player of the Year and is batting .471 with five doubles, two triples and two home runs to go along with 24 RBIs.
Murphy was voted 6A Player of the Year and is currently 3-1 with a 1.31 ERA over 37⅓ innings, with 57 strikeouts against 15 walks on the mound and is batting .302 with 16 RBIs.
Okeechobee senior Jacob Hardy was voted 5A Player of the Year and currently is 3-3 with a 2.3 ERA over 44⅔ innings and has struck out 51 batters against 17 walks.
Lincoln Park Academy senior Kyle Gomez was voted 3A Player of the Year after batting .310 with eight RBIs for the Greyhounds.
St. Edward’s senior Alexander Beare was voted 2A Player of the Year after batting .517 with eight doubles, four triples and a home run to go along with 16 RBIs for the Pirates.
Coaches of the Year were voted as follows: Bryan Rahal, Vero Beach 7A; Tony Malizia, South Fork 6A; Eric Kindell, Okeechobee 5A; Corey Cooke, Jensen Beach 4A; Tim Howard, Lincoln Park Academy 3A; Gray Ange, St. Edward’s 2A.
Central grad Sikes earns second at Greco-Roman Open
Fort Pierce Central graduate George Sikes finished second in the 87 kilogram division at the USMC U.S. Greco-Roman Open in Las Vegas last weekend.
Sikes won his quarterfinal and semifinal matches before falling to New York Athletic Club teammate Alan Vera in the championship match.
A former wrestler and football player for the Cobras who graduated in 2016, Sikes currently competes at Northern Michigan University on its Greco-Roman team.
In May, Sikes will head off to compete in the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in Coralville, Iowa, as part of USA Wrestling's qualifying series for its 2022 U.S. Senior World Team that will compete in Belgrade, Serbia, in September.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: John Carroll''s Menke, Pine's Brinn win events at Region 4-1A track
