Northeast Florida 2022 sports review: Four-minute miler Rheinhardt Harrison sparks spring
The first signs of a long-awaited Jacksonville Jaguars revival under Doug Pederson and Trevor Lawrence.
A soggy but sensational five days at The Players Championship.
A 50-year-old on the gridiron, and an 18-year-old with an elusive four-minute mile.
Those were just some of the achievements and the moments to remember across the sports scene in 2022 for Jacksonville and Northeast Florida, a year to remember for its highlights and its setbacks.
From a red-and-black triumph in the annual Georgia-Florida clash at TIAA Bank Field to the return of the UFC mixed martial arts championship to the First Coast, the Times-Union looks back at the past 12 months across the Jacksonville area in sports.
Here is part 2, featuring the second quarter of the year from April to June.
Part 1:Northeast Florida 2022 sports in review: Hall calls for Tony Boselli, LeRoy Butler
April 1: Jacksonville University's Jordan Mincy wins the Joe B. Hall Award as the nation's top first-year men's basketball coach.
April 9: Alexander Volkanovski's victory over The Korean Zombie highlights UFC 273, the mixed martial arts circuit's third stop at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
April 10: Jacksonville University freshman Stephanie Davis, a member of the women's soccer team, dies in a single-car crash in Baker County while returning from a team outing.
April 11: The Dallas Wings select the University of North Florida's Jazz Bond in the third round of the WNBA Draft.
April 20: Jacksonville University's opener for the 2022-23 men's basketball season is confirmed for Nov. 7 at Duke, the Blue Devils' first game since the retirement of longtime coach Mike Krzyzewski.
April 25: The Florida High School Athletic Association approves use of the 35-second shot clock on an "optional but recommended" basis, though without a firm deadline for implementation.
April 28: The Jaguars select Georgia edge rusher Travon Walker with the No. 1 overall choice in the NFL Draft. Later in the round, the Jaguars trade back into the first round to select linebacker Devin Lloyd of Utah at No. 27.
April 28: The Jacksonville Icemen sweep the Atlanta Gladiators in the first round of the ECHL's Kelly Cup playoffs, the first postseason series victory in the team's history.
May 7: Jacksonville's Garrett Scantling wins the USATF Combined Events Championships with 8,867 points, the third-highest total in American men's decathlon history. However, a suspension later in the summer for U.S. Anti-Doping whereabouts failures prevents him from competing at the world championships.
May 10: Former kicker Josh Lambo sues the Jaguars, seeking his $3.5 million salary and damages for emotional distress after allegations that former Jags coach Urban Meyer kicked him and inflicted emotional abuse.
May 12: Top Jaguars draft pick Travon Walker signs his rookie contract, a fully-guaranteed four-year, $37.4 million deal with a $24.4 million signing bonus.
May 14: Edward Waters University wins the Tyson Foods Black College World Series in baseball.
May 23: The Greater Jacksonville High School Sports Awards recognize top high school performers in the Jacksonville area at a ceremony featuring former Atlanta Braves outfielder Andruw Jones in Daytona Beach.
May 23: Raines senior Rashaud Fields is shot and killed hours after his high school graduation. Fields had committed to play college football at Keiser University.
May 25: University of North Florida softball coach Marcie Higgs resigns from the Ospreys after 14 years for a new role with Backwards K, a Jacksonville-based company that organizes tournaments.
May 27: Powered by a shutout from Mallory Forrester and a decisive home run from Belle Mincey, Middleburg shuts out Groveland South Lake 1-0 to win the Class 5A softball championship.
May 31: Jacksonville University women's lacrosse coach Mindy McCord, the only coach in program history, resigns after eight NCAA Tournament appearances to take the new position at USF.
June 3: Nease senior Rheinhardt Harrison runs 3:59.33 at the Golden South Series in Tarpon Springs, becoming Florida's first-ever high school runner to break the four-minute mile, and the 16th in United States history.
June 3: Original Jaguars kicker Mike Hollis, 50, returns to professional football with the National Arena League's Jacksonville Sharks against the San Antonio Gunslingers.
June 22: More than $650,000 in gold and jewelry belonging to Tampa Bay Rays infielder Wander Franco are taken from a safe inside a Rolls-Royce at a Jacksonville parking garage while Franco was on a minor league rehab assignment against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.
June 22: Clay High School graduate Caeleb Dressel scratches the remainder of the FINA World Aquatics Championships for unspecified medical reasons after winning two gold medals, while Ryan Murphy wins the first of his two gold medals in the mixed medley relay.
June 23: Bolles School graduate Ryan Murphy wins the 200-meter backstroke at the FINA World Aquatics Championships, his first individual gold at the world event in Hungary.
June 29: Jacksonville native and former University of Florida forward Patric Young sustains paralyzing injuries in a car crash in Nebraska.
Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX, and sign up for the First Coast Varsity newsletter at https://profile.jacksonville.com/newsletters/first-coast-varsity/.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville area 2022 sports review Part 2: April through June
