Jacksonville officer in Jamee Johnson police shooting is arrested in Clay County case
HIGH-SCHOOL

First Coast Varsity Weekly

Clayton Freeman
cfreeman@jacksonville.com
Bolles senior Charles Hicks became only the third Northeast Florida runner on record to break 15 minutes in a 5K high school cross country event. [Bob Self/Florida Times-Union]

In his high school career, Charles Hicks has won individual state championships, team titles and more than a dozen cross country meets.

But breaking the sweet 15-minute barrier had always eluded him — until Saturday.

The Bolles senior raced into rare territory, running 14 minutes, 59.20 seconds at the Great American Cross Country Festival in Cary, N.C. Bolles boys coach Mike Rivera said he wasn't shocked by Hicks' breakthrough run, which covered the course at a pace of 4:49 per mile.

"Going into it, we knew that was a possibility," he said. "His workouts had been good, and he's been in good shape."

On the MileSplit lists, that makes Hicks the third-fastest Northeast Florida runner ever recorded over the 5K cross country course, behind only Bishop Kenny's Colin Barker (14:53 in 2009) and Creekside's Jimmy Clark (14:53.29 in 2010). The time now ranks him among the Sunshine State's top 20 all-time at the distance.

The Bulldogs, who finished second overall at the major meet, aren't finished with their out-of-state adventures. They'll travel to Saturday's Manhattan College Cross Country Invitational in New York, which will include elite teams from the Northeast and California.

Number swap works for Nicholson

Lee wide receiver Tahveon Nicholson began Thursday's game against Ribault like Dale Earnhardt and finished it like Michael Jordan.

How? Check the numbers.

The Generals senior had to make an in-game jersey swap after his No. 3 jersey was ripped midway through the contest. In its place came a No. 23, a number that has a pretty impressive pedigree of its own — just ask Jordan, LeBron James or David Beckham.

For Nicholson, the number of the day turned out to be 141 — the number of all-purpose (rushing, receiving and return) yards he collected during the 34-12 victory. The Southern Miss commit leads Lee with 1,022 all-purpose yards and 12 touchdowns for the year.

Stanton snags season's first Gateway title

The Gateway Conference championships are under way, and the season's first title went to Stanton. Led by senior and overall winner Sebastian Kenne, the Blue Devils won Friday's boys cross country championships at Cecil Field, followed about half an hour later by Mandarin's girls cross country team.

Stanton became only the fourth school to win the Gateway boys cross country title since 1990, joining Wolfson (1990-2004), Mandarin (2005, 2007-17) and Sandalwood (2006).

Allen Alexander earned White's first all-conference cross country selection since Marquis Roundtree in 2008, and Fernando Suarez won Westside's first spot on the team under the school's current name.

For the Mandarin girls, the Gateway title was their first in the sport since 2015. Fletcher's Viola Barquilla and Kate Overby finished 1-2 as the Mustangs and Senators split the eight All-Conference slots.

Schools' Gateway tallies will increase dramatically in the coming week, with the swimming, diving and volleyball competitions all wrapping up.

FHSAA slapped with $500K verdict

The Florida High School Athletic Association is staring at a bill of more than half a million dollars, the latest chapter of a dispute with its former sports management software provider.

An Alachua County jury Thursday awarded C2C Schools $509,583 in compensation from the FHSAA in a breach of contract lawsuit.

It is uncertain whether the FHSAA will appeal. In an e-mail to the Times-Union, FHSAA public relations specialist Kyle Niblett said, "Our legal counsel is awaiting the office notice from the court. Once received, our staff along with our legal counsel will review it thoroughly and consider all possible options."

The FHSAA ended its deal with C2C in November 2016, signing a new contract with California-based MaxPreps about six months later.

At the time, then-executive director Roger Dearing told members in a letter that the FHSAA had notified C2C of problems with the existing contract and provided a deadline to resolve them, but that "the cure had yet to yield satisfactory results." Mediation between the parties was also unsuccessful.

For the Gainesville-based association, the penalty would amount to nearly 9 percent of its $5.8 million budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year.

Some of that expense could potentially be passed on to schools through the FHSAA's annual legal fee. As described on the FHSAA's website, the fee is calculated by taking the association's annual legal expenses, minus the amount covered by legal fees from middle schools, and dividing that figure equally among all member high schools and home education cooperatives.

Any legal fee hike could carry a particular sticker shock for schools because those fees had been trending downward. In its budget, the FHSAA notes that total legal fees charged to schools diminished by $35,816 last year, and the organization had only budgeted $160,000 in legal costs for the 2018-19 fiscal year.

Panthers' Eshbaugh tops 3,000 mark

Outside hitter Mykah Eshbaugh didn't just help Nease volleyball to second place in the St. Johns River Athletic Conference. She's also piling up numbers at a dizzying rate.

Panthers coach Don Watson said that Eshbaugh became the first player to represent Nease with more than 3,000 total kills, digs, serve receptions and blocks, counting the start of her high school career at Concordia (Kan.).

Eshbaugh has 385 kills (47.4 kill percentage), 257 digs and 60 blocks this season alone for the Panthers, who reached the SJRAC final before losing to Fleming Island.

Mortensen sisters triple the volleyball fun

For those who watched Tuesday's volleyball match between Christ's Church and Harvest Community, it must have felt like seeing triple.

On the side of reigning Class 3A state champion Christ's Church was setter Leah Mortensen on senior night. On the opposite side, her younger sisters, Lydia and Nadia, lined up for Harvest.

All three sisters excelled in the match, but oldest sister Leah came away with bragging rights in a Christ's Church sweep. Leah led the Eagles with 22 assists, bringing her career total to nearly 1,700. For Harvest, Lydia recorded a team-high 18 assists and Nadia, still a seventh-grader, led with 14 digs.

Griffin slugs Wildcats into playoffs

For the first playoff action of the 2018-19 school year, just look north of the state border, where Camden County junior pitcher Amber Griffin blasted the Wildcats into the Georgia High School Association Class AAAAAAA playoffs with one of the best days in softball in memory.

Wednesday's key regional doubleheader with Tift County started well enough for Griffin: 2 for 3 with a double and a three-run homer in the fifth inning to wrap up a 5-1 victory in the opener.

But she was just getting started.

In the nightcap, she batted 3 for 5, hitting another three-run homer early and ending the series in style with a walk-off, playoff-clinching grand slam to win 11-7 in the bottom of the eighth. Her total for the day: Three home runs, one a grand slam, with 11 RBI.

Pretty special for a player with two career high school homers (one in 2016 and one on opening day in August) coming into the night.

The GHSA playoffs start Wednesday, with Camden County starting at Woodstock. In Class AAAAAA, Glynn Academy goes to Conyers Heritage and Brunswick will play at Greenbrier. Ware County plays on the road at Whitewater in AAAAA.

Washed-out game won't hurt Flashes

Hurricane Michael's approach knocked St. Joseph's scheduled football game at Tallahassee St. John Paul II off the schedule, and it's unclear whether it will be made up.

Yet even though unbeaten St. Joseph almost certainly would have beaten their winless opponent, the cancellation could actually help the Flashes' playoff chances due to the complexities of the FHSAA's point system.

St. Joseph (7-0) entered the week with an average of 39.71 points, third in Region 1-3A behind Florida High and Baldwin. Had they played the game and won, the Flashes would have earned only 35 points, dropping their average further.

That might mean the difference between a first-round bye and having to plunge directly into the playoffs in November.

Around the area

Bartram Trail senior swimmer Nicole Sowell announced her commitment to Miami Thursday. ... St. Augustine graduate Olivia Jarrell was named the Peach Belt Conference women's soccer player of the week for the second time in three weeks. ... Bolles competes Saturday at the 55th Woodson Invitational, the annual elite swimming meet in Fort Lauderdale. Bolles won both the boys and girls titles there last year. ... With nine interceptions through seven games, Fletcher safety Jaylen Mitchell has already picked off the most passes for any Northeast Florida defender in at least the last six years. ... Florida Deaf volleyball will take on the Mason-Dixon Volleyball Tournament from Thursday to Saturday, held at Tennessee School for the Deaf in Knoxville, Tenn. The Dragons will begin pool play against Mississippi Deaf and Louisiana Deaf, followed by tournament play over the weekend. ... Two Providence swimmers set school records at the FSPA meet in Stuart: Senior Blake Moran set new programs bests in the 50-yard freestyle and the 200 free, and junior Conner Lowery took down the Stallions' top time in the 100 backstroke. ... Due to Hurricane Michael, the FHSAA athletic directors advisory committee postponed its special meeting until 9 a.m. Oct. 17 to discuss the modified reclassification proposal for 2018-19. It's the first time the committee has called a fourth meeting in a calendar year since at least 2001, the earliest year covered in online records. ... The hurricane also wiped out Saturday's scheduled FSU Invitational in Tallahassee in cross country.