A Look Back: The Best of '09

EDITOR'S NOTE:

Plenty of big stories broke between the lines and on the playing fields, courts and tracks of the Heartland in 2009. Wins and losses aside, certain moments transcended the game themselves and stuck out as the top stories of the year.

This is Highlands Today's annual year-end run of the stories we covered that had a major impact on the local sports scene. The ranking was determined by the sports department: Sports editor Mark Pinson and sports reporter Ryan Lavner.

1. AP's Bland, Grimmett win state wrestling titles

Avon Park seniors James Bland and Jace Grimmett became the first state wrestling champions in the school's history in February.

Bland won the Class 1A state title in the 160-pound weight class, while Grimmett won the heavyweight division.

The dynamic duo's effort helped the fourth-year Avon Park wrestling program finish fourth in the state.

Bland dominated his final match to earn his gold medal, while Grimmett went to double-overtime to win the coveted state title.

Bland and Grimmett are now wrestling for Newberry College in South Carolina.

2. Sebring teams go to Dixie World Series

Sebring showed how talented its youth baseball players are by putting on quite a show over the summer.

The Dixie AAA (ages 9-10) and Dixie Ozone (ages 11-12) baseball teams won their respective state championships and advanced to the Dixie AAA World Series in Laurel, Miss., and the Dixie Ozone World Series in Texarkana, Ark.

Both squads played outstanding baseball and Team Florida came in third in the Dixie AAA World Series, while Team Florida finished third in the Dixie Ozone World Series.

3. Sebring's Bauer sprints to state again

Local 5K races and high school meets - Connor Bauer has won them all.

Yet it was a seventh-place finish - and a better-than-expected time - in the Class 3A state meet that the Sebring senior said he will remember most fondly from his illustrious career.

Among the accolades: consecutive All-Heartland Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year awards, three-time state qualifier, and winner of countless high school meets, many of which he finished 2 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor.

"He doesn't necessarily enjoy being the big fish in a little pond, but he's not afraid to battle with the best of them," said Sebring cross country coach Jeff Shoemaker. "Actually, that's when he's at his best."

Bauer's journey back to the state meet took a bit of an unexpected detour this season, when he failed to record a personal-best time and mounting expectations resulted in a few episodes of insomnia. Still, Bauer put together another successful postseason, when he finished first in the district meet, and then fell and recovered to place third at the regional meet.

Bauer admitted recently that he "felt horrible" entering the sport's ultimate test in November, having failed to live up to his own expectations. He then ran the best race of his career at the Class 3A state meet, finishing in 16:00.53, a half-second slower than his time last year in 2A.

"It's hard to look back on my senior year and not put a personal best on the board," he said. "But I think this performance capped it off right."

4. LP wins fifth straight volleyball title

Back in August, when the Strive for Five was merely a concept, Lake Placid volleyball coach Marilyn Jones termed this season a "rebuilding year."

Turns out, "retooling" would have been more accurate.

After graduating seven players from last year's team, the Green Dragons hoisted another championship banner in 2009, their unprecedented fifth consecutive district title.

Led by seniors Sierra Weaver and Kayla Summerfield, Lake Placid cruised through the regular season before easily dispatching all three opponents in the district tournament. Better still: It was the ultimate parting gift for Jones, who retired in December after spending more than 37 ½ years in education.

"This wasn't really a step that I wanted to take this quick," Jones said after the postseason loss. "This is a wrap for me right here. I hate to see it end like this, but it's going to one way or another."

The search is on now for Jones' replacement, who figures to be one of her longtime assistants. Whoever takes over the Lake Placid program, though, will have the task of continuing one of the area's longest-running stretches of success - and doing so without the team's two best players.

Indeed, 2010 may be the rebuilding year, after all.

5. AP baseball coach Mort Jackson retires

When you think of Avon Park baseball, the image of Mort Jackson patrolling the Red Devils dugout comes to mind. But after 25 years, three as junior varsity coach and 22 as Avon Park's head coach, Jackson stepped down in April.

Jackson, 50, graduated from Avon Park and will continue to teach at the school.

"I will always love these kids and be here for them," said Jackson.

Whit Cornell, who lived in Avon Park until he was 11 and coached at DeSoto High for the last nine years, will take over for Jackson.

6. Schepperle cruises to Harder Hall title

Auburn University junior Candace Schepperle shot a final-round, course-record 65 for a four-day total of 13-under 275 to win the 54th annual Harder Hall Women's Invitational in January.

Schepperle, who was runner-up in the 2007 Harder Hall Women's Invitational, distanced herself from 17-year-old Amelia Lewis and University of Louisville senior Cindy LaCrosse, who tied for second at 282.

Schepperle held a two-shot lead over Lewis and four shots over LaCrosse heading into the final 18 holes before the Tigers linkster went on a tear to earn the win in the prestigious women's amateur tournament.

"I'm so excited to win this tournament," Schepperle said. "Today was the round I was waiting for all week."

7. Lake Placid experiences football resurgence

They all remember the feeling - divisions on the field, in the locker room, in the stands, in the community.

But as senior tailback Caleb Jones said recently, "It's like the whole family is back."

Such are the perks of revitalizing a dormant program.

Twelve months after posting an abysmal 1-9 record in Jason Holden's first season as head coach, the Green Dragons contended for a playoff berth much of the season and posted an overall record of 6-4 - the team's first winning season since 1998.

Think about that: more than a decade without cracking the .500 mark.

"This was a special group of players that I hate to see go," Holden said. "This is a close group of guys and we accomplished a lot of things this season because of the unity we had."

The Green Dragons accomplished that feat with more physical play on both sides of the ball, led by Jones, who amassed nearly 1,400 yards rushing and Navahri Holden, who was a terror from both his fullback and linebacker positions.

Lake Placid also was aided by a favorable schedule. But after stumbling into the offseason the past 11 years, no one in Lake Placid will complain.

8. Amateurs down pros in Ryder Cup

No fist pumps. No momentum-swinging putts. No grand celebration at the end.

There was a calm, business-like approach to the amateurs' triumph over the professionals in the Highlands County Ryder Cup in October. Their 14-11 win was the most lopsided margin of victory since 1998.

Anticlimactic, indeed.

"It was a tough battle," said Jason Beatty, a professional at River Greens Golf Course, which hosted the event. "I've been playing in this for seven years, and this is the strongest team I've ever seen them have."

After losing 32-16 the past two years, amateur captain Bobby Barben brought in a strong mix of veteran and young players, including high schoolers Blake Liles and Greg Gentry. Good call: The amateurs won five of the first eight Sunday singles matches to claim their 10th victory in the 15-year series. Sebring's Liles and Gentry, a junior at Avon Park, combined to go 5-0 during the two-day event.

"I felt like I was one of the better players in the Heartland, beating most of the pros," Gentry said.

9. Sebring baseball advances to regional semifinal

The Sebring High baseball team had a fairly young and inexperienced team, but the Blue Streaks improved during the season and played their best ball when it mattered the most.

Sebring, which surprised many people by making it to the postseason, lost to a talented Lake Wales squad by a score of 9-1 in the Class 4A regional semifinals.

"Everybody's season ends eventually," said Sebring veteran coach Hoppy Rewis. "The bounces just didn't go our way tonight."

10. Another race, another Audi win

Audi debuted a new car - the R15 TDI - at Sebring International Raceway in March. The result was strikingly familiar.

Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen piloted Audi to victory and beat Peugeot at the 57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The trio surged to victory by 22.279 seconds in an epic battle between sports car racing's two diesel powers. "To come here with a new car really says something for Audi," Capello said after the race.

McNish took the lead for good at the 42-minute mark, when Peugeot's Franck Montagny made his final fuel-only stop.