Freedom Swimmers Looking For State Medals

The Freedom girls swim team turned in another strong performance at the Class 3A-Region 2 championships last week, finishing second behind Sunlake by 33.5 points.

The performance qualified six of the Patriots’ swimmers in nine events for the State championships, which are being held in Stuart today. Finals begin shortly, for more information on how to follow along check out fhsaa.org.

“The girls were terrific,” said first-year coach John Olewski. “I couldn’t be prouder of their performance.”

Junior Michelle Morgan, who posted an Olympic Trials-qualifying time last year in the 500 yard freestyle, won all three of her events — the 500 free, 200 individual medley and as the anchor on the 400 free relay team — at the Regional meet and is one of the top contenders for gold at States. Morgan is seeded third at State meet in the 500 free after winning Regionals by 11 seconds with her time of 4:57.78. She also will be seeded third in the 200 IM.

Junior Carly Joerin was second in the 200 free and third in the 500 free, while senior Hannah LaBohn was third in the 50 free and 100 free. Both swimmers advanced to the State meet in those events.

 Joerin also swam on the state-qualifying 400 free relay that won at Regionals by 11 seconds, along with Morgan, freshman Karis Kraf and junior Alexa Valdez-Velez.

The Freedom boys advanced one boys swimmer to States — senior Zachary Kopel, who won both the 200 and 500 free events at Regionals.

Cross Country Teams Battle For State Berths

The Freedom High boys and girls cross country teams pulled off a team sweep of the races at the Class 3A, District 8 meet in Brandon on Oct. 31. Meanwhile, at the Class 4A-11 meet, the Wharton boys finished second.

All three teams advanced to Saturday’s Regional meets.

The Wildcats earned their fifth straight trip to Regionals (Note-the top three teams and top four individuals who are not members of an advancing team all move on).

The Freedom cross country team won the Class 3A-8 meet. (Photo: @FHS_Revolution)

At the 3A-8 meet, Freedom senior Maria Melara and junior Keira Eckhardt finished 1-2, with Melara’s time of 21 minutes, 50 seconds bettering her teammate by 15 seconds. The Pats’ Katherine Vivas finished seventh.

The Freedom boys placed all five scorers in the top 14. (Photo: @FHS_Revolution)

In the boys race, all five Freedom scorers finished in the top 14, with senior Andrew Cory (17:18) leading the with his second-place finish. Senior Owen Smith (17:58) was fifth, followed by junior Brian Gardner in eighth, with a time of 18:24.

The Patriots’ girls finished with 26 points (the lower the team’s score, the better) in the three-team competition, while the Freedom boys beat second-place King 34-74.

The Freedom teams will compete at Lake Region beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday morning.

  • Jared Hammill
  • Brooke Reif

Wharton senior Jared Hammill, who set a school record at the Hillsborough County meet the week before, won the 4A-11 meet in 16:37.

Junior Alan Meriga finished seventh (17:30), and senior Thomas Walter was 11th in 17:47.

The Wharton boys scored 59 points at the district meet, behind the District’s team champion Steinbrenner, which scored 31.

The Wharton girls team finished fourth overall, missing out on advancing by just seven points, but the Wildcats’ Brooke Reif and Alex Frye, both juniors, did advance to Regionals.

Reif finished second in 19:13, while Frye took eighth in 21:53.

The Wharton teams will compete at Holloway Park in Lakeland, with the girls running at 7:30 a.m. and the boys running at 8 a.m.

The State championships for Freedom and Wharton are scheduled for Nov. 14 at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.

Wharton Football Looking To Stay Perfect


Wharton cornerback Fred Jolly has been one of the top players this season on the Wildcats’ fearsome defense. (Photo: Alyssa Cason).

Prior to Wharton High’s game against Plant on Oct. 23, first-year head coach Mike Williams was about the only person around the Wildcats’ football program who could remember the last time Wharton beat the Panthers.

But that’s only because he played in that game, for Plant, which suffered a 15-14 loss on that night — way back in 2000.

Well, it doesn’t take such a long memory to remember such things anymore, because Wharton beat Williams’ alma mater 10-0 — even more impressive considering that Plant had scored 40 or more points in the last five games between the teams.

The win improved Wharton’s record to 6-0 on the season, its best start since going 7-0 in 2006. It can match that start tonight with a win over Durant at Wharton.

“We expected to have a good season, but maybe not to this extent,” says Williams, a former college All-American wide receiver at Southern Cal and first-round NFL draft pick of Detroit. “I knew we had some good players, and some good size, but we also had a bunch of young players competing for the first time.”

Another thing Williams knew — his defense was going to be nasty. And it has been.

The Wildcats have only allowed 23 points in six games. Only one team — Alonso — has scored a touchdown against Wharton, getting two while losing  44-17 to the Wildcats. Wharton has shut out Freedom 50-0, King 14-0, and Plant.

While the offense is still rounding into shape, the ‘Cats have been truly dominant on the other side of the ball.

Junior linebacker Henry Griffith leads the team with 56 tackles, including nine for a loss of yards, and Booker Pickett Jr. has 50 tackles. Only a freshman, Pickett Jr. is already 6’-4”, 200 pounds — “He’s a monster,”  Williams says — and shares the same on-field ferocity as his father, a former University of Miami linebacker.

Junior linebacker  Daveon Crouch, arguably the team’s best overall player and a Division I prospect, has a team-high nine sacks and regularly delivers a wallop, forcing six fumbles.

And, if you can bypass the linebackers, the Wildcats’ defensive backfield will be waiting for you.

“We have elite cover guys,” Williams says. “In my book, we have the best secondary in the county that nobody is talking about.”

Junior cornerback Jairon Dorsey leads the team with four interceptions, and has returned two of them for touchdowns. Junior Fred Jolly has eight passes defended and returned a punt blocked by Pickett Jr. for a TD with five minutes left to beat Palm Harbor University 7-3.

Williams says Junior Jason Cornwell, who returned his only interception this season 70 yards for a score, and senior Markell Dominique are primetime players as well.

Wharton, which had its Oct. 30 game against Steinbrenner canceled due to Covid-19 issues related to the Warriors, will wrap up the regular season tonight, then will host Riverview in the first round of the Class 8A playoffs on Nov. 13.

Williams hopes his offense, directed by quarterback Emery Floyd, and the 1-2 punch of running backs Keith Morris and Johnny Cason, is clicking by then. Along with the defense, he thinks something special might be brewing off Bruce B. Downs Blvd.

“Even though the program may have been up and down, Coach Mitchell really had a group that wasn’t afraid to work hard, wasn’t afraid to be in the weight room,” Williams says. “He had good things going. We’re going to keep it going.”