ORANGE PARK – Orange Park High Scbool athletics had a banner year with a sprinkling of state champions; boys weightlifting and track, and topped the year with 11 late signees for athletic …
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ORANGE PARK – Orange Park High Scbool athletics had a banner year with a sprinkling of state champions; boys weightlifting and track, and topped the year with 11 late signees for athletic scholarships in a ceremony on Wed., May 15 at Orange Park High School.
Led by state meet athletes John Bear and John Abate; both track medalists, field event state meeter Destiny Basden and state swimmer Jacob Coutant, the Raider faithful have plenty to look forward to in the upcoming years.
Bear, who battled with nagging injuries all year before medaling in the Class 3A 1600 meters, will take his fleet feet to Florida State College of Jacksonville to run cross country for former St. Johns Country Day School coach Jody Hale. Bear also competed in the Class 3A cross country championships.
“I want to heal up real strong at the junior college, then make a decision on the next level,” said Bear, after his seventh place finish in the 1600 at the Class 3A championship meet at UNF. “I know what I am capable of if I am injury free and that’s what I will work toward.”
Also on the track, Destiny Basden, a field events specialist in the discus and shot put, will head to Howard University in Washington, D.C., an NCAA Div. I program.
John Abate, a third place high jump finisher in Class 3A after winning district and region title, ended his senior year as Raider with a flurry, but his excitement came from the basketball season where he was a consensus all star and a 1,000 point scorer for coach Derek Kurnitsky plus the leader of two district titles. Abate will head to Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL, an NCAA Div. II program.
Destiny Basden, ninth in shot put at the region 1-3A championship meet and 22nd in discus at the Class 3A championship meet, will head to Howard University in Washington, D.C., an NCAA Div. I program.
Jacob Coutant had back to back state swim meet tickets and flourished in his specialty; the butterfly and the 200 freestyle where he finished ninth and eighth, respectively, in Class 2A this year. Coutant heads to Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, an NCAA Div. I program.
For football, coach Tom Macpherson sends his two biggest offensive linemen; Silas Little and Cedric Flanders off to Southeastern University in Lakeland, FL, an NAIA program, for Little and Hutchinson Community College in Kansas for Flanders.
Wrestler Robert McGlynn was hampered by injuries in and out of his seasons and will head to St.Olaf College in Minnesota, an NCAA Div. III program.
And, finally, in a tradition strong at Orange Park, four cheerleaders; Jordyn Johnson, India Richards, Angelea Lopez and Keanan Restall will all head to Webber International University in Babson Park, FL, an NAIA program.