TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Making Their Marks

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

Former Tampa Catholic outfielder Denard Span batted .294 in 93 games for the Twins in his first big-league season.

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOEY JOHNSTON

jjohnston@tampatrib.com

Published: December 27, 2008

It's not an all-inclusive list by any means, but here are 20 area athletes who made a mark in 2008:

JAVIER ARENAS (Robinson) - Starting junior cornerback for the Alabama Crimson Tide (12-1) was second-team All-SEC. Averaged 14.42 yards on punt returns, ranking 13th nationally and second in the SEC. Broke a 61-year-old single-game school record with 147 punt-return yards against Tulane (then he set another new record with 153 punt-return yards against Mississippi State).

CHIP BOWDEN (Durant) - The sophomore became starting quarterback at Army. In his first start, he rushed 34 times for 128 yards, the first 100-yard rushing game for an Army quarterback since 1999.

KELLIE CATANACH (Plant) - A freshman at Duke, she was named to the ACC's All-Freshman Team after leading the conference in assists (1,328 during the regular season).

DAMU CHERRY (Leto) - She made the Beijing Olympics and nearly earned a medal. In 100-meter hurdle finals, Cherry was fourth at 12.65 seconds - missing the bronze and silver medal by a hundredth of a second in a photo finish.

JOSH COLLAZO (Jefferson) - The Oklahoma Baptist junior first baseman was named Sooner Athletic Conference Player of the Year after smashing 22 home runs with an NAIA national-leading 100 RBIs.

CHRIS COLWILL (Tampa Prep) - Took fourth in 3-meter synchronized diving and 12th in the 3-meter springboard at the Beijing Olympics.

MAURICE CRUM (Tampa Bay Tech) - The senior linebacker was named Notre Dame's Most Valuable Player. He became just the ninth Irish player to reach 300 career tackles and was the 17th player in school history to twice be named Notre Dame's team captain.

RYLER DEHEART (Jesuit) - DeHeart, once the nation's No. 1-ranked college player at Illinois, reached the U.S. Open's second round, where he fell to top-seeded Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 on center court in a prime-time match.

BRENDAN DOMARACKI (Gaither) - The senior outfielder was part of Stanford University's College World Series team.

BRIAN DOPIRAK (Dunedin) - First baseman was named the Blue Jays' minor-league organization player of the year after batting .307 with 29 homers and 101 RBIs, mostly with Single-A Dunedin. Dopirak once was a promising prospect with the Cubs, but he was released after injuries seemingly derailed his career. Now he's back on the upswing.

LEGER DOUZABLE (Alonso) - The defensive lineman became the first player from Alonso to make an NFL roster when he was activated by the New York Giants in December.

TITO GONZALES (Blake) - His college football career will end today when West Virginia faces North Carolina at the Meineke Car Care Bowl. He didn't get many pass-catching opportunities - just six receptions for 152 yards (25.3-yard average) and one touchdown - in his final season. But Gonzales, based on his community service work, was named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team that will be honored at the Sugar Bowl. He also was selected the "Ideal Mountaineer Man" by the West Virginia coaching staff.

DEREK HATCHER (Berkeley Prep) - Hatcher, free safety for the Richmond Spiders, was named second-team All-Colonial Athletic Association. Richmond won the Division I-AA national championship.

MICHAEL JENKINS (Leto) - The Atlanta Falcons' fifth-year wide receiver has 46 receptions for 705 yards (15.3-yard average) and three touchdowns - his most productive NFL season - and an NFC playoff berth is yet to come.

JIMMY LIEPKALNS (Gaither) - Named captain of Emory University's crew team.

CHELSEA NAUTA (Tampa Prep) - As a freshman swimmer at Georgia, she earned All-America status three times during the NCAA national meet with performances in the 500 freestyle (sixth), plus the 400 freestyle relay (seventh) and 800 freestyle relay (fourth).

JANET OKOGBAA (Berkeley Prep) - The junior middle blocker started every match for Stanford University's NCAA national runner-up volleyball team.

GARY SHEFFIELD (Hillsborough) - Playing for the Detroit Tigers, he hit 19 homers to reach 499 for his career. More importantly (well, maybe), he also surpassed Fred McGriff's record (493) for career homers by a Tampa native.

DENARD SPAN (Tampa Catholic) - The outfielder batted .294 in 93 games for the Minnesota Twins in his first big-league season. Tied for sixth in American League Rookie of the Year voting.

MARCELLO TRIGG (Robinson) - Bucknell's junior quarterback was ranked fourth nationally in Division I-AA passing efficiency (67.1 completion percentage, 13 touchdowns, three interceptions) when he suffered a season-ending injury against Holy Cross.

Reporter Joey Johnston can be reached at (813) 259-7353.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT