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College Offers Lagging For Blake Track Star

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By BILL WARD

wward@tampatrib.com

Published: March 9, 2009

TAMPA - She's been a top-three finisher at the Class 3A state finals in either the triple jump or long jump the past three seasons and will likely be on the awards podium again this year. She has the required grades and test scores. And she says she has the desire to continue competing in track and field after high school.

But for some reason she can't quite understand, Blake High senior Marissa McElveen says she just hasn't garnered much interest from college track coaches.

"I've turned in prospect questionnaires with some schools and haven't heard back from many of them," McElveen said. "I don't know what's going on."

McElveen had the top mark in the triple jump at Saturday's Nash Higgins Relays (36 feet, 5 inches) at Leto and she posted the second-best jump in the long jump at 17-2. At the state finals, McElveen has personal-best marks of 38-0.25 and 18-2.5. She says her No. 1 college choice is Louisville, but it could come down to who makes her the first offer.

NOTEWORTHY AT NASH HIGGINS: Two athletes who might have been overlooked in Saturday's county-wide Nash Higgins Relays were Hillsborough's Antoinie Eugene and Tampa Bay Tech's LeRia Jenrette.

The meet no longer gives out MVP awards but if it did, these two would have been in the running for the title. Eugene, a senior, competed in four relay events, all of which finished third or better. Jenrette, a junior, turned in the top throws in the discus (114-6) and shot put (85-4), leading the Titans to first place and third, respectively, in those two events.

WHARTON WINS KOWBOY MEET: Wharton's boys traveled to Kissimmee Osceola on Saturday and, to the surprise of Coach Wes Newton, won the 12-team competition by one point over Frostproof.

En route to the win, the Wildcats foursome of John Grellner, Nick Swain, Sean Obinwa and Gilbert Rodriguez turned in one of the nation's top 4x800 relay times of the season, 8 minutes 5.54 seconds. True, most states haven't even started the outdoor season yet, but in Florida, it's the state leader. The Wildcats also won the 4x400 with Obinwa and Rodriguez joining Chris Watson and Kevin Williams to run 3:26.70.

Wharton senior Amani Bryant was the girls MVP of the meet, winning the 100 hurdles (15.12) and 300 hurdles (44.88) and the long jump in a meet record of 17-10.

LOCALS HEADED TO NIKE INDOORS: Three of the county's top track athletes - Chamberlain senior Dentarius Locke and Jesuit's Connor Revord and Jordan Schilit - will compete in the prestigious Nike Indoor Nationals on Saturday at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. Locke is entered in the 60- and 200-meter dashes, Revord is slated to run the mile and Schilit is set to run the 5,000.

COMING UP: There's some good competition scheduled this week. Wednesday at Jesuit's track, coaches are hoping to stack the 800 when Sickles and Robinson come to the Tigers Den. In that race, Revord will chase Jesuit's school record held by former standout Mike Akins (now at Georgia) of 1:54.75. Revord has actually run faster - 1:53.48 at last year's All-Class Showdown. But since that was a postseason meet, the school has not recognized it as the record.

Joining Revord is an elite field: Dan and Derek Wehunt of Sickles, Darrin and Terril Gibson of Robinson and several of Revord's teammates who have run 2:00 or faster.

Saturday at King, the Charles Johnson Invitational will be staged. This meet should be competitive, with both Wharton and Hillsborough bringing boys and girls teams. Miami Springs and North Miami Beach are also expected, along with Pinellas powerhouse Countryside.

Reporter Bill Ward can be reached at (813) 259-7456.

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