Prep sports notes: Plant City's Coney commits to Cincinnati

Plant City High quarterback Bennie Coney made no secret Cincinnati was his favorite among dozens of Division I offers. Coney made his love of the Bearcats program official Monday when he verbally committed.

Coney is on track to graduate from Plant City in December, so he can early enroll at Cincinnati in time for spring workouts. Enrolling in January will allow him to learn the playbook faster.

Last month, Coney narrowed his list to five: Cincinnati, Louisville, Arkansas, Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh. He's the second Raiders player to commit to a Division I program this offseason after wide receiver Lamarlin Wiggins verbally committed to USF.

In other football news, for the second time this summer, Wesley Chapel's program lost an important offensive starter as running back Devon Henry left and will transfer to Freedom.

Henry, who led Wesley Chapel with 485 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns last season and has a scholarship offer from Bryant University in Rhode Island, was not with the team during spring drills.

A little more than a month ago, sophomore quarterback Alex McGough left to enroll at Gaither.

Volleyball

Berkeley Prep sophomores Kyle Dagostino and Sidney Brown and seniors Mackenzie Dagostino and Jordan Burgess helped their teams earn medals at the 2011 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships in Arizona last weekend.

Burgess, the 2010-2011 National Junior of the Year, won a gold medal with the USA Girls National Youth Team. Mackenzie Dagostino helped the USA Women's Junior A2 team win bronze in the Women's Junior International category

Kyle Dagostino and the USA Boys Select A1 White team won the bronze medal in the Boys National category. Brown helped the USA Girls Select A1 Blue team finish with the bronze in the Girls International Youth category.

Track and Field

Hillsborough junior Jeremiah Green placed seventh in the triple jump at the AAU Junior Olympic Championships in New Orleans.

Green, third at this year's Class 3A state championships in the triple jump, produced a lifetime best of 48 feet, 1 inch. The top eight all jumped 48 feet or better with the winner, Johnny Carter of Bakersfield, Calif., going 50-1.5.

Green, who is representing the Tampa Trailblazers Track Club, also qualified in the long jump and 100-meter dash events. The meet continues through Friday. Also competing in New Orleans is Hillsborough's Robert Wilson, who is in the 800 and relays for his club team, Florida Elite.