Boys weight lifting: Colton Coss' state title helps Seminole Ridge to second-place finish

Friday, April 24, 2009

Colton Coss became the first Seminole Ridge weight lifter to win a state title, leading the Hawks to a second-place team finish Friday.

Coss benched 235 pounds and clean-and-jerked 180 to finish with a 415 total, 5 pounds better than the runner-up. Coss lost 11 pounds in the past two weeks to reach his competitive weight of 119.

"It's awesome, I'm loving it," said Coss, who finished third at last year's state finals. "(The lifts) weren't as clean as I would have liked them to be, but with the weight cut, I gave it my all, and that's all I needed."

Sean Rochefort (129 pounds) and Josh Hawks (199 pounds) each finished second for Seminole Ridge, which finished with 20 team points, behind only. Fort Walton Beach's 28 points.

"It's nerve-wracking being here," Seminole Ridge coach Justin Hilliker said. "All the sudden, you're not the top dog like you are in your section. I had an idea we could score 20 points, and that would put us in the hunt."

Boynton Beach's Charles Fredrick was the only other local medal winner as he lifted 580 total pounds to finish fourth at 169 pounds.

- Rick Harmon

Football

Stapleton takes over Boca Raton Christian: Kent Stapleton has replaced Bill Hood as head coach of the Blazers.

Hood, who started the program at the middle-school level in 1999 and coached the varsity team for eight seasons, resigned in January. The school did not make a formal announcement.

Hood, who went 17-51 as head coach, said he will stay involved in the program, primarily assisting players trying to earn college scholarships. There is also a possibility he could join Stapleton's staff as an assistant coach.

Stapleton previously coached the Boca Raton Christian girls basketball team.

- Jason Lieser

Baseball

Trinity Christian 4, Highlands Christian 0: Phildrick Llewellyn was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI as the Warriors (21-3) shut down the Knights in Pompano Beach.

St. Andrew's 5, Summit Christian 4: Brett Rose was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored to lead the Scots (13-10) past the Saints in Boca Raton.

Community Christian 14, Covenant Christian 4 (5): Josh Ebright was 2-for-4 with four RBI to lead the Cougars (14-11) to the rout of the Lions (6-5) in Stuart.