Daniels wins 100 to top trio bound for worlds
The First Academy graduate Teahna Daniels, who finished fourth in a fast NCAA Championship women’s 100-meter dash as a Texas senior last month, was a surprise winner against professionals at the USA Track and Field Championships on Friday at Drake University in Iowa.
Daniels was asked about falling short at the NCAA meet and rebounding to become the 2019 U.S. champion.
“That was all motivation. I feel like I needed that moment, just to humble me,” she said on national TV.
The victory qualified Daniels for her first IAAF World Championships in Dohar, Qatar, Sept. 28-Oct. 6.
Former Oviedo High great Jenny Simpson is headed to her sixth World Championships meet since 2009 after placing second in the women’s 1,500 in a time of 4 minutes, 3.41 seconds. And she’ll be joined by Lake Brantley product and NCAA champion Sinclaire Johnson, who placed fourth with a careerbest time of 4:03.72.
Johnson won the collegiate championship with an NCAA meet record time (4:05.98) in June as a junior for Oklahoma State.
Simpson, 32, was the World Championship winner in 2011 and silver medalist in 2013 and 2017. She’s also a three-time Olympian who was the bronze medalist at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. Calathes is Greek MVP: Former Lake Howell and UF basketball standout and 10-year pro Nick Calathes was named MVP of the Greek League for the third straight season.
Calathes, 31, averaged 14.0 points, 11.7 assists and 3.8 rebounds in the playoffs while leading Panathinaikos to its third consecutive league title. He was also a repeat All-Euro League top-five pick.
Calathes, who represents Greece in international competition, played two NBA seasons for the Memphis Grizzlies (2013-15) before returning to Europe. He is one of the highest-paid players in an overseas league, with an annual salary reported to be $2.55 million per year.
Rego back to Freedom: Former Freedom boys basketball coach Bobby Rego is back with the Patriots as athletic director. He took over for longtime A.D. Roy Peters, who retired at the close of the 2018-19 school year.
Rego was a basketball coach and then a co-athletic director at South Lake before returning to Freedom.
One of his first moves was to name Peter Blount as the Freedom cross country coach. Blount, who was inducted to the Florida Track Hall of Fame in 2013, coached Satellite to three straight girls state titles (2005-07) and led Dr. Phillips to a boys state runner-up finish in 2019.
Jeff Gray, an FSU Hall of Famer and former Major League relief pitcher, is Freedom’s new baseball coach.