Countryside defensive back Alex Dixon picked up an offer from Purdue Tuesday.

Dixon, a 6-1, 180-pound junior, is one of two blue chippers on the Cougar roster this season along with offensive tackle Tyler Moore. Both players have more than a dozen offers each.

The Pinellas County Athletic Conference baseball teams have been announced. The teams, divided into North and South divisions, are for public school players and are selected by the coaches.

North Division

First team

Pitchers: Alex Norris (Dunedin), Tim Lamoureux (Seminole), Kraig Richmond (Clearwater); Infielders: Casey Turgeon (Dunedin), Sean O’Brien (Clearwater), Joey Krehbiel (Seminole), Wes Sargent (East Lake), Tyler Kellman (East Lake); Outfielders: Morgan Cowan (East Lake), Michael Tipton (Dunedin), Max Cameron (PHU), Brian Gilman (Clearwater); Catcher: Danny Torres (Countryside); Designated hitter: Kyle Perry (Countryside); Utility: Mike Clarkson (Dunedin).

Second team

Pitchers: Brian Johnson (East Lake), Jordan Doyle (Seminole), Matt Freburg (Tarpon Springs). Infielders: Kenny Keenan (PHU), Drew Posavec (East Lake), Cameron Lima (Seminole), Matt Kizer (PHU), Ben Emery (Dunedin); Outfielders: Chris Ruggiero (Tarpon Springs), Alex Libby (Dunedin), Chase Smith (Dunedin), Brett Phillips (Seminole); Catcher: Jordan Savinon (Dunedin); Designated hitter: Tommy Grill (Tarpon Springs); Utility: Alex McGathey (Seminole).

Countryside freshman quarterback Jake Hood has been invited to the Steve Clarkson Dreammaker Tour final May 29-30 in Santa Barbara, Calif.

According to Cougars coach Jared Davis, Hood was the only freshman invited from an Orlando stop to the reality show finale, which has also invited Jefferson’s Quentin Williams and Plant City’s Bennie Coney. If the Cougar frosh impresses enough, Hood could move on to the Clarkson summer camp in Maui.

Hood threw 12 touchdown passes last season (with just two interceptions) to lead the Cougars junior varsity to a 6-1 record.

TAMPA — Plant RB/DE/LB James Wilder Jr. will probably take his recruiting journey right down to the wire, but a short list should be emerging this summer.

Wilder has already been quoted a few times as saying his top five teams are Florida, FSU, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Alabama, but he came off that last week.

“I’m so-so there, I’m pretty open,” he said. “I want to take more visits before I start judging a top five.”

Does that mean Wilder has changed his mind? Probably not.

Most likely, he was told it’s bad business at this point in the game to be ruling out anybody. Colleges and coaches are sensitive in this process, and lists make them nervous.

“Pretty much … I probably shouldn’t do that,” he laughed.

Wilder seems more reluctant to come off his insistence on playing running back, though. Again, those around him would prefer he stay mum on that topic — he has been offered scholarships by all as a linebacker — and he tried to walk back from it a little, but clearly his heart is set on running the ball. He said it has always been his preference, but until last year he really never got the opportunity to do it full time.

His three-game stretch in the playoffs — vs. Countryside, Lakeland and Manatee — featured a highlight video run or two in each game, as well as big yardage and touchdowns. If anything, Wilder’s most memorable football moments, the ones that have earned him his greatest fame, are those playoff carries.

So while on one hand he says, “I don’t really know yet. I’m on the running back side,” on the other he says schools that run the ball ultimately have the inside track to his signature.

So when it comes to Wilder and his future, we can all pretty much agree with him when he says: “I think I should play what I want to play.”

SOMEBODY’S WATCHING: You can debate the merits of trickle-down economics, but there is no debate about the effect of trickle-down recruiting. Just ask Robinson’s Richie Reay.

Last week, Reay picked up his first scholarship offer, from Florida International, after an FIU coach saw him practice for 15 minutes. He wasn’t there to watch Reay in particular but rather the bevy of top recruits the Knights’ roster boasts, such as receivers Frankie Williams and Ruben Gonzalez, linebacker Tevin Newman and running back J.J. Hubbard.

“We’ve had some success here with our juniors, and as a result colleges are out here watching,” Robinson coach Mike DePue said. “That’s a great opportunity for someone else.”

Reay, who was an out-of-shape 213 pounds last summer before hitting the gym and packing on 40 pounds of muscle, said he was counting on getting noticed by coaches that were out to see other players.

“When I knew that Ruben and Frankie were going to get recruited, I was thrilled,” he said.

Spring is also a golden time for underclassmen on stacked teams to get noticed. Sophomores such as Jefferson’s Tyriq McCord (South Carolina verbal last week), Plant’s Antonio Crawford and Plant City’s Dazmond Patterson really have a chance to land on some big-time radars.

“You have to go hard every practice, and even harder during games, but the colleges will be out there watching,” Reay said.

OBSERVATIONS: Chamberlain’s Reshay Hubbard has a nice middle linebacker build, and while he needs to get quicker and faster, he has enough speed that he should be a threat at fullback this season as well.

Plant’s Drew Madhu, a 6-1, 185-pound defensive back, is an excellent athlete and looks like a future standout, and his coaches think he can be “special.”

Carrollwood Day School’s Mak Djulbegovic is getting some Division I-A interest. He is 6-foot-5, 250 pounds and raw. But with former Bucs coach Jon Gruden coaching him up this season, he could evolve into a solid prospect.

Read More…

St. Petersburg junior Edward Corty and Northeast sophomore Danielle Collins mastered the local scene before marching to state.

Girls

Player of the year

Danielle Collins, So., Northeast

Why we picked her: Collins is the most dominating girls player to hit the county scene in quite some time. Playing her first year of high school tennis, she was rarely tested during the regular season and won the district singles title in a 6-1, 6-1 breeze. At the Class 3A state tournament, Collins dropped three games to win the individual singles title, then rallied to defeat Gibbs’ Akilah James in three sets for the overall singles championship.

Most impressive accomplishment: Collins’ punishing groundstrokes and pinpoint serve were slightly off kilter in the 3A final against James, and the sophomore phenom found herself trailing 1-0 in the second set after dropping the first 6-4. That deficit would have rattled most players, but Collins collected herself, then began connecting, winning nine straight games to take complete control of the match.

Did you know? In April, Collins earned the No. 1 ranking in the nation in the USTA girls 18 division. Having already played well at a handful of professional tournaments, Collins said she will decide entering her senior year whether she wants to play tennis in college or turn pro.

First team

Morgan Basil, Sr., Shorecrest	Hard-hitting senior will play for Boise State in the fall
Emily Dvorak, Jr., St. Petersburg	Led Green Devils to region final and qualified for state in doubles
Akilah James, Sr., Gibbs	Brooklyn transfer helped the Gladiators reach state for the first time in program history
Julia Jones, So., St. Petersburg Catholic	Powerful baseliner and district champ was the engine behind the Barons’ second-place finish at state (Class A)
Julia Sikorski, Fr., Seminole	Won a district (4A-6) title and reached the individual singles final at state in her first season

Second team

Agatha Ambrozy, So., St. Petersburg

Alyssa Bellini, Sr., St. Petersburg Catholic

Natalie Boruk, So., Countryside

Yasmin Franco, Fr., Indian Rocks Christian

Laura Ospina, Jr., East Lake

Honorable mention

Countryside: Alex Kitchen

East Lake: Raquel Moya

Gibbs: Lindsay Hodgdon

Northside Christian: Carolina Barnett

Palm Harbor University: Samantha Azadian, Julia Teytelbaum

St. Petersburg: Sunshine Beba

St. Petersburg Catholic: Jerica Coley

Seminole: Calyn Madsen

Coach of the year

Brett Hayman, St. Petersburg Catholic

Had to juggle his lineup at state because of an injury but calmly led the Barons to a second-place finish in Class A.

Read More…

Countryside High School

SIZE: 6-4, 270

OFFERS OF NOTE: Colorado State and Kansas offered Pierson before spring practice, and Youngstown State may be taking a close look.

THE SKINNY: Pierson and No. 2 Tyler Moore, bookend tackles for the Cougars, should head up one of the top lines in Tampa Bay in 2010.

8. DB, WR Alex Dixon,

Countryside High School

SIZE: 6-1, 185

OFFERS OF NOTE: Wake Forest was the last of five to offer the Cougar last week.

THE SKINNY: Dixon is long and physical and has great speed. He could eventually grow into a safety, but for now he’s one of the top lockdown guys around.

Countryside freshman quarterback Jake Hood has been invited to the Steve Clarkson Dreammaker Tour final May 29-30 in Santa Barbara, Calif.

According to Cougars coach Jared Davis, Hood was the only freshman invited from an Orlando stop to the reality show finale, which has also invited Jefferson’s Quentin Williams and Plant City’s Bennie Coney. If the Cougar frosh impresses enough, Hood could move on to the Clarkson summer camp in Maui.

Hood threw 12 touchdown passes last season (with just two interceptions) to lead the Cougars junior varsity to a 6-1 record.

(VIDEO!) Tyler Moore will listen, but firm on Nebraska

Posted on Friday, May 14, 2010 at 4:13 p.m.

http://hometeam.tampabay.com/recruiting/2010/may/14/video-tyler-moore-will-listen-firm-nebraska/

WINTER PARK — Thea Linkfield had modest goals in the 100-meter hurdles.

The Countryside senior was seeded 13th in the preliminaries and wanted to make up enough ground to reach the final. If she accomplished that, she hoped to not finish last.

She surpassed all her expectations Saturday at the Class 4A state meet in Winter Park.

Not only did Linkfield reach the final, she finished fourth with a personal-record 14.87 seconds, the first time she ran under 15 seconds in her career.

“I definitely surprised myself with what I was able to do,” Linkfield said. “I felt so good in the preliminaries and finals.”

The event Linkfield was aiming for a top-four finish in was the 300 hurdles. She accomplished that, too, taking fourth in 44.27 seconds, another personal record.

“I got off to a good start in the finals, but my form was a little off,” Linkfield said of the 300. “I was trying to get my time in the low 44s, and that was what I was able to do.”

The other girls place-winners in the county were Clearwater’s Courtney O’Donoghue, who was sixth in the pole vault (10 feet), and East Lake’s Alicia Aldridge, seventh in the 800 meters (2 minutes, 19.94 seconds).

On the boys side, Seminole distance runner Chase Sutton was the highest place-winner, taking third in the 1,600 in 4:16.18.

Sutton was coming off a first-place finish at region, where he used a devastating kick to make up enough ground to win. He used the same strategy Saturday, stalking the pacesetters before making his move.

But he didn’t have enough to leapfrog John I. Leonard’s Ryan Pickering and Miami Columbus’ Armando Del Valle, who took first and second, respectively.

“I was pleased because this was my first year running the 1,600,” Sutton said. “Pickering was out too far. I tried to kick and catch Armando, but he was able to pull it out (for second, by just over 1 second).”

Countryside’s boys team, which won district and region titles, had its depth thinned Saturday so much it had to focus on individual titles.

The Cougars’ had three place-winners in individual events. Derek Messmore was seventh in the 400 (50.50), Ricy Brown was eighth in the 800 (1:56.69) and Parker Polgar was eighth in the pole vault (13 feet).

Brown teamed with Matthew Worner, Jacob Hermann and Kostas Fotopoulos on the 4×800 relay that took fourth (7:54.35). In the 4×400, Brown, Hermann and Messmore combined with Wylan Bernitt to finish seventh (3:21.20).