While other Santa Rosa County students were enjoying the first day of spring break, weightlifters from eight schools competed in the District 1-2A championship held March 18 in Navarre. Teams from Navarre, Pace and Pine Forest tied for first with 20 points each. Milton placed fourth with 15 points.

Raiders T. J. Woodberry, Kody Kelley, Nick Benton, Jay Warren and Marvin Darby advanced to a sectional meet April 3 at Fort Walton Beach; Dre Taylor and Colton Mapoles will attend as alternates.

For the complete story, see the March 28 issue of Navarre Press or subscribe online.

The current crop of Navarre High School track and field athletes were overmatched at Florida State University Relays last weekend in Tallahassee, but some former Raiders had more success.

Sabrina Seignemartin, a 2009 NHS grad and a senior on the University of West Florida Argonauts cross country team, placed eighth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 12 minutes, 24.99 seconds. Her finish was the best by an Argonaut at the prestigious competition.

"Sabrina ran really well on Friday," UWF cross country coach John Bergen said. "She was only 14 seconds off her own school record. For her to put that kind of performance together in her first race of the spring is pretty good."

Cody Haden, a 2011 Navarre graduate, finished 20^th in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:43.16.

Distance runners also provided the only bright spots for Navarre in the high school division of the FSU Relays. Tanner Wilcox and Jonah Griego finished eighth and ninth, respectively, in the 1,600-meter consolation run and the Raiders 4 x 800-meter relay team of James Mullin, Trent Beck, Dominic Dudai and Wilcox placed ninth. Wilcox finished the course in 4:30.54 and Griego in 4:37.99. The Raiders’ relay team’s time was 8:16:45.

The Raiders are scheduled to compete at 9 a.m. today, Thursday, March 28, at the EscaRosa Championships at Booker T. Washington High School in Pensacola. Navarre will participate in the Andrews Invitational in Gulf Breeze on Thursday, April 4; the District 1-3A meet is April 19 at Washington’s track in Pensacola.

West Florida’s cross country teams will compete Friday and Saturday at the University of North Florida Invitational in Jacksonville. For information on all UWF athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.

Florida Youth Soccer Association coaches recently selected Robert Holderman IV, a Holley-Navarre Middle School seventh-grader, to play on its Olympic Development Program team for players born in the year 2000.

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Southern Raceway in Milton is returning to the NeSmith Chevrolet Old Man’s Garage Weekly Racing Series for the 2013 season. Southern Raceway officials are currently putting together a schedule for their Crate Late Model Division during the 27-week season for the series that began March 25 and runs through Sept. 29.

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Coastal Paddle Co. will host the second Five
Flags Paddle Board Classic beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 20, at the Grand
Marlin Pensacola Beach.

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MOTOR SPORTS

NASCAR driver hospitalized

Denny Hamlin suffered a compression fracture in his lower spine during a last-lap crash while racing for the win against former teammate Joey Logano, and Joe Gibbs Racing gave no indication Monday how long its driver could be sidelined.

"I just want to go home," Hamlin tweeted from a hospital in Southern California. He later posted a photo of himself giving a thumbs-up and appeared to be wearing a back brace.

The team said he had what is called an L1 compression fracture; essentially, the first vertebra in the lumbar section of his spine collapsed.

Hamlin was released from the hospital Monday night, and JGR said he'd return to North Carolina to be evaluated by Dr. Jerry Petty of Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates. A reporter from USA Today spoke to Hamlin outside the hospital and reported Hamlin, wearing a back brace, walked out on his own.

NASCAR does not race this weekend, but returns to action April 7 at Martinsville Speedway, where Hamlin, who is 10th in the Sprint Cup standings, is a four-time winner.

MISC.

Table tennis tournaments

The Pensacola Table Tennis Club recently announced it will host Pensacola’s USO Open starting at 9 a.m. April 13 at the Fricker Community Center, 901 North E St. in Pensacola. For more information, call 436-5195.

RUNNING

The Pensacola Sports Association is accepting registrations for the Pensacola Marathon, which will be run Sunday, Nov. 10. The 2012 marathon sold out for the first time in its history with 1,500 runners competing in the marathon and 800 running in the half-marathon.

The race begins and ends at Veteran's Memorial Park on the Pensacola Bay front, then winds its way along a 13.1 mile circuit of the city for the half marathoners and a full 26.2 loop for the full marathon.  The course features historic neighborhoods, the downtown district, scenic water views, cliffs, bands, and cheering Pensacolians.  The finish line is next to Pensacola Wall South, the only replica of the National Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

For those runners still needing to qualify for the Boston Marathon, the Pensacola Marathon is a quality certified course. For full details on the race visit the Pensacola Marathon website at marathonpensacola.com or call (850) 434-2800. Runners can register online at www.marathonpensacola.com, by completing and returning the form printed from the website or in person at Running Wild in Pensacola.

SOFTBALL

Adult softball

The City of Milton is accepting signups for adult spring softball leagues. Spring softball league play will include a co-ed league on Mondays, church league on Tuesdays, a men’s league on Wednesday, and a church co-ed league on Thursday’s. Cost is $350 per team with play getting underway April 8. For more information, call Robert Arnold at the Milton Community Center at 983-5466 or go to the city’s website, www.ci.milton.fl.us.