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Local Sports

  • NASCAR's eyes on her

    DAYTONA BEACH — When Danica Patrick walks through the garage areas at Daytona International Speedway, she is just “one of the guys.”

    But when she strolls through the Fan Zone area or past the Media Center at the race track, she is bombarded with requests for autographs and interviews.

    The 5-foot-2, 100-pound former open-wheel driver turned NASCAR driver has a lot of pressure on her to win races — and the fans, media, racing officials and other drivers are watching.

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  • Citrus boys win Lecanto Early Bird Invitational

    LECANTO — Tim Wenger can truly enjoy the track season in his final year of competing in high school sports.

    The Citrus High senior’s future is looking very good right now.

    Wenger knows that he will be signing a letter of intent for a track and field and cross country scholarship to the University of West Florida in Pensacola and he wore a big smile during the Lecanto Early Bird Track and Field Invitational on Tuesday.

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  • CRHS honors Hampton

    CRYSTAL RIVER — Crystal River High School honored perhaps its most famous alum Tuesday night in front of a large crowd before the Pirates’ varsity baseball game against visiting Brooksville Hernando.

    Mike Hampton, a 1990 CRHS graduate who enjoyed a successful 16-year career with five different Major League Baseball teams, was on hand to watch the school unveil a sign in left field reading “Welcome to Mike Hampton Field” in a rededication ceremony.

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  • Boys tennis cuts it close: Lecanto nips Citrus 4-3

    James Blevins
    Correspondent

    LECANTO — The Hurricanes and Panthers boys tennis teams fought for an edge in several tightly contested matchups that lasted longer than three hours Tuesday.

    A couple of boys found themselves in tiebreaker scenarios, but Lecanto came out on top with the narrow 4-3 team victory.

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  • Lady ’Canes pull out slim win against county rival Panthers with a final score of 4-3

    Justin Plante
    Correspondent

    INVERNESS — In regards to in-county rivalries, a sense of mutual respect always seems to be shared among participants. Such is the case for the Lecanto and Citrus girls tennis teams, who found themselves locked in a highly competitive match Tuesday night at Citrus High School.

    “We knew it would be tough going in,” Citrus coach Scott Waters said. “Lecanto’s doing very well this year, and I told the girls that this would be a tough match, and the scores definitely prove that.”

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  • Daytona 500 promises thrills, celebrities

    DAYTONA BEACH — When the green flag drops Sunday for the 54th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, fans, viewers and racing enthusiasts will get more than just the thrill of speed.

    The race usually guarantees nail-biting passes between drivers vying to lead a lap for extra points, tandem drafting and multi-car crashes. And NASCAR’s aerodynamic changes this year to the restrictor-plate race cars promise a competitive race — one drivers said will be decided by who gets the nose of the car over the finish line first.

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  • Pitchers’ duel: Pirates lose to Leopards

    CRYSTAL RIVER — On a night where former MLB pitcher and Crystal River graduate Mike Hampton threw out the first pitch to commemorate the Pirates’ new baseball field, it was fitting the game that followed turned out to be a pitchers’ duel.

    Crystal River and Hernando combined for seven scoreless innings before Leopards junior shortstop Christian Arroyo, who reached on a double down the third base line, scored in the eighth on a squeeze bunt by catcher Austin Treverton, lifting Hernando to a 1-0 victory in the teams’ district opener.

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  • Mistakes declaw Panthers in loss

    By Dave Pieklik

    LECANTO — Lecanto found the tourniquet to stop the bleeding but mistakes kept the Panthers from regaining life Tuesday night, as the girls softball team lost 6-2 to Central High School from Brooksville.

    A close game early on could have been a mauling by the visiting Bears (3-2, 1-0 district) if the Panthers (2-1, 0-1 district) had made a few more errors. Lecanto coach Robert Dupler said afterward the seven errors and four hits his team had were unacceptable. Only four runs Central scored were earned.

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  • Pirates outlast Eagles in four-hour marathon

    By Mike Maksymicz

    CRYSTAL RIVER — As the sun set and the air got cooler, the Crystal River boys tennis team finally beat the Gainesville’s Oak Hall 5-2. The victory gave the Pirates a 2-0 record at the onset of the season.

    “I was pleased with all the boys’ performances tonight,” Pirates head coach Bill Reyes said.

    In the beginning, the No. 1 singles match proved to be a challenge for Crystal River’s Brandon Papp.

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  • Protecting the field

    By Wayne Larsen

    If your club’s February and March schedule of events looks anything like Skyview at Terra Vista’s, chances are you are going to find yourself playing a lot of “competitive” golf over the next few months. This is the time of year most clubs hold their club stroke championship, match play championship, partner’s better ball and a host of numerous annual invitationals.

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