Tate High senior Amy Waters signed a softball scholarship with Conference USA's University of Alabama at Birmingham last week.
Waters, an infielder, was among the Pensacola area's standouts as a junior, producing a .443 batting average, 19 RBIs, 18 doubles and three home runs. She was picked for the 2012 News Journal All-Area Softball First Team for her efforts.
Waters also was key in the Aggies' District 1-6A championship run. The title was the Aggies' first since the 2008-09 season.
UAB (17-7) finished second behind Tulsa (19-5) in last year's C-USA title race, while going 37-22 overall during the season. UAB participated in its third straight NCAA Division I tournament in 2012, ousted following losses to Virginia Tech and Tennessee at the Knoxville Regional.
Deason, Smith to sign with Brenau
Courtney Deason and Allie Smith have been playing volleyball together since they were in the eighth grade.
Now, the prep standouts will get to play together in college, too.
Deason, a senior at Catholic, and Smith, a Pace High senior, will sign scholarships with Brenau University, an NAIA school located in Gainesville, Ga., on Dec. 7.
"The girls were awesome, the team was awesome," said Deason, who was named the MVP for the West Team in the Subway High School All-Star Volleyball Game last week. "We both just loved it."
Smith was among the Patriots' offensive leaders this season -- despite playing with a fractured thumb since Sept. 17. Smith produced 198 kills, 72 blocks, 33 aces and added 93 digs to help buoy the defense.
Deason put away 112 kills and 30 aces on offense and made 151 digs on defense for the Crusaders.
FHSAA recognizes stunt as sport
The Florida High School Athletic Association Board of Directors voted last week to recognize stunt -- a competitive sport derived from cheerleading -- as a sport. Schools can begin competing in stunt during the next school year.
In stunt, teams compete head-to-head in a four-quarter game format. Each quarter focuses on one of four areas -- partner stunts, group jumps, pyramids and tosses and team performance. Scoring is based on difficulty, execution and synchronization.
Unlike competitive cheerleading -- which already is sanctioned by the FHSAA -- stunt will utilize a playoff system similar to one used for team sports. The state will be divided into four regions, and eight teams will advance to the region finals.
The region finals will be a single-elimination tournament held at one location per region. The region final winners will advance to the state finals.
Stunt's season will coincide with competitive cheerleading -- a winter sport.
Other FHSAA news
Pensacola High athletic director Marsha Regina was one of five who were appointed by the FHSAA Board to serve on the Representative Assembly as a public school representative.
The Representative Assembly meets yearly to consider and implement proposals to amend the FHSAA's bylaws. The Assembly is made up of 61 delegates, including 32 public high school delegates.
The Assembly cannot develop its own proposals, but considers proposals brought to the group by FHSAA member schools. A two-thirds majority vote is required to adopt any proposed amendment.
