Page 13 - Florida Sentinel 4-5-16 Edition

Local Sports
All Boys Track And Field Team Wins Competition In Gainesville
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
Picking up on President Barack Obama’s theme for our young people, “My Brother’s Keeper,” Jonathan Terry decided to use that as a means of helping young Black males do some- thing positive in their lives.
In January 2015, Terry founded the MBK Track Club (My Brother’s Keeper), and he said the kids really love the program.
“I wanted to do something that would take them off the street, and give them something to do that they enjoyed,” said Coach Terry.
“I started off with five people, and I wanted an all-boys track and field team. We both want young men to become helpful and contributing members of society.”
Coach Terry said he gets kids into the pro- gram through word of mouth and right now, he and three coaches are training 30 young boys.
“I work with kids from 7-to-17. However, my 8- and-under team recently participated in their first big competitive track and field meet in Gainesville, and came in first.
“That feat gained a lot of attention to what we’re trying to do, and we’ve gotten a lot of exposure on a national level.”
Coach Terry said they start in December and end in August with the Junior Olympics that will
be held in Texas this year.
“The kids we work with go home after school,
do their homework, go through our study hall then practice starts. Right now, we’re training at Bar- rington Middle School.”
Coach Terry said all of his athletes live in the Brandon/Riverview area, and he’s looking at put- ting together an all girls team later on.
“It really makes me feel good to see the fathers coming out to support their sons. We also have camping trips and other outings the fathers are a part of.
“Most of my runners are sprinters and my coaching staff has done great work with them.”
Coach Terry’s winning 4X400 relay team consists of Silas Taylor, Angelo Robinson, Marcus Williams, and Marc-Anthony Stiff.
Marc-Anthony’s mother, Eboni Stiff said her son’s older brother and sister are involved in track and field, and that’s why he wanted to run.
“He’s been a part of the team since it started. Marc-Anthony does more than compete. Now he’s more involved in his chores at home, and help- ing out in the community.
“He sets goals for himself and he’s a much more rounded boy. He just turned 7, and is a lot more disciplined.”
Ms. Stiff said Marc-Anthony loves watching track and field on television and it’s a big part of his life now.
Coach Jonathan Terry with his winning team: Silas Taylor, Jr., Angelo Robinson, Marcus Williams, and Marc-Anthony Stiff.
Three Teenage Girls Die In Stolen Car
In a news conference where Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri displayed no com- passion, it was announced that three Black girls, one 16 and the other two 15, had drowned after being trapped inside of a stolen car.
Inside the car were Do- minique Battle, 15, Ashaunti Butler, 15, and Laniya Miller, 15.
According to Gualtieri, the girls stole a car from a Wal- mart in the area of 18th Street and 18th Avenue, South. A friend of the car’s owner had been asked to give the girls a ride but he reportedly made a quick stop at the Walmart to buy a television and left the girls in the car with the engine running.
When the owner came out and saw his car missing, he called police and reported it stolen.
Several hours later, a deputy saw the car driving with no headlights on Sunset Point Road. He tried to stop as it turned south on U. S. 19, but the vehicle refused to stop and the deputy was unable to get the car’s tag number.
Later, another deputy in an unmarked cruiser saw the car traveling in the area of Ulmer- ton Road. The car was within the speed limit and appeared
From top to bottom: Do- minique Battle, Ashaunti But- ler, and Laniya Miller.
to be driving normally, Gualtieri said.
That deputy did get the car’s tag number, and discov- ered it had been reported stolen, so he continued to fol- low as the car turned east on Gandy Boulevard.
A third deputy in a marked
cruiser was in the area and Gualtieri said he believes that’s why the driver sped through the red light. The deputy reported seeing the ve- hicle stopped by the side of the road, then it drove onto the Frontage Road and into the cemetery.
Gualtieri said the driver drove through the cemetery at between 30 and 35 mph, which he said was fast considering the cemetery has winding roads and no lighting. He also said the cemetery is a dead end.
The vehicle continued around the road to an area where I-275 becomes visible, and investigators believe the girls tough they could exit the cemetery in that direction.
At that point, Gualtieri said the vehicle left the road and without braking, drove straight into the pond. The ve- hicle’s windows were up, and within minutes, it was fully submerged.
Deputies reportedly went into the 15-foot deep pond after the girls an tired to get them out, but because the pond was thick and muddy, they were unable to do so.
When the car was pulled from the pond later, they found all three girls dead inside the car.
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