John McLean set himself up for success as a pro hockey player two years ago when he took advantage of an opportunity to play with the Pensacola Ice Flyers straight out of college.
Taf Bentley could spend all day talking about everything last year’s Navarre boys basketball team accomplished. The fourth-year head boys basketball coach of the Raiders could point to the school-record 17 wins, the district runner-up finish and the first trip to the regional in more than a decade.
Unfinished business has been the theme of Navarre’s football team this year. The Raiders still remember the sting of having their season end in the opening round of the playoffs a year ago when Tate came into Bennett C. Russell Stadium and stunned Navarre 23-22 in double overtime.
Behind the closed doors of Navarre’s locker room Friday night, there were no worries stemming from a 14-point deficit, no fear that a victory was out of reach.
As Austin Epstein prepared to head to soccer practice Monday afternoon, he took a few moments to reflect on what has been a stellar high school cross country career.
The Raiders shutout Fort Walton Beach by a 3 – 0 score on Oct. 26 and lost a 2 – 1 contest to Gulf Breeze on Oct. 29. Both games were played at the NYSA field.
Austin Epstein wasn’t in any shape to run just a couple of weeks ago. Navarre’s No. 1 cross country runner injured his foot, battling a heel problem that forced him to sit out the county meet in Milton in mid-October.
Practice starts with the players on Navarre’s boys soccer team running laps around the field. They follow that with pushups and situps and then run through a series of drills that involve running, weaving around obstacles and leaping over bars.
