Prose and Kohn: Sarasota college athletes had big 2020-2021 seasons

As successful as area high school athletes have been at the next level recent times, their collegiate success has grown.

Sarasota athletes in college have been more successful than ever in the 2020-2021 school season, with a handful of them even racking up acclaim from their conferences. 

Let's start with football. Former Booker High wideout Talik Keaton was named to the All-Conference USA First Team as a punt returner after another strong season at Marshall University. Keaton, a sophomore, led the conference with 6.8 yards per return. In eight games, Keaton had 17 catches for 175 yards and a touchdown on offense. 

Another former Tornadoes player, defensive tackle Jacques Bristol, played in all six of Central Michigan University's games in 2020. Bristol, a sophomore, doesn't rack up a lot of statistics because of his position, but he did record seven tackles — two tackles for loss — and a sack. I'm excited to watch Bristol when he and CMU open the season against my Missouri Tigers on Sept. 4. Another former Booker defensive tackle, Kelvin Pinkney, made a similar impact at the University of South Florida. The senior played in all nine of the Bulls games, recording 14 tackles — four tackles for loss — one sack and one pass breakup. 

Staying on the Bulls, freshman running back Brian Battie, a Sarasota High grad, finished his first college season strong. Battie had 46 carries for 332 yards (7.1 yards per carry) and a touchdown, plus four catches for 35 yards. Almost a third of his yards came in the team's final game against Central Florida, when he rushed for 102 yards. 

Former Riverview High defensive back Zahodri Jackson, had a strong junior season at Utah State. In five games, Jackson made four starts and had 20 tackles, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry. 

As good as this area is on the gridiron, let's not put all of the focus on football players. 

Former Rams boys basketball player A.J. Caldwell became a glue guy for the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. Caldwell averaged 4.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game in 21 minutes per game (33 games). He was second on the team in steals (22) and fourth in blocks (six). He also hit a buzzer-beating shot to give the Mocs a 67-65 win over East Tennessee State University. 

Sophia Hritz, a member of the state title-winning 2019 Cardinal Mooney volleyball team, got off to a good start as a freshman at Davidson College. Hritz played in all 13 of the team's matches as a defensive specialist (41 sets), recording 68 digs and eight kills. 

Former Sailors baseball catcher Ben McCabe started all 60 games for UCF. McCabe, a sophomore, hit .242 with 12 home runs, 11 doubles and 56 RBIs. He also had a .985 fielding percentage behind the plate. Fellow Sailors alumnus Alex Arauz hit .353 with six home runs and 47 RBIs as a junior for Faulker University, leading Faulkner to an NAIA World Series appearance. He was named to the All-Southern States Athletic Conference Second Team for his efforts. 

And, of course, former Rams softball player Devyn Flaherty had an outstanding year at Florida State. 

What's amazing is that none of these players was a senior, so they are setting records and earning conference honors with years left to improve on their contributions.

It speaks to both their natural talent and the level of coaching they received while growing up. We're lucky to have great leaders at youth and high school levels here. It makes the performances of these outstanding athletes all the more fun to watch.