• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About Us
  • Videos
    • Featured Video
    • Foodie Friday
    • Monthly ReCap
  • Online E-Editions
    • This Week’s E-Editions
    • 2023
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
  • Social Media
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
  • Advertising
  • Local Jobs
  • Puzzles & Games
  • Circulation Request

The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

  • Home
  • News
    • Land O’ Lakes
    • Lutz
    • Wesley Chapel/New Tampa
    • Zephyrhills/East Pasco
    • Business Digest
    • Senior Parks
    • Nature Notes
    • Featured Stories
    • Photos of the Week
    • Reasons To Smile
  • Sports
    • Land O’ Lakes
    • Lutz
    • Wesley Chapel/New Tampa
    • Zephyrhills and East Pasco
    • Check This Out
  • Education
  • Pets/Wildlife
  • Health
    • Health Events
    • Health News
  • What’s Happening
  • Sponsored Content
    • Closer Look
  • Homes
  • Obits
  • Public Notices
    • Browse Notices
    • Place Notices

Two Pasco County athletes earn national honors

November 17, 2010 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Hillsborough County group furthers their training

By Kyle LoJacono

Heather Haynie and Josh Melendez regularly compete for state and regional honors with Hillsborough County’s Paralympic Sport Tampa Bay club, but the two just received bigger recognition.

Heather Haynie working on the discus throw. (Photo by Becky Lehman)

The athletes, who both live in east Pasco County, were named to the first-ever High School All-American Track and Field Team. U.S. Paralympics, part of the U.S. Olympic Committee, selects the team.
Andy Chasanoff has been the club’s sports coordinator since it started eight years ago and coaches track and field.
“It’s tremendously exciting,” Chasanoff said. “It shows you the tremendous amount of effort and determination these athletes put into their sport.”
Haynie, 19, graduated from Zephyrhills High in the spring and won the first ever Florida High School Athletic Association Class I state shot put championship for disabled athletes May 7 with a toss of 26 feet, 7.5 inches. Along with making the team, she was also named the 2010 Girls Field Athlete of the Year for the discus and javelin throw and shot put events.
“Feels good,” Haynie said of earning the award and making the team. “It takes a lot of work.”
Haynie has been the shot put national champion for physically disabled athletes in her age group every year since she was in fifth grade.
Melendez, 18, also just graduated, but from Wiregrass Ranch High in Wesley Chapel and currently attends Pasco-Hernando Community College. He lives in Odessa.

Wiregrass Ranch graduate Josh Melendez was selected to the All-American team for the discus and javelin throw, shot put and long jump events. (Photo by Becky Lehman)

Melendez made the team for the javelin and discus toss, shot put and long jump events. He also competes in various running and swimming events.
“I’ve competed with the club for seven years and it’s pretty cool to make the team,” Melendez said. “It shows how the club has gotten bigger and better from years ago. We’ve got a lot more athletes and the coaches have made us all better.”
Melendez competed in cross country while at Wiregrass Ranch and his competitive nature is obvious.
“I just love the spirit of competition,” Melendez said. “When I’m in a race I’m just thinking finish strong and in a field event I’m focusing on what I’m doing.”
Haynie became disabled after a car accident when she was one week shy of her fifth birthday. She lost most of her legs in the crash. Melendez had a stroke while being born.
“I’ve been working with disabled athletes for about 30 years and I love doing it,” Chasanoff said. “The three who made it should be very proud of themselves because they are the best at what they do.”
Tampa resident Nigel Diaz, 14, was the third member of the club to make the team.
“They all practice two to three times a week, but they need to do a lot on their own to get to this level,” Chasanoff said. “I heard about them making the team a couple of weeks. Heather making the team didn’t surprise me because she’s truly the best in the country at what she does, but I was really happy for the other two.”
Cathy Sellers, director of High Performance Track and Field, said it was exciting the name this first All-American squad.
“We wanted to recognize these exceptional high school athletes and their efforts and let people know these are great, young Paralympic athletes,” Sellers said.
Hillsborough County’s club was also named the top local sports club in the nation earlier this year by U.S. Paralympics, according to county Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department spokesman John Brill. It was selected from more than 100 local clubs throughout the country.
“It’s a great recognition for the club,” Chasanoff said. “It clearly shows the kind of effort our coaches and athletes put into it.”

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Search

Sponsored Content

New Community Garden Arrives at Del Webb Bexley 

March 28, 2023 By Kelli Carmack

Exciting things are happening at Del Webb Bexley, the 55+ active adult residential community just off Sunlake Boulevard, … [Read More...] about New Community Garden Arrives at Del Webb Bexley 

TPA-Parkview-Myrtle

Imagine More at Mattamy Homes’ Area Communities

March 28, 2023 By Kelli Carmack

With every new home community, Mattamy Homes demonstrates their dedication to thoughtful details and meaningful value … [Read More...] about Imagine More at Mattamy Homes’ Area Communities

More Posts from this Category

What’s Happening

04/01/2023 – Bunny Hop Eggstravaganza

The Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex, 3032 Collier Parkway, will host a Bunny Hop Eggstravaganza on April 1 from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be bounce houses, games, music, food trucks, and scheduled egg scrambles. The event will be at the outside football fields and basketball court. Registration is required to participate in the egg scrambles. The cost is $3 per child. Children ages 2 to 10 can register with their age division and time frame at Secure.rec1.com/FL/pasco-county-fl/catalog. For questions, call 813-929-1220. … [Read More...] about 04/01/2023 – Bunny Hop Eggstravaganza

04/01/2023 – Cacti and Things

Kessler’s Cacti and Things will host its annual Spring Plant Sale on April 1 and April 2 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine, at Bearss Grove, 14316 Lake Magdalene Blvd., in Tampa. The event features thousands of plant varieties, and an assortment of specimen and collector’s plants. For information, email . For questions and directions, call 813-264-5614. … [Read More...] about 04/01/2023 – Cacti and Things

04/01/2023 – Dade City Art Walk

The Downtown Dade City Art Walk will take place April 1 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. There will be more than 20 art locations for guests to meet the artists and shop local artwork, as well as a little Pre-Casso Exhibit for young aspiring artists. There will be an opening ceremony at 5 p.m., along with a map distribution, at Florida Cracker Lunch on Limoges. … [Read More...] about 04/01/2023 – Dade City Art Walk

04/01/2023 – Easter Bash

Hope City Church, 5513 School Road in Land O’ Lakes, will host an Easter Bash on April 1, for the whole family. Admission is free. For information, call 813-948-7555. … [Read More...] about 04/01/2023 – Easter Bash

04/01/2023 – Food Truck Festival

An International Food Truck Festival will take place on April 1 and April 2 at the Tampa Premium Outlets, 2300 Grand Cypress Drive in Lutz, with more than 70 food trucks, tents and trailers, to benefit local charities. Admission is $5. For more information, call 727-674-1464. … [Read More...] about 04/01/2023 – Food Truck Festival

04/01/2023 – Historical Association

The Zephyrhills Historical Association will meet on April 1 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at the Zephyrhills Public Library, 5347 Eighth St. Participants can discover and discuss historical events, places and people of Zephyrhills and Pasco County. For information, call 813-780-0064. … [Read More...] about 04/01/2023 – Historical Association

More of What's Happening

Archives

 

 

Where to pick up The Laker and Lutz News

Copyright © 2023 Community News Publications Inc.

   
%d bloggers like this: