The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Kevin Weiss

Getting and staying fit in 2017

By

Getting in shape can be tough.

Staying there can prove even tougher.

With the New Year in full swing, many aspire to drop a few pounds, tone up, or just live a healthier lifestyle.

A group from Wicked Awesome Racing waits to begin the bicycle ride at Trail Jam, an event held in June at the Hardy Trail in Dade City.
(File)

A recent survey by the Saint Leo University Polling Institute found that 61.8 percent of 1,001 respondents hope to lose weight in 2017. Additionally, 32.4 percent of the surveyed adults vowed to exercise more throughout the New Year.

Those ambitions, however, are often easier said than done.

Only about 8 percent of Americans follow through with New Year’s Resolutions, according to a commonly cited statistic by the University of Scranton. The study, moreover, shows 92 percent of people abandon those resolutions within 30 days.

For one, it takes about six weeks to develop and form a habit, said Dr. Christopher Wolfe, an assistant psychology professor at Saint Leo.

“It’s easy to make the resolution and hard to keep with it,” Wolfe said, “because there’s not that ongoing incentive of the holiday — the sort of social tradition of making a resolution. Then, you’re kind of left to your own individual drive to complete it.”

For many, just even launching a resolution — like getting in better shape — is difficult.

“People need something to kind of pull them through that first initial phase,” Wolfe said.

A positive support system — friends or family— is one way to do so, Wolfe said.

“Social support is one of the big factors in all areas, where people are trying new things,” he explained. “You want someone who’s kind of on a similar journey—someone you can kind of be compatible with and accountable to.”

Samantha Taylor, owner and head trainer of Pure Health and Fitness Studios in Land O’ Lakes, concurs.

“Accountability is huge,” Taylor said. “If you just answer to yourself, sometimes we let ourselves off the hook. But, if you have accountability, and you’re plugged into a support group with other people that are headed in the same direction, that’s another huge thing that I find that people need for success.”

So, too, is tempering initial expectations.

Fitness newcomers, Taylor said, should slowly build up a workout regimen.

Even a 30-minute routine just a few times a week is a solid program.

“A lot of people overdo it,” Taylor said, “and get really sore. Then they’re just so sore, they’re like, ‘Oh, I can’t do that anymore.’”

To maintain consistency, Taylor advises people should track workouts on a calendar.

“You can look at it on a weekly basis and make sure you’re actually doing what you said you were going to do,” Taylor explained.

To maximize fitness results, gym-goers should combine cardio and resistance training.

Quick, explosive movements across short periods often prove most effective, said Carrie Kukuda, owner of Get A Grip Total Fitness in Lutz.

“I’m a firm believer of mixing high-intensity interval training,” Kukuda said, “because the after-burn is more effective, and you can work out less.”

She added: “You don’t have to live at the gym; you don’t have to live on machines.”

Breaking a sweat is just one part of the fitness equation, however.

A proper diet, too, is a major factor in shedding body fat and unwanted pounds.

“It’s 80 percent how they’re eating,” Taylor said. “If they start a fitness program, but they don’t adjust their food, then they’re not going to see their weight-loss results that they want.”

Taylor recommends eliminating sugar, and incorporating more low-glycemic foods.

“Start your day with protein and fats, instead of carbohydrates,” she said. “Most people have like pastries, cereal, breakfast oatmeal, stuff like that — and that’s really going to spike your blood sugar.”

Eating clean is also imperative.

“If you’re going to count anything, count the ingredients — not the calories,” Kukuda explained. “Avoid artificial sweeteners and processed foods; it’s another thing that your liver has to detoxify, and anytime you put something in your body that’s unhealthy, your liver turns off fat burning, and goes and takes care of that first.”

In reaching your ultimate objective, experts suggest setting more short-term, achievable goals.

“Have a goal in mind, and then work it backwards and look at the habit that you would need to accomplish that end goal,” Kukuda said. “And, stay away from perfection, because you’re not going to be perfect.”

When a goal is achieved, reward yourself with a gift.

“And, not like a brownie fudge Sundae,” Taylor said, earnestly. “A massage, a new outfit or something…tangible to shoot for.”

Some tips for getting fit and staying healthy in 2017:

  • Partner with a buddy or fitness group
  • Set short-term, achievable goals
  • Start slow, and don’t over do it
  • Balance cardio and resistance training
  • Limit sugary and high-glycemic foods
  • Consume clean, unprocessed foods
  • Track your workouts and progress
  • Think positively
  • Reward yourself

Published January 11, 2017

Former Academy hoops star hits 2,000 career points

By

Former Academy at the Lakes star Audra Leipold recently scored her 2,000th career point. The junior guard now plays for Seffner Christian Academy.
(File)

Former Academy at the Lakes girls basketball star Audra Leipold, now a junior point guard at Seffner Christian Academy, scored her 2,000th high school career point on Dec. 31, during the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational. The milestone came just two weeks after she tallied her 500th career assist. Leipold was a four-year starting guard at Academy of the Lakes before transferring to Seffner Christian last July. The dexterous 5-foot-8 point guard is currently averaging 12 points per game at Seffner Christian, one year after she led AATL in scoring at 24.8 points per game.

Freedom High guard joins 1,000-point club

By

Freedom High’s Megan Clark scored her 1,000th career point on Dec. 31.
(File)

Megan Clark, a senior guard at Freedom High School, notched her 1,000th high school career point on Dec. 31, during the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational. A four-year varsity player, the 5-foot-9 Clark is averaging 22.7 points per game for the Patriots this season. She’s also averaging 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 steals per game. Clark committed to play collegiate hoops at Tennessee Tech University last June.

Academy of the Lakes player selected to national team

By

Academy at the Lakes sophomore Alexis Kilfoyl has been selected to the 2017 USA Softball Junior Women’s National Training team.
(Courtesy of Academy at the Lakes)

Academy at the Lakes sophomore pitcher/infielder Alexis Kilfoyl has been selected to the 2017 USA Softball Junior Women’s National Training (JWNT) team. Kilfoyl, a University of Alabama commit, was one of 24 athletes chosen after a two-day nationwide selection process by the Women’s National Team Selection Committee. Kilfoyl and her new teammates will compete in a training camp and exhibition games in Oklahoma City at the World Cup of Softball XII. From there, the final roster for the 2017 USA Softball JWNT will be narrowed down to 17 players. The 17-player roster will then compete at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Junior Women’s World Championship from July 24 to July 30 in Clearwater.

In her freshman season, Kilfoyl won 11 games, compiling a 1.36 ERA and striking out 163 batters in 103 innings. At the plate, Kilfoyl batted .561, hitting three home runs, along with six doubles and 20 RBIs.

Piano enthusiast opens Lutz store

By

Michael Pratt never owned a piano as an adolescent.

He now owns a shop full of them.

Last month, the 45-year-old Pratt opened Picarzo Pianos, 23916 State Road 54 in Lutz.

Michael Pratt opened Picarzo Pianos in December. Located off of State Road 54, the Lutz shop offers upright and grand pianos made by both Hailun and Steinway.
(Kevin Weiss/Staff Photos)

As one of the few piano dealers in the Tampa area, the small, boutique shop specializes in Steinway and Hailun grand and upright pianos.

The store also offers restored, early 20th century pianos, with relics built as far back as 1904.

For the Land O’ Lakes resident, the new store is a labor of love — and a dream come true.

As a young boy growing up in New York, Pratt had a curiosity about the acoustic, stringed musical instrument. Though his family never owned a piano, he always made an effort to bang on some of the 88 keys whenever he visited friends’ houses.

“I didn’t really know much about what a piano was,” Pratt said. “I would just hit the key…and I would just hear that sound in the air, and it’s like: ‘What a unique noise.’”

He added: “I was just in love with playing it, creating music, creating something — a sound from nothing.”

As he grew older, his fascination didn’t waver.

Upon graduating from New York City’s Columbia University, Pratt owned a synthesizer and a digital piano. He eventually worked his way up to an upright piano, and then a 7-foot Kawai grand.

He moved to Tampa in 2003.

That’s when Pratt began collecting used Steinway pianos.

He would have the instruments refurbished, and sell to customers nationwide through eBay.

Meanwhile, he searched far and wide for “unloved” pianos to fix up.

The hobby, Pratt said, proved “very rewarding.”

“I love helping people,” Pratt said. “I help one family get rid of an instrument that they had no use for, and I help get it to another family who loved it and wanted to start the joy of music.”

Over the course of a decade, his side business outgrew his house.

Michael Pratt also sells restored and refurbished pianos from the 20th century.

Pianos could be found in just about every part in the downstairs of Pratt’s home. To his wife’s chagrin, Pratt placed them in the living room, the dining room and even in the garage.

“When I put another upright in the family room — next to the TV — that’s when my wife was like, ‘What are you doing?’”

That’s when the idea for opening a local piano store was born.

“My wife was going to throw me out,” he said, jokingly.

Pratt initially figured he would just use the Lutz storefront to stock his excess pianos, alongside 14 new Hailun models.

He has plans of grandeur in mind, however.

The storeowner dreams the showroom will become a hangout amongst other piano lovers in the neighborhood.

“I want the piano players in this area to have a resource,” he said. “We can congregate, we can talk; they can play some amazing pianos, and we can just have an amazing time.”

He continued: “At some point, I’d like to have concerts here — try and get 50 people sitting down and listening to a top quality piano player.”

Pratt, too, hopes the store will serve as a springboard for reviving youth music education. In fact, he’s already designated three back rooms for piano lessons.

“The idea is to offer a place for local piano teachers to one day teach local students,” he said. “I believe that kids in the neighborhood should learn music; I think it’s been dying out.”

He added: “Music is…just an important part of life, and to see classical music and stuff fading — I just want to bring it back somehow.”

Despite a hectic schedule that includes a full-time career in the health care industry, Pratt still makes an effort to play the keys everyday.

Though, he admits he’s “not very good.”

“I play just for the enjoyment,” Pratt said. “In fact, I think my 8-year-old has surpassed me; I hear him playing Christmas songs, and I feel like, ‘Oh, my goodness, he’s better than I am.’”

Pratt’s preferred music of choice — anything classical.

He noted he has a particular appreciation for compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven.

“That’s music,” he said. “You hear it, and it just sounds interesting; more so than the current popular music that’s out there that’s three chords — that’s got its place, too.”

Yet, Pratt’s also a fan of more contemporary 20th century composers, like Michael Feinstein, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and Rodgers & Hammerstein.

“I fell in love with that kind of music,” he said.

To Pratt, all acoustic pianos are “living instruments.”

Two identical models, for example, can have a “completely different tone and pitch,” Pratt said.

It’s another reason he remains enamored by them.

“It has its own character; every one has a unique personality,” he said. “They’re just gorgeous instruments.”

Picarzo Pianos is open for daily appointments between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Regular store hours are Wednesdays from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more information, visit Picarzo.com, or call (813) 586-3320.

Published January 4, 2017

Former Wesley Chapel track star encourages kids to run

By

A Pasco County track legend is sharing his passion of the sport he still loves.

His name is Bernard “BB” Roberts.

And, he’s encouraging more kids to run — fast.

He knows a little something about that.

Bernard ‘BB’ Roberts started the Speed Starz Track Club in 2013. The USA Track and Field member club is open to all youths, ages 4 to 18.
(Courtesy of Bernard ‘BB’ Roberts)

Roberts, now 31, still claims five sprinting records at Wesley Chapel High School — 100-meter dash, 200-meter, 400-meter, 4×400-meter relay and the sprint medley.

As a high school senior in 2004, Roberts ran the fastest 100 (10.64) and 200 (22.65) in Pasco County. A four-time Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) state qualifier, Roberts finished fifth in the 400 meters (50.40) at the 2002 Class 2A state finals. In 2003, he finished 12th, but recorded a faster 400 meter time (50.33).

Also a standout football player, Roberts was a jack-of-all-trades. He was a running back, defensive back and kick returner for the 2003 Wildcats (10-1), arguably one of the program’s best teams ever.

Roberts’ prep athletic career was enough to earn him a track scholarship at Coffeyville Community College, an intimate junior college in southeast Kansas.

Since then, he’s been busy— teaching the sport he excelled in.

Roberts organized the Speed Starz Track Club in 2013, and simultaneously created a sports training company — Fast, Sprint, Quick Athletic Performance LLC.

Speed Starz is now a USA Track and Field (USATF) member club.

It had humble beginnings, starting with only about four youths.

From there, it’s grown markedly.

Roberts now regularly trains more than a dozen kids, ranging from ages 4 to 18.

His pupils come from all over Pasco, including Dade City, Zephyrhills, Wesley Chapel, Wiregrass and Land O’ Lakes.

Each year, they compete in about six or seven USATF meets from February through June, concluding with a national championship.

The club will soon begin practice twice a week at Wiregrass Ranch High, in advance of the upcoming season.

Speed Starz is open to all youth, of all abilities.

“Anybody can join,” said Roberts, also a former track coach at Pasco High. “I’m just trying to encourage kids to run track.”

And, hopefully, help them reach their athletic potential.

Track and field, Roberts said, complements other sports that require sprinting.

“It’s a sport that helps you get fast,” said Roberts.

It also potentially opens the door for more scholarship opportunities, he said, because many colleges recruit athletes — particularly football players — to compete in both disciplines.

“If you’re fast, you’re fast,” Roberts said.

And, the younger that kids start running track, the greater chance of becoming elite. Roberts noted the largest developmental strides are usually made between the ages of 10 to 15.

“If you start at an early age now, you’ll be better at it at a later age,” Roberts explained. “Then you’re able to (master) some of the events.”

With 16 total events, middle school and high school track teams often have a need for sizable rosters.

That means plenty of opportunities for involvement are available, serving as a contrast to other team sports — like baseball.

“Not everybody can make a baseball team nowadays,” Roberts said. “Baseball has a limited roster; sometimes kids can’t play baseball.”

But, that’s not the case with track and field.                                                                                  “I can train anybody to run,” he said, unequivocally.

Another benefit of track and field — especially from a parent’s point of view — is the relatively low risk of serious injury.

Because of that, Roberts said more families have recently inquired about Speed Starz, in an effort to steer their children away from contact sports, like football.

“People are running from the sport of football,” he said, “because of concussions nowadays. A lot of times parents don’t want their kid playing football because they don’t want ‘little Johnny’ to get hurt.”

By the same token, track still builds character, Roberts pointed out.

“It teaches you how to compete — at a high level,” he said. “It teaches you to have heart — on and off the field.”

The vigorous exercise is an added bonus, too.

“The sport…will definitely keep the kids active,” Roberts said, “and get them out of that video game room.”

As for his coaching philosophy, Roberts is “a big fan” of resistance training, utilizing Kbands and speed parachutes, among other products.

“You’re guaranteed to get faster like that — if you do it the right way,” he said.

Other drills, meanwhile, emphasize proper sprinting form.

One such technique is called “hip to lip.” The moniker reminds sprinters to lower their shoulders and apply a more pronounced arm swing, during competition.

“Had I known what I know now, I’d be a 10 times better athlete,” Roberts said of the modern training aids.

New this season, Roberts is enlisting the help of a name familiar to followers of the East Pasco prep sports scene: Bryan Thomas, a former Zephyrhills High football and track star who played safety at the University of Florida.

In 2006, Thomas was crowned 2A state champion in the long jump (23-03.5 feet). The prior year, he finished second in the high hump (23-06 feet) and fourth in the 400-meter (49.08 seconds).

“We raced each other all the time,” Roberts said, referring to their high school track days.

Meantime, Roberts is holding a series of training camps at Wesley Chapel District Park through Jan. 16.  Along with track athletes, the sessions are open for youth who play other sports, such as baseball, football and tennis.

The focus is on enhancing speed, agility and quickness to mold youth into more explosive athletes.

To Roberts, it’s all just a matter of paying it forward.

“I trained so much (in my career) and did so much research with speed,” he said, “that I wanted to give this knowledge back to someone else.”

For more information, call Roberts at (352) 807-0397, or email .

Published January 4, 2017

Offers pile up for Zephyrhills football star

By

Zephyrhills High senior tailback Antwione Sims, left, now has a dozen college football scholarships.
(File Photo)

Antwione Sims, a record-breaking running back at Zephyrhills High School, has received a football scholarship offer from Citadel, a Division I FCS school in South Carolina. Despite missing the entire 2016 season with a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), the 5-foot-11, 193-pound now holds 12 offers. Other prominent offers include Boston College, Navy and Troy (Alabama) University. In 2015, Sims ran for a school-record 2,093 yards and 24 touchdowns. Various football-recruiting services list Sims as either a two-star or three-star recruit.

Saint Leo ranks 13th in Directors’ Cup rankings

By

Saint Leo’s volleyball team boosted the athletic department’s standing in the Directors’ Cup fall rankings.
(Courtesy of Saint Leo Athletics)

Buoyed by a 25-point bump, Saint Leo University moved up to No. 13 in the final fall update of the 2016-17 Division II Learfield Directors’ Cup standings. Saint Leo gained 25 points after its qualification in the 2016 NCAA Division II Women’s Volleyball Championship, finishing the fall season with 171.00 points in the Directors’ Cup standings — the highest ranking of any Sunshine State Conference program; Grand Valley State (Michigan) finished the season atop the Directors’ Cup standings with 350.00 points. The Learfield Directors’ Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today.  Points are awarded based on each institution’s finish in NCAA Championships. The next Directors’ Cup standings update is scheduled for March 16.

Goalkeeper commits to Jacksonville University

By

John Pease, a standout goalkeeper for Wiregrass Ranch High School, has verbally committed to play soccer for Jacksonville University, a Division I school. Through Dec. 21, the 5-foot-8, 145-pound senior has notched 26 saves, a 90 percent save percentage and a 0.7 goals against average. The Bulls are 8-3-3, through 14 matches.

Girls soccer standout commits to Saint Leo

By

Sydney Chase, a senior sweeper for Wiregrass Ranch High, has committed to play soccer at Saint Leo University. Through 17 games, Chase has six points, three goals and 17 steals. She’s also logged nearly 1,200 minutes of play this season. Chase will join two other East Pasco products at Saint Leo — sophomore Cassidy Place (Sunlake High) and freshman Savanna Ronk (Land O’ Lakes High).