The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Kevin Weiss

Land O’ Lakes tennis standout eyes district title

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After a sophomore campaign that yielded an undefeated mark in regular season dual matches and being named Sunshine Athletic Conference Eastside Girls Tennis Player of the Year, Land O’ Lakes High School’s Courtney Piltaver has even bigger goals in sight this season.

The junior is eyeing a 6-3A district title.

“I’m hoping to win districts this year,” she said.

Beyond that, Piltaver is hoping for a deep run in the Florida High School Athletic Association state series, at regionals and possibly a state qualification.

Land O’ Lakes High School varsity girls tennis standout Courtney Piltaver is the reigning Sunshine Athletic Conference Eastside Girls Tennis Player of the Year. She’s building off last season’s sophomore campaign with a 4-0 start to the 2019 regular season. (Kevin Weiss)

In doing so, Piltaver must first avenge last season’s defeat in the district finals — a back-and-forth battle to East Lake’s Marissa Penning, who’s currently ranked among the state’s top 25 sophomores by Tennis Recruiting Network.

“It was like a really close match; it was a good, long one,” Piltaver recalled.

Penning, however, transferred schools and is not competing at the high school circuit this year, said Piltaver, who often trains and plays with the Clearwater sophomore in high-level USTA junior tournaments.

That could open the door for an elusive district crown and maybe more.

“I’m not sure if there’s any other competition coming out of East Lake, because typically a lot of good players come from there, so hopefully I can make it to the states,” Piltaver said.

Of course, Piltaver would again like to repeat as east Pasco’s Girls Tennis Player of the Year and garner all-conference first-team honors. “That’d be nice,” she quipped.

Piltaver said winning the awards last year “made me feel good, like I accomplished something that I worked really hard towards, so it was just another thing that made me feel good about all the work I put into tennis.”

She’s certainly on the right track again, with a 4-0 mark on the 2019 season.

“I’m hoping to stay undefeated this (regular) season,” she said, “which I’m thinking I will.”

The tennis standout has the work ethic to back up her play.

In addition to regular high school practices and matches, Piltaver trains five days a week at the Dobsha Tennis Academy in Odessa, where she fine tunes technical skills, including serves and footwork; on weekends, she competes in high-level USTA (United States Tennis Association) junior tournaments.

When it comes to the court, Piltaver means business, said Land O’ Lakes girls tennis coach Jen Gaete.

“She’s really focused; you can see the high energy,” Gaete said. “She does have that wanting to pursue, wanting to chase the dreams.

“She’s really just driven by the sport and wanting to do well,” the coach added.

Gaete also noted Piltaver is quick to give her teammates positive feedback and pointers during matches, offering in-game strategy and reminding less experienced players about techniques, such as proper racket grip, court positioning and so on.

“She’s always willing,” Gaete said. “She helps me with a lot of those leadership roles and wanting to give the girls some coaching.”

Gaete went on: “She’s encouraging of the others. It’s always about being a part of the team.”

Handling the grind of the sport comes naturally for Piltaver, who’s been playing tennis nine-plus years.

“I just love playing, I love competing,” Piltaver said, “and, I just like to challenge myself, and I think that has like really helped me with life skills. Yeah, it gets hard sometimes but, honestly, I just love doing something. Like, it’s really become my life.”

Besides her all-around tennis skillset, Piltaver said her biggest strides of late have come from upping her physical fitness and mental focus — areas that have come in handy during long, drawn-out matches in the Florida heat.

“I feel like I have the body and the mentality to be an athlete, and I think that’s really the thing that’s gotten me so far, said Piltaver, who’s ranked among the state’s top 80 players for the 2020 recruiting class by Tennis Recruiting Network. “When matches get really tough I’m able to stay in it and not lose focus, which is something really important.”

She added, “The sun out here is really horrible, so just being able to endure that for two hours and play another match after that definitely was a big jump.”

Mental and physical strength also helped her recover from a pair of back injuries in recent years.

Early on in her freshman season, Piltaver suffered a grade 3 back strain. She was only able to compete in one high school match and therefore ineligible for postseason play.

“It’s weird because I’ve never been injured and then all of a sudden I hurt my back and then I was out for like five months because it was really bad,” Piltaver said, noting it took another few months to get back to her regular form. “Once you get past the struggle point you’re like, ‘OK,’ and then you start taking off.”

And, before the start of this season, Piltaver was in a car accident, sustaining pulled ligaments in her back.

A less serious injury compared to her freshman year, Piltaver was only sidelined her for a couple weeks before returning to action; she said she now feels 100 percent.

“I’m fine,” Piltaver said. “I think it was just sore. I needed to let my body rest.”

Now fully healthy, Piltaver is looking to play in as many USTA junior tournaments as possible —in addition to her high school slate — to prepare for what lies ahead at the next level, as one of very few tennis players from Pasco County receiving offers to play collegiate tennis.

Piltaver’s actively going through the college recruiting process and considering multiple NCAA Division II schools, including Belmont-Abbey College, Barton College, University of Montavello, Limestone College, and North Greenville University, to name a few.

Piltaver said she’s considering Division II schools “mostly because I feel like academics is important, and I just feel like they have the better academic side that I was looking for.”

Said Piltaver, “I’m trying to get my officials visits in September, so I can sign in early fall, because that’s really what I’m looking toward.”

Published March 27, 2019

Solid hauls

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(Courtesy of John Medvid)

Matt Norris, shown here, teamed with Tim Grimes to win first place at the South Pasco Bassmasters’ (SPBM) March tournament, hauling in five fish for a total weight of 11.74 pounds on East Lake Tohopekaliga, in Osceola County. The duo caught their fish flipping assorted plastic baits in lily pads and isolated grass in 3 feet of water. The next SPBM tournament is April 20 at Crooked Lake in Polk County. For information, visit SouthPascoBassmasters.com.

Locals shine in state wrestling tournament

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Several area wrestlers put together top-notch performances at the 2019 Florida High School Athletic Association Wrestling State Championships earlier this month at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, including multiple first place individual finishes in Class 1A.

Here’s a look at how top results from local teams and individual wrestlers:

2019 FHSAA State Wrestling Championships

1A
Carrollwood Day School—12th place (49 points)
Zephyrhills Christian Academy—15th place (31 points)

152-pound
Jonathan Conrad, Carrollwood Day, freshman (first place)

Note: Conrad (42-5) defeated Lake Highland Prep’s Dominic Isola in the first place finals match.

160-pound
Jacob Conrad, Carrollwood Day, senior (first place)

Note: Conrad (41-3) defeated Lake Highland Prep’s Cameron Monzadeh in the first place finals match.

285-pound
Malik Jones, Zephyrhills Christian, junior (first place)

Note: Jones (10-0) defeated Wakulla’s Darius Wilkins in the first place finals match.

2A
Pasco High School—Tied-30th place (14 points)
Sunlake High School—Tied-30th place (14 points)

195-pound
Tim Johnson, Pasco, senior (fourth place)

Note: Johnson (56-7) fell to Charlotte’s Anthony Andou in the third place finals match.

220-pound
Cayman Wiseman, Sunlake, (sixth place)

Note: Wiseman (35-10) fell to Palmetto Ridge’s Trillyon Fils-Aime in the fifth place finals match.

3A
Steinbrenner High School—Tied-23rd place (21 points)
Truman Noble, Steinbrenner, junior (fourth place)

Note: Noble (46-6) fell to Fleming Island’s Luke Chop in the third place finals match.

Local signing

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Sunlake High School senior multi-sport athlete Solomon Davis has signed to play college football at NAIA Ave Maria University. Davis, a 6-foot-1 safety, tallied 39 tackles and an interception last season. In addition to football, Davis competes in basketball, weightlifting, and track and field.

Browning talks school safety, other issues

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More than a year since the Parkland school shooting claimed the lives of 17 students and faculty members, ensuring school safety remains a forefront priority for Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning.

Browning discussed that, and a number of other school issues, as the featured guest speaker at the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce March breakfast meeting at the Pasco-Hernando State College Porter Campus in Wesley Chapel.

“Parkland kind of rocked our world,” Browning said, during the breakfast meeting. “It really shook everybody’s core about the magnitude of what our responsibility is about making sure that our kids are safe in our schools.”

Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning was the featured guest speaker at the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce March breakfast meeting. (Kevin Weiss)

Browning said Pasco Schools have made a number of sweeping changes to enhance school safety, in the wake of the February 2018 tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida.

Among the most noteworthy, Browning said, was the district hiring around 60 armed school safety guards to place in elementary schools — in addition to school resource officers at all middle and high schools — to comply with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, also known as Senate Bill 7026. The district’s safety guards are required to have a minimum of 10 years of experience in the military or law enforcement.

Browning explained the safety guards have quickly made a positive impact on school campuses, by taking on a mentoring relationship with students, which, in turn, has led to fewer discipline referrals districtwide.

“These men and women are kicking it,” Browning said. “Just having that presence on the campus has been significant, has been incredible for this district, and also provides a sense of security, and, it does provide security.

“We’re much more tight about who’s on campus. If you don’t have a (identification) badge on, they’re going to ask you where you are from or what you’re doing on campus.”

As another safety measure, Browning said district schools are getting upgraded door locks, thanks in part to a security grant from the Florida Department of Education, whereby classroom doors can lock from the inside when they are closed.

“There’s no getting back in that room unless you have a key,” said Browning. “Whether teachers or principals like it or not, those doors are going to lock, and you better have a key on your body if you want to get back in a classroom, because your kids need to be safe and they need to be protected.”

The school district is also “installing a lot more (security) cameras,” Browning said.

Browning also mentioned there’s a districtwide policy requiring gates and classroom doors to be locked and secured during school hours.

Browning said the policy — put into effect a week after the Parkland shooting — received pushback from some teachers and administrators, who called it “inconvenient” at the time.

“I don’t want to hear about how inconvenient it is that you’ve got to wear a key on your lanyard to get back into your door,” Browning said of those complaints. “It would be inconvenient for me to have to stand before a bank of national TV cameras explaining how someone got onto our campus, and worse yet, got into your classroom. That’s what’s inconvenient to me.”

He continued, “Kids needs to be safe in our schools. Parents need to have the expectation when you drop your child off at our school that they’re going to be safe.”

Besides addressing school safety, the superintendent offered an update to some new school projects in East Pasco, including the new Cypress Creek Middle School being built next to Cypress Creek Middle High School, which opened in 2017.

“We have broken ground. We are tearing ground open. We are putting walls down at Cypress Creek Middle School,” Browning said.

The new middle school is set to open in 2020.

Once complete, the approximately 185,000-square-foot to 195,000-square-foot middle school will become Pasco’s largest middle school. It will serve more than 1,600 students in grades six through eight.

Related to that, Browning said the school district is set to undergo another redistricting either later this year or early next year, whereby students from Seven Oaks Elementary will likely be zoned to the Cypress Creek schools — a measure to reduce overcrowding at John Long Middle and Wiregrass Ranch High schools, respectively.

Browning also said moves are being made to bring a technical high school to East Pasco.

“We’re getting ready to break ground. We’re in the design stage now,” Browning said.

The superintendent explained that district officials are leaning toward having the unnamed technical school built on the recently purchased 104-acre Kirkland Ranch property, situated at the southeast corner of Curley and Kiefer roads.

The district has also considered the technical school for a 125-acre tract along Handcart and Fairview Heights roads.

Browning, however, said the Kirkland Ranch property may present a more desirable location once the new Interstate 75 interchange at Overpass Road is completed.

“It’s a good shot from Zephyrhills, a great shot from Wesley Chapel, and a great shot from Dade City,” Browning said.

Either way, Browning said a technical school would help relieve overcrowding concerns at Pasco, Wesley Chapel, Wiregrass Ranch and Zephyrhills high schools.

“It will lower the numbers again in those schools, but also give kids in this area a technical education if that’s what they want to do,” he said.

Elsewhere, the superintendent touched on teacher salaries — and finding ways to boost them.

Browning said he’s having ongoing discussions with district staff about the possibility of holding a millage election “solely for the purpose of paying our teachers more money.”

“The mission we have in Pasco is paying teachers,” Browning said. “We’ve got to make an investment in our teachers.”

Published March 20, 2019

Social workers can make transformative change

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When it comes to social work, the job responsibility should go beyond addressing baseline issues of clients and patients, according to Dr. Ruth Brandwein, one of the nation’s most accomplished and recognizable social work educators.

Social work should also identify solutions and take action for meaningful and impactful change for all individuals, families and communities, said Brandwein, the keynote speaker of Saint Leo University’s fifth annual social work conference on March 8.

The daylong event drew dozens of social workers, mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, human service, criminal justice system professionals and students in Saint Leo’s bachelor and master social work programs.

Dr. Ruth Brandwein was the keynote speaker at Saint Leo University’s fifth annual social work conference. Brandwein was the recipient of the 2018 National Association of Social Work Lifetime Achievement Award. (Courtesy of Jo-Ann Johnston, Saint Leo University)

Those attending the conference participated in workshops that covered topics on school violence, transgender youth, substance abuse and addiction, trauma-informed care and more.

Much of Brandwein’s talk, however, centered on political action through social work.

It’s something Brandwein has vast experience with, as legislative chair for the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Sarasota/Manatee and Florida chapter.

In her address to the audience, Brandwein expressed a call for more social workers to run for public office — noting there are not enough elected officials with backgrounds in the field.

The speaker put it like this: “Who better than social workers can advocate for the aging, for veterans, for mental health issues, for opioid issues, for child welfare, for human trafficking, for homelessness, for LGBTQ rights?”

She continued, “We have the skills that are necessary to be elected officials. We also are really good at communicating with people, good at making ideas known, good at listening, and good at interviewing people.”

Now retired at 78, Brandwein still serves as professor and dean emeritus at Stony Brook University’s School of Social Welfare.

Her career in social work is undoubtedly distinguished.

Among other career highlights, Brandwein is former president of the New York State Chapter of the NASW; co-founder and first chair of the Suffolk County Task Force on Family Violence; former member of the National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women; and, helped found and serves on the editorial board of Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work.
Brandwein also received the NASW’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

She was selected “for her decades of work advocating for children, the homeless, women and people of color, and for training generations of social workers to be strong and effective community organizers,” according to NASW.

Dozens of students and social work professionals attended Saint Leo University’s fifth annual social work conference March 8.

Her appearance at Saint Leo coincided with student groups from the university’s social work programs participating in Legislative Education and Advocacy Day, in Tallahassee.

The experiential trip—set for April 2 and April 3 — is designed to give students an understanding of lobbying, advocacy and the legislative process.

The speaker recalled a handful of her own experiences in working with legislators.
One of her biggest advocacy wins came years ago working in New York, advocating for free or low-cost childcare for single parents, for children up to 12 years old, she said.

On that subject, Brandwein underscored the importance of persistently reaching out to legislators on various social issues, whether it’s through personal visits, emails or letters, while at the same time understanding policymakers’ points-of-view on decisions.

Brandwein said it’s important to talk to policymakers “as though they’re intelligent human beings, which they are” and that it’s equally, if not more important, to build positive working relationships with elected officials’ legislative aides.

“The aides are the ones who do the research on the bills. They are the ones who make recommendations to the legislator,” Brandwein explained. “The aide — if you’ve talked to that person — then they can become your advocate.”

In her closing remarks, Brandwein stressed that social workers should never stop fighting for important issues, whether for children and families, or equal rights for all.

“Positive social change is never complete — it’s a work in progress,” Brandwein said.

With a grin and chuckle, she added: “I’m almost 79, next month. I’m still working on these things. I won’t finish. I can’t stop.”

Published March 20, 2019

All-Pasco County winter awards announced

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High school coaches from the Pasco County School District recently announced the Sunshine Athletic Conference (SAC) All-Conference Teams, Athletes of the Year and Coaches of the Year, for the 2018-2019 winter sports season.

Selections were made for both the East and West division.

The following high schools from our coverage area were represented in the East: Cypress Creek, Land O’ Lakes, Pasco, Sunlake, Wesley Chapel, Wiregrass Ranch and Zephyrhills.

This is a listing of the recipients within The Laker/Lutz News coverage area:

The Land O’ Lakes varsity boys basketball team enjoyed a banner season that included a district title and a 27-3 record. (File)

Winter Sports (Boys)
SAC East All-Conference Boys’ Basketball

Team Champion: Land O’ Lakes

Coach of the Year: Dave Puhalski, Land O’ Lakes

Player of the Year: Chase Farmer, Land O’ Lakes

First Team All-Conference
Chase Farmer, Land O’ Lakes, junior

Isaiah Ramsey, Wesley Chapel, junior

Elijah Howell, Wiregrass Ranch, senior

Mekhi Perry, Land O’ Lakes, junior

Jordan Golden, Sunlake, junior

Second Team All-Conference
Jamaal Wright, Sunlake, senior

Dontae Marchman, Zephyrhills, junior

Ethan Jones, Wesley Chapel, junior

Logan Ghoumari, Wiregrass Ranch, senior

Jerry Peace, Land O’ Lakes, junior

Honorable Mention
Matthew Webster, Pasco, freshman

Cedric McBride, Cypress Creek, senior

The Wiregrass Ranch High and Pasco High varsity boys soccer teams were named co-team champions of the Sunshine Athletic Conference’s East division. The Bulls went 17-3-4 and the Pirates went 20-1-3. For Wiregrass, it marks their sixth-straight conference crown. They also haven’t lost a game (not including ties) to a Pasco County squad since the 2013-2014 season. (Courtesy of Wiregrass Ranch High School Athletics)

East All-Conference Boys’ Soccer
Team Champion: Wiregrass Ranch & Pasco

Coach of the Year: Dave Wilson, Wiregrass Ranch

Offensive Player of the Year: Jason Nicolette, Pasco

Defensive Player of the Year: Malcolm Lewis, Wiregrass Ranch

First Team All-Conference
Jason Nicolette, Pasco, senior

Malcolm Lewis, Wiregrass Ranch, junior

Jaxon Landry, Sunlake, junior

Justin Amis, Wiregrass Ranch, sophomore

Javier Todd, Sunlake, senior

Adrian Maldonado, Wiregrass Ranch, sophomore

(Courtesy of Pasco High School Athletics)

Jake Bierhorst, Wiregrass Ranch, junior

Jake Rodriguez, Sunlake, junior

Landon Surratt, Pasco, sophomore

Ben McQuay, Wiregrass Ranch, junior

Alan Castro, Wesley Chapel, junior

Second Team All-Conference
Logan Grace, Wiregrass Ranch, freshman

Omar Rios, Pasco, senior

Lincoln Morgan, Sunlake, senior

Sebastian Victoria, Sunlake, sophomore

Alex Montes, Pasco, senior

Collin Corrao, Land O’ Lakes, senior

Adam Mihalek, Wiregrass Ranch, sophomore

Camilo Torres, Wiregrass Ranch, junior

Nathan Oparka, Sunlake, senior

Carlos Morales, Zephyrhills, junior

Jared Jimenez, Pasco, junior

Honorable Mention
Marco Svolinsky, Cypress Creek, junior

The Sunlake boys wrestling team was named team champion of the Sunshine Athletic Conference’s East division, for the second year in a row. (Courtesy of Sunlake High School Athletics)

East All-Conference Boys’ Wrestling
Team Champion: Sunlake

Coach of the Year: Sergio Matos

Wrestler of the year: Timothy Johnson, Pasco

106-pound: Nate Ames, Land O’ Lakes, freshman

113-pound: Orion Magoon, Sunlake, freshman

120-pound: Niko Caropreso, Wiregrass Ranch, senior

126-pound: Darion Skelly, Pasco, junior

132-pound: Travis Knowlton, Pasco, junior

138-pound: Tyson Gillott, Wesley Chapel, junior

145-pound: Jack Evans, Pasco, sophomore

152-pound: Scott Kren, Land O’ Lakes, senior

160-pound: Mathew Paduani, Sunlake, senior

170-pound: Mark Kieper, Wiregrass Ranch, junior

182-pound: Zach Spicer, Sunlake, junior

195-pound: Timothy Johnson, Pasco, senior

220-pound: Cayman Wiseman, Sunlake, junior

285-pound: Trent Gilbert, Land O’ Lakes, freshman

Second Team All-Conference
106-pound: Zac Demello, Zephyrhills, sophomore

113-pound: Kyle Eldridge, Land O’ Lakes, junior

120-pound: Krystian Maldonado, Sunlake, senior

126-pound: Jaiden Martinez, Zephyrhills, freshman

132-pound: Tristan Cowley, Zephyrhills, senior

138-pound: Cade Menozi, Wiregrass Ranch, junior

145-pound: Samuel Gilley, Sunlake, junior

152-pound: Kevin Johnston, Pasco, junior

160-pound: Issam Hamad, Wiregrass Ranch, senior

170-pound: Alexander Perusek, Sunlake, junior

182-pound: Benjamin Tomas, Wesley Chapel, senior

195-pound: Angel Vasquez, Land O’ Lakes, senior

220-pound: Andrew Martin, Wiregrass Ranch, sophomore

285-pound: Bradley Jasper, Sunlake, senior

Honorable Mention
Sam Payne, Cypress Creek, freshman

Connor O’ Malley, Cypress Creek, senior

The Wesley Chapel varsity girls basketball team captured its first conference title in 11 years and first district title in 10 years, on its way to a 22-3 mark. (Courtesy of Wesley Chapel High School Athletics)

Winter Sports (Girls)
East All-Conference Girls’ Basketball
Team Champion: Wesley Chapel

Coach of the Year: Peter Livingston, Wesley Chapel

Player of the Year: Kayla Grant, Wesley Chapel

First Team All-Conference
Kayla Grant, Wesley Chapel, junior

Zoi Evans, Wiregrass Ranch, sophomore

Genesis Gonzalez, Sunlake, senior

Trinity Blanc, Land O’ Lakes, senior

Ariana Heppenstall, Wesley Chapel, junior

Second Team All-Conference
Mia Nicholson, Land O’ Lakes, sophomore

Emilia Cameron, Pasco, senior

Madison Gant, Wiregrass Ranch, junior

Taija McCullough, Zephyrhills, sophomore

Emari Lewis, Wesley Chapel, freshman

Honorable Mention
Erin Whitely, Cypress Creek

After going 3-13 in its inaugural campaign in 2018, the Cypress Creek Middle High varsity girls soccer team enjoyed a remarkable turnaround this season, winning a conference championship and finishing with an 11-4 record. (File)

East All-Conference Girls’ Soccer
Team Champion: Cypress Creek

Offensive Player of the Year: Heather Sefton, Wesley Chapel

Defensive Player of the Year: Katelyn Leavines, Cypress Creek

First Team All-Conference
Heather Sefton, Wesley Chapel, senior

Avery Damjanovic, Wiregrass Ranch, junior

Gaby Cardenas, Wesley Chapel, junior

Taylor Denney, Land O’ Lakes, sophomore

Teresa Rodriguez, Land O’ Lakes, freshman

Ysa Novak, Wiregrass Ranch, senior

Katelyn Leavines, Cypress Creek, senior

Courtney Eckel, Land O’ Lakes, sophomore

Kaci Landry, Sunlake, senior

Ashley Doers, Land O’ Lakes, junior

Mackenzie Spurling, Wiregrass Ranch, senior

Second Team All-Conference
Jeanine Sullivan, Sunlake, senior

Raegan Bourne, Cypress Creek, junior

Sophia Mitchell, Cypress Creek, junior

Kaylei Koschman, Wesley Chapel, sophomore

Kat Llanos, Wiregrass Ranch, senior

Bryanna Joseph, Sunlake, junior

Emily Esquinaldo, Wesley Chapel, senior

Sydney Bauer, Wesley Chapel, sophomore

Abigail Murphy, Cypress Creek, junior

Maddy Golka, Wesley Chapel, freshman

Madison Holcombe, Wesley Chapel, sophomore

Hope Johnson, Zephyrhills, senior

Kamryn Cummings, Pasco, senior

The Wiregrass Ranch High varsity girls competitive cheerleading team were tops among eastside Pasco County schools at the annual ‘Best of Pasco’ tournament. (Courtesy of Wiregrass Ranch High School Athletics)

East All-Conference Girls’ Competitive Cheerleading
Team Champion: Wiregrass Ranch

Coach of the Year: Dawn Wetherby, Pasco

Cheerleader of the Year: Reagan Steele, Land O’ Lakes

First Team All-Conference
Rachel Trapeni, Wiregrass Ranch, senior

Molly Doyle, Wiregrass Ranch, senior

Alexandra Cristafaro, Sunlake, senior

Juliette Pacheco, Sunlake, junior

Emelina Brown, Sunlake, freshman

Reagan Steele, Land O’ Lakes, senior

Abigail Runkel, Land O’ Lakes, senior

Kimberly Benson, Land O’ Lakes, senior

Gabrielle Flannery, Pasco, senior

Megan Partain, Pasco, senior

Second Team All-Conference
Tara Powers, Wiregrass Ranch, senior

Cara Alvarez, Wiregrass Ranch, senior

Kaytie Odom, Pasco, senior

Mallory McCann, Pasco, senior

Kristal Prado Zapata, Wesley Chapel, junior

Sydney Moye, Wesley Chapel, senior

Lyla Lewczyk, Wesley Chapel, sophomore

Haley Cogan, Wesley Chapel, freshman

Camryn Steele, Land O’ Lakes, sophomore

Emma Runkel, Land O’ Lakes, sophomore

The Sunlake High varsity girls weightlifting team captured its first state championship, in the FHSAA Class 2A girls weightlifting state finals. The feat marks the second state title by a team sport in the school’s history. (File)

East All-Conference Girls’ Weightlifting
Coach of the Year: Denise Garcia

Athlete of the Year: Veronica Salazar, Land O’ Lakes

First Team All-Conference
101-pound: Gabriella Schwarz, Sunlake, freshman

110-pound: Prestine Carter, Pasco, senior

119-pound: Madison Guincho, Sunlake, sophomore

129-pound: Loah Castro, Sunlake, senior

139-pound: Gianna Levy, Sunlake, junior

154-pound: Juliette Pacheco, Sunlake, junior

169-pound: Veronica Salazar, Land O’ Lakes, senior

183-pound: Alyssa Kremer, Land O’ Lakes, junior

199-pound: Sydney Murski, Wiregrass Ranch, senior

Unlimited: Abby Shaffer, Zephyrhills, senior

Second Team All-Conference
101-pound: Savannah Soriano, Land O’ Lakes, junior

110-pound: Christina Graziano, Land O’ Lakes, sophomore

119-pound: Alexandro Cristofaro, Sunlake, senior

129-pound: Gianina Rios, Wiregrass Ranch, junior

139-pound: Sarah Davis, Zephyrhills, junior

154-pound: Kayla Robbins, Zephyrhills, junior

169-pound: Brianna Caban, Sunlake, junior

183-pound: Abigail Schmook, Sunlake, junior

199-pound: Cynthia Wilkes, Zephyrhills, senior

Unlimited: Sabrina Diaz, Sunlake, junior

Honorable Mention
Dinah Hardin, Wesley Chapel, senior

Amanda Reyes, Cypress Creek, senior

Published March 20, 2019

Pasco County tourism rebrands as ‘Florida’s Sports Coast’

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Pasco County now wants to be known as “Florida’s Sports Coast.”

The announcement — anticipated for months — was made official at a March 7 brand launch ceremony held at Tampa International Airport.

Pasco County’s tourism office, Visit Pasco, has rebranded itself as ‘Florida’s Sports Coast.’ The new marketing slogan was made official at a March 7 brand launch ceremony at Tampa International Airport. Pasco County tourism director Adam Thomas spoke at the brand launch. (Kevin Weiss)

The rebrand is part of an ongoing effort for the county’s tourism office, Visit Pasco, to expand its footprint as a sports and recreation destination.

Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore said the Florida’s Sports Coast brand creates a “refreshed identity” for the county, to “communicate new energy and enthusiasm that hasn’t been established in the past.”

Accompanying the Florida’s Sports Coast marketing campaign is the tagline, “Let’s Play.”

Previous Pasco tourism promotions featured the slogans “It’s only natural” and “Open spaces, vibrant places” — referring to the county’s ecotourism offerings.

The new slogan coincides with a number of multipurpose sports facilities that have opened or will open soon, along with other recreational offerings in Pasco.

Moore highlighted present sports assets, such as Wesley Chapel’s AdventHealth Center Ice and Saddlebrook Golf & Tennis Resort, as well as the county’s myriad of outdoor adventure activities including saltwater fishing and biking trails.

“Sports tourism in Pasco County is something that we excel at,” Moore said, “and we’re dedicated to sports tourism and the positive impact it has for our large number of local partners, as well as the community.”

Moore mentioned the forthcoming Wiregrass Ranch Sports Complex figures to be a game-changer, too.

The $44 million, 98,000-square-foot multipurpose facility set to open later this year, is poised to bring in top-level sporting events in cheerleading, basketball, gymnastics, volleyball and so on.

He said the facility will “highlight our area even more and bring in even a larger economic impact to Pasco County.”

According to Moore, tourism overall in Pasco County last year generated a $615 million economic impact from 957,000 visitors and 1.1 million room nights, which he said in turn equated to 7,500 jobs and $156 million in wages.

“Those numbers are pretty extraordinary,” Moore said.

The commissioner expects those tourism numbers to grow, as the county directs marketing efforts more so to sports tourism.

Pasco County has rebranded as ‘Florida’s Sports Coast,’ as it looks to expand its footprint as a sports tourism destination. (Courtesy of Visit Pasco)

“As more facilities are finished, and we attract more events to Pasco County, we’ll have new hotels that will continue to give us more capacity,” Moore said.

“I also can’t wait to see what the impact has on Pasco County with our new brand, Florida’s Sports Coast,” he added.

Adam Thomas, tourism director for Pasco, said the Florida’s Sports Coast brand helps “create an identity that’s going to make waves in Florida’s (tourism) marketplace.”

“We’re all about sports. That’s our DNA. That’s our lifeblood,” said Thomas, who’s been with the county since 2017.

The tourism director added that the branding is on point for the county, which he described as “a vast destination that has many products and many offerings, and many attractions and many things to do.”

“We just feel that we’re creating a sense of place, not only for us as an (tourism) office, but the entire the community, the entire county, the entire destination,” Thomas said.

With that, Thomas said his tourism office is currently strategizing to draw amateur sports and recreation events that can generate a high economic return for the county.

An example of that, he said, is Torhs2Hot4Ice, a national roller hockey tournament held at AdventHealth Center Ice.

“We play roller hockey for 10 days and that creates 1,800 room nights for us and about a $5 million economic impact,” the tourism director said.

Thomas also added the opening of the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Complex will further help the county’s newfound mission of economic impact-driven sports tourism.

“We actually have events right now that are just lined up waiting for that door to open up,” Thomas said.

Published March 13, 2019

Addiction recovery community organization forming in Pasco

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New long-term addiction recovery services may soon be headed to Pasco County, by way of what’s called a Recovery Community Organization.

A Recovery Community Organization, otherwise known as an RCO, is an independent, nonprofit organization led and governed by representatives of local communities of recovery, which organizes recovery-focused policy advocacy activities, carries out recovery-focused community education and outreach programs, and provides peer-based recovery support services.

Dozens of community members participated in a Feb 26 listening session in Land O’ Lakes on the possible formation of a Recovery Community Organization, to help bring more long-term addiction recovery services coming to Pasco. A Recovery Community Organization is an independent nonprofit, which promotes recovery-focused policy advocacy activities, carries out recovery-focused community education and outreach programs, and provides peer-based recovery support services. (Kevin Weiss)

The project is being facilitated by Clearwater-based Recovery Epicenter Foundation, which has operated an RCO without borders since 2016.

Guidance and technical assistance on the program is coming from the Florida Alcohol & Drug Abuse Foundation (FADAA), through a three-year Aetna Foundation grant called All in for Florida: A Recovery Project; the Pasco County Alliance for Substance Abuse (ASAP) is also providing support in the RCO development process.

Details about RCO programming were discussed during a Feb. 26 community listening session at Land O’ Lakes Heritage Park in Land O’ Lakes.

While there’s no definitive timetable for the formation of an RCO in Pasco, it’s expected to take many months at least, officials said.

The community listening session brought together dozens of stakeholders, including persons in recovery and professionals in health care, criminal justice, faith-based organizations and others.

Attendees suggested an RCO in Pasco needs to, among other initiatives, find ways address the following:

  • More affordable housing opportunities
  • More homeless shelters and treatment facilities
  • More residential treatment beds
  • Better public transportation opportunities
  • Recovery-friendly employment and workforce training
  • Greater access to recovery at all levels of care
  • Decriminalization of substance use disorder
  • Additional 12-step recovery meetings
  • Greater access to peer support services

In many cases, RCOs shift the focus of recovery programming from clinically driven acute care to recovery management, speakers said.

A significant component of that is mobilizing recovery peer specialists — people who have been successful in the recovery process who help others battling addiction through shared experience, understanding, respect and mutual empowerment.

Such methodology helps reduce relapse rates over time, according to Ken Brown, a recovery-oriented system of care specialist for the Florida Department of Children and Families Suncoast Region, who spoke at the community listening session.

Brown said RCOs and related support services provide “a key element for communities to help people in recovery.”

He emphasized the need for more placement on long-term recovery management, as opposed to routine substance abuse treatment.

Brown put it like this: “So many times, our system falls short because we address the acute care needs that go into treatment for 30 days or whatever and then they get out — and that’s not how (recovery) happens.

“We have to shift our thought process from acute care to recovery management, ‘What are the hopes and dreams of those going through recovery? What can we do to advance their recovery? And, most importantly, what can we do to keep you in recovery?’”

The listening session also featured FADAA recovery project director Ginny LaRue, who is developing RCOs in nine Florida counties, including Pasco.

In other counties, LaRue explained, RCOs have primarily focused facilitating programs that offer employment assistance, transportation, health and wellness, and recreational opportunities, independent support groups and so on.

While FADAA assists in forming RCOs, LaRue said the onus is on the local community “to make it sustainable, through partnerships (and) through collaboration.”

She added RCOs are successful because they’re grassroots, community-driven efforts that get “more of the voice of recovery.”

LaRue added: “This is not clinical. This is lived experience helping lived experience. It’s a matter of all these people in the community saying, ‘This is what we’re going to do. This is how we’re going to do it.’”

LaRue herself is a former addict who’s been in recovery for the last 15 years.

In addition to her work with FADAA, she also operates a sober-living house in Daytona Beach.

She, like others at the meeting, underscored the importance of wide-ranging, accessible long-term recovery services.

For her, “things didn’t get better” immediately stepping out of drug treatment, LaRue said.

Instead, she said she needed years of peer mentoring and recovery support services to become “a responsible member of my community.”

“You cannot live on an island and try to recover,” LaRue said. “I needed the community to wrap their arms around me and help me through that process, and restore me.”

The next step in the RCO formation process is scheduling a recovery symposium.

That will be followed by a series of recovery community visioning meetings to determine action steps and program implementation.

A symposium planning session is scheduled for March 20 at 11 a.m., at Trinity Church of Christ, 4234 St. Lawrence Drive in New Port Richey.

The meeting is open to the public.

Published March 13, 2019

Women’s sports museum opens in Wesley Chapel

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Wesley Chapel’s AdventHealth Center Ice is widely known as the training grounds of the gold-medal winning 2018 U.S. Olympic women’s ice hockey team.

The Women’s Sports Herstory Museum is a virtual museum dedicated to female pioneers in hockey. Located on the second floor of the AdventHealth Center Ice hockey complex, it features interactive wall panel displays where visitors scan QR codes from their phones to view content online; the museum is also decorated with various female hockey memorabilia and equipment. (Kevin Weiss)

Now, the 150,500-square-foot ice sports complex houses what is believed to be the first virtual museum dedicated to women’s hockey trailblazers.

The museum, called the Women’s Sports Herstory Museum, is the brainchild of female hockey coaching legend Digit Murphy and her friend, Jeff Novotny, a Wesley Chapel resident.

Situated in a second-floor viewing room of the ice hockey complex, 3173 Cypress Ridge Blvd., the museum features interactive wall panel displays where visitors scan QR codes to view content online in the form of videos and in-depth stories.

The poster-sized displays highlight several of hockey’s female pioneers, including Katey Stone,  the first-ever female head coach of a USA Hockey team in the Olympics and current head coach at Harvard University; Katie Guay, the first to officiate an NCAA Division I men’s hockey game; Sara DeCosta Hayes, a two-time USA Hockey Women’s Player of the Year; Amanda Pelkey, a 2018 gold medalist and all-time scoring leader at the University of Vermont; and, of course, Murphy, who became the winningest coach in Division I women’s hockey at Brown University.

The room is also decorated with various sports memorabilia and equipment, including a signed jersey and signed pictures of all 23 members of the U.S. Olympic women’s ice hockey team.

At some point, the museum will highlight a “local hero” for women’s sports in the Tampa Bay area.

Women’s Sports Herstory Museum co-curator Digit Murphy speaks at a March 6 VIP event at AdventHealth Center Ice in Wesley Chapel.

“Girls and women need to hear the stories of the women that played before them,” Murphy said, during a March 6 VIP event for the museum. “When girls and women walk through this museum, I want them to see themselves sitting in the seats of the women that came before them. We need our little girls looking in this room going, ‘Oh, I could be a gold medalist…’”

She continued, “It’s really important that people see their heroes and leaders and role models in pictures and stories, because, especially in sports, you see men all the time and you don’t see it for girls.”

The museum — which opened to the public on March 9 — will be housed at Center Ice for the next three years, through a room sponsorship from Murphy’s Play it Forward Sport and United Women’s Sports organizations, which also will award $1,000 scholarships to local female high school seniors.

The concept was born last year after Murphy took a visit to Canton, Ohio, where she discovered — and became irked — that a $100 million expansion was being made in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Murphy recalled the moment: “I’m like, ‘$100 million for football? Unbelievable.’”

Digit Murphy is the winningest coach in Division I women’s hockey at Brown University.

From that, the hockey legend got in touch with Novotny, an engineer, who figured they could develop a platform where museums about women’s sports could be brought to already existing venues.

“I recognize the importance of how it’s important that we celebrate the women in our lives that do special things, so this was an opportunity to kind of do something unique,” said Novotny, who met Murphy years ago at a hockey clinic for one of his daughters.

Novotny then reached out to AdventHealth Center Ice general manager Gordie Zimmermann, who signed off on a virtual museum in his facility.

Zimmermann is pleased with how it turned out.

“This is an inspiring room, for sure,” Zimmermann said, during the VIP event. “We walk by this room constantly and there’s little kids in here hanging on the walls and now they’re going to be looking at the walls instead.

“We’ve always talked about girls hockey and what can we do with girls hockey. There is a place, for sure, in this sport for girls and the future’s so bright for them.”

Meanwhile, the Wesley Chapel location could be just the tip of the iceberg for Murphy and Novotny’s virtual women’s sports museum initiative.

The co-curators hope to expand the project to highlighting women in various other sports in other cities.

Novotny said they’ve even been approached by some universities to create a virtual museum for their alumni female athletes. “It’s scalable to any sport,” he said.

And, Murphy wants to see the virtual museums “everywhere.”

“We want this to be something that goes viral,” she said. “We want more of women’s stories out there, so that Herstory can happen.”

For more information about the museum, visit GetHerStory.com.

Published March 13, 2019