The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Michael Murillo

AATL takes top spot for 2A private schools

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Academy at the Lakes, 2331 Collier Parkway in Land O’ Lakes, was named the top 2A private school athletics program in 2014-15 by the Florida Athletic Coaches Association. They earned the Carey E. McDonald Award for the first time in school history, which is given to the top school based on the results of 20 different teams.

While the award is for the best 2A private school, the Wildcats scored near the top of the rankings for the Florida High School Athletic Association Floyd E. Lay Sunshine Cup All-Sports Award, which includes both public and private 2A schools. Academy at the Lakes finished third out of more than 100 schools for the 2014-15 season.

Ace for a Cure combats Friedreich’s Ataxia

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The Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance will host its Fifth Annual “Ace for a Cure” tennis benefit Dec. 3, Dec. 5 and Dec. 6 at Avila Golf & Country Club, 943 Guisando De Avila in Tampa.

John Isner, currently the top-ranked American male tennis player in the world, will be part of the event.

Friedreich’s Ataxia is a disease that damages the nervous system, and can lead to scoliosis, diabetes and cardiac disease.

For event information and sponsorship opportunities, contact Roger Cypriano at (813) 968-6792 or .

MADD run/walk

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Mothers Against Drunk Driving will host the fifth annual “Walk Like MADD/MADD Dash 5K” on Nov. 21 at Largo Central Park, 101 Central Park Drive in Largo.

Registration begins at 7:30 a.m., with an opening ceremony at 8 a.m., and the 5K trail run and 1-mile walk beginning at 8:30 a.m. The group also will launch the annual “Tie One on for Safety” campaign, where drivers tie a red ribbon on their cars as a reminder to plan for a safe ride home during the holidays.

For information, visit WalkLikeMADD.org/Pinellas.

SGI tennis camps

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Sports Group International will host a series of tennis camps in November and December.

On Saturdays through Dec. 19, the group will have a live ball tennis and fitness session from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at Lake Padgett Sports Center, 4533 Savanah Way in Land O’ Lakes. The cost is $45 per session.

SGI will also host holiday camps Nov. 23 through Nov. 27, and Dec. 21 through Dec. 24, at the same location from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The cost is $280.

For information, call (813) 638-6306, or visit SportsGroupInternational.com.

PHSC volleyball heads to national tournament

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Under coach Kim Whitney, the Pasco-Hernando State College Lady Quistas have always qualified for their regional tournament.

Now, getting past that tournament and going to nationals is becoming a regular event, too.

PHSC (19-11) will head to Phoenix College in Arizona for the NJCAA Division II National Tournament that begins Nov. 19. They qualified for the second straight year (and sixth time under Whitney’s tenure) after taking the regional tournament in North Carolina Nov. 6 and Nov. 7.

The Lady Quistas will be seeded 11th, but their competition shouldn’t discount them. The team won the national championship under Whitney in 2010.

Community rallies to help Mark Smith

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Years ago, Tammy Hunt periodically would put together charity events.

And, whenever she did, the Smith family would step up and offer their business, San Ann Liquor & Lounge (also known as Ralph’s), as a location for the fundraisers.

As a result, the Smith’s generosity became widely known in the community.

So, when Mark Smith, the son of Ralph’s owners, Grace and Jimmy, needed help, it was a no-brainer for Hunt to get involved.

“This one was a hands-down easy decision to make to help this family,” Hunt said.

Mark Smith has been diagnosed with bile duct cancer, and the community is coming together to help with his expenses. Events to be held Nov. 14 include a golf tournament, a barbecue lunch, a corn toss tournament, entertainment and auctions. (Courtesy of Sharon Perkins-Van Pelt)
Mark Smith has been diagnosed with bile duct cancer, and the community is coming together to help with his expenses. Events to be held Nov. 14 include a golf tournament, a barbecue lunch, a corn toss tournament, entertainment and auctions.
(Courtesy of Sharon Perkins-Van Pelt)

The 36-year-old Smith has been diagnosed with bile duct cancer, and while he battles the disease, a number of fundraising events are planned on Nov. 14 to help raise money for his treatment.

The events will be at his parents’ business, at 33625 State Road 52 in San Antonio.

It is unusual for someone as young as Smith to be affected by bile duct cancer.

Normally, the disease affects senior citizens. The average age of a bile duct cancer patient is between 70 and 72, depending upon the type of bile duct affected, according to the American Cancer Society’s website.

In a way, that works to Smith’s advantage. His body should be better able to handle the long and painful treatment, giving him a stronger chance of success, Hunt explained.

But, that still leaves the “long and painful” part to endure. He’s already spent weeks in the hospital, requires muscle relaxers to ease the pain, and has more procedures and chemotherapy ahead of him.

Not surprisingly, the treatment is expensive. The Smiths have been able to find generic options for some prescriptions, but without catching cost-cutting breaks, the medications alone could eventually bankrupt someone without health insurance.

And, Smith doesn’t have health insurance.

He does, however, have a supportive family and a community that is pulling together to help the Smiths in their time of need.

The outpouring of support has been noted and appreciated.

“We can’t say enough about the community,” said Mark’s brother, Jimmy Smith II. “Anytime something goes wrong and we give back to the community, the community gives back just as hard, if not harder.”

There will be plenty of ways the community can help on Nov. 14.

A golf tournament begins at 8 a.m., at The Abbey golf course at Saint Leo University, 33640 State Road 52.

Barbecue chicken dinners will be sold, starting at noon, at San Ann Liquor & Lounge.

That’s followed by a cornhole tournament at 2 p.m.

There will be a firearm raffle at 6 p.m., silent and live auctions, a 50/50 drawing and other raffles and giveaways.

Live music and beer specials also are planned as part of the day’s events.

While it’s going to be a long treatment process, Jimmy Smith II said his brother has the personality to endure hardships and work his way toward recovery.

“He’s very outgoing. He’s a go-getter. He’s a very hard worker when he’s got his mind into anything,” he said.

Hunt has put in a considerable amount of work to organize a full day of events to help the Smiths.

Her old fundraising skills are being put to good use, and she admits that this one is personal for her.

“It’s been a little emotional, just because it’s close to my heart,” Hunt said. “But I’m glad that I can do it.”

The golf event costs $50 per player, or $200 per team, and includes dinner.

The cornhole tournament costs $25 per player.

Auction items include a guitar autographed by Joe Walsh, member of the iconic rock band The Eagles.

Donations also can be made directly to San Antonio Citizens Federal Credit Union by referencing Mark Smith Benefit Fund account number 5587-001.

For more information, contact Hunt at (352) 206-5543 or Jimmy Smith II at (813) 714-9937.

Published November 11, 2015

A four-legged friendship tale

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As a professional writer for 25 years, Grace Maselli has penned everything from philanthropist features to executive summaries for advisory boards. She’s garnered compliments from CEOs, and praise from audiences when she reads her poetry.

But, her upcoming audience has her a little nervous.

It’s a gathering of elementary school children.

“They’re a tough bunch, man,” Maselli observed.

The real Francis and the real Coco do live together with author Grace Maselli and her family in their Land O' Lakes home. And, just like in her children's book, they're good friends. (Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)
The real Francis and the real Coco do live together with author Grace Maselli and her family in their Land O’ Lakes home. And, just like in her children’s book, they’re good friends.
(Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)

Fortunately, Maselli isn’t bringing a business profile or a PowerPoint presentation. Instead, she’ll read her first children’s book, “Francis and Coco: A Tale of Two Unlikely Friends,” on Nov. 15 at 2 p.m., at the Wilderness Lake Preserve Lodge, 21320 Wilderness Lake Blvd., in Land O’ Lakes.

Like her other nonfiction writing, the story of Francis, the poodle/Pekingese dog, and Coco the guinea pig, is real. They live with Maselli’s two other dogs, her two children and her husband. And, the story takes place in conjunction with their frequent moves before settling in Land O’ Lakes.

And yes, Francis and Coco really are friends.

“Francis will let her scramble all over his body. He’ll roll back. She curls up with him,” Maselli said. “They honestly get along.”

She wanted their story to be both authentic and relatable. Adults will recognize the familiar struggle parents feel when they allow a child to have a new pet, worrying how they’ll assimilate and interact with other pets. And she wants children to see the story as an example of very different beings coexisting and forging a special friendship.

“To me, this is universal because animals accept one another, and they don’t care if you’re a kangaroo or a lion,” Maselli said. “And, I think that, metaphorically, life would be a lot different for us if we didn’t judge people by their surfaces.”

“Francis and Coco” is a story for third-graders, but Maselli didn’t want to limit herself to simple words and phrases. The story contains words like “persistent,” “bluster,” and even “falderal” — which means trivial or nonsensical behavior.

Maselli wanted to tell a story and expose children to bigger words, acclimating them to some elevated language without making it difficult to follow the story. Parents might read the story to them, giving them the experience of hearing the language. If they end up learning new words, she considers that a bonus.

To accommodate the children who will be in attendance, Maselli plans to have assistants holding up the pages as she reads, making it easier to follow along. She wants the auditory experience to be a positive one, and the story easy to follow.

That story begins with Francis as a nervous puppy, and ends with a new friendship when another animal joins the fold. In between, the family disagrees on how things will turn out, and some members come around to the idea of new pets and how they’ll get along together.

Maselli hopes the realistic elements of the story appeals to children and those who might read it to them.

So far, the feedback has been very positive, she said.

In fact, one family member, who has a 2-year-old son, told her that he’s been captivated by the story.

“She sent me a picture of him thumbing through it, and he’s talking about the characters in the book,” Maselli said.

While it’s a different type of writing for her, it wasn’t an easy project.

Much of the story came to her at once, but she put it away for a while before returning to it.

Now that the work is done, she wants to not only entertain young children and teach them about getting along with someone different, but also have something for her teenage children to remember as a memento of a certain point in their lives.

“To me, this is more like something I want to leave for my kids as a gift from me after I’m gone,” Maselli said.

For information about Maselli’s book, visit TatePublishing.com or GraceMaselli.com.

Published November 11, 2015

 

Wiregrass Ranch soccer has lofty goals

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Before Wiregrass Ranch’s boys soccer team began its regular season, they tuned up with a couple of preseason matches.

They won the first one 8-0, and raced out to an early lead in the second one.

If you think that meant their coach was heaping praise upon them, you don’t know the expectations of Wiregrass Ranch soccer.

Senior Kyle Vandevelde is a workhorse on Wiregrass Ranch's soccer team, which aims to return to the state final four despite stepping up a class. (Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)
Senior Kyle Vandevelde is a workhorse on Wiregrass Ranch’s soccer team, which aims to return to the state final four despite stepping up a class.
(Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)

“We were up 7-0 after 20 minutes (of the game), and you would have thought we were down 5-0,” recalled coach David Wilson. “If they do make mistakes as a team, they’re going to know about it.”

The Bulls would win that preseason game 8-0, and won their first couple of regular-season matches by shutouts as well.

If their goals are high, it’s because they’ve set a high standard to meet based on previous years.

Last season, the team reached the state semifinals before losing to eventual state champion Chiles, 1-0. In the game, three of their starters hadn’t practiced the previous week due to injury and played at far less than 100 percent, Wilson said. Still, they played a close game and earned some respect from their coach.

“You’ve got to get some breaks along the way, and we didn’t toward the end of the year. With that being said, I thought we played very well there and lost to the state champions,” Wilson said.

Unfortunately, for the rest of their competition (The Bulls moved up to Class 5A this season, and there are a lot of strong teams in district 7), Wiregrass Ranch has most of that team intact for this season. They lost a couple of starters to academy programs (which preclude them from playing at the high school level) and also lost one substitute. But, the rest of the team returns with a goal of getting back to state healthy and ready to play their best.

Wilson acknowledges that the team looks prepared for another big year.

He doesn’t like to put the spotlight on himself as coach.

“I’d like to take some of the credit myself, but most of it is just what we’ve established as a program,” he said.

Wilson’s modesty can’t hide the fact that his fingerprints are all over Wiregrass Ranch’s athletic successes.

As the coach since the soccer program started, he’s built a foundation of discipline and focus that players learn when they enter the system.

He’s also the coach of the boys tennis team, which claimed a co-championship a year ago, then won it outright this past season.

Wilson is also the school’s athletic director, so if anybody deserves credit for the Bulls’ winning ways, it’s him.

And, the players, of course.

Good soccer programs are athletic and deep, and Wilson stresses fitness as a defining trait of his team. He wants players to be able to log consistent minutes, then sub out with little drop-off in talent.

“Fitness-wise, you have to be great. Our outside midfielders and center midfielders have to be able to play both sides of the field,” he said.

Wilson singled out senior Kyle Vandevelde as an outside midfielder who works hard and never gives up on the pitch.

And, while Vandevelde acknowledges that focus on the field is important, he also believes that team bonding off the field is critical.

“You can have the best players on the team, but if they don’t communicate, they don’t have good chemistry and they don’t like each other, it’s not going to matter at the end because they’re not going to be on the same page,” Vandevelde said.

He believes that this year’s team is developing that special chemistry to go along with its superior talent, and the combination will give them an opportunity to go far in the playoffs.

“As long as we have team chemistry, we can go as far as we want,” he said.

Wilson agrees.

He’s been coaching in various capacities for 30 years, and in that time he’s developed a good feel for a team’s potential.

What he’s seen so far makes him optimistic.

“There are surprises, but I know going into the year what we’re going to have. I know how were going to be,” Wilson said. “I think we have a team that’s capable to going back to the state final four.”

Wiregrass Ranch boys soccer remaining schedule
Nov. 12 vs. Land O’ Lakes, 7:45 p.m.
Nov. 17 vs. Palm Harbor University, 6 p.m.
Nov. 19 at Anclote, 7:45 p.m.
Nov. 20 at Hudson, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 30 vs. Citrus, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 1 vs. Jesuit, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 2 vs. Mitchell, 7:45 p.m.
Dec. 4 vs. Wharton, 6 p.m.
Dec. 8 at Steinbrenner, 8 p.m.
Dec. 11 at Pasco, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 15 at Alonso, 8 p.m.
Jan. 5 at Fivay, 6 p.m.
Jan. 8 at St. Stephen’s Episcopal, 7 p.m. (tournament)
Jan. 9 at Calvary Christian, 2 p.m. (tournament)
Jan. 11 vs. Gulf, 6 p.m.
Jan. 13 vs. Sunlake, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 14 vs. Ridgewood, 6 p.m.

Published November 11, 2015 

Prep Sports Board

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Nov. 2
Boys Soccer
Sunlake 9, Anclote 0
Fivay 6, Land O’ Lakes 2
Pasco 9, Hernando 1
Wharton 5, Leto 2
Girls Soccer
Land O’ Lakes 7, Wesley Chapel 0
Sunlake 11, Ridgewood 0
Academy of the Holy Names 2, Wiregrass Ranch 1
Pasco 8, Hernando 0
Springstead 8, Zephyrhills 0

Nov. 3
Boys Soccer
Steinbrenner 10, King 5
Wiregrass Ranch 8, Zephyrhills 0
Jesuit 7, Wharton 1
Girls Soccer
Wiregrass Ranch 8, Zephyrhills 0
Robinson 4, Freedom 1

Nov. 4
Boys Soccer
Sunlake 8, Land O’ Lakes 0
Newsome 2, Steinbrenner 1
Wesley Chapel 1, Zephyrhills 1
Pasco 2, Weeki Wachee 2
Girls Soccer
Land O’ Lakes 5, Sunlake 1
Wesley Chapel 8, Zephyrhills 0
Pasco 8, Weeki Wachee 0

Nov. 5
Boys Soccer
Wiregrass Ranch 5, Wesley Chapel 0
Freedom 0, Gaither 0
Girls Soccer
Wiregrass Ranch 4, Wesley Chapel 1
Pasco 6, Hudson 2
Freedom 8, Gaither 1

Nov. 6
Football
Sunlake 14, River Ridge 13
Zephyrhills 50, Pasco 16
Fivay 22, Land O’ Lakes 6
Steinbrenner 42, Berkeley Prep 35
Plant City 41, Freedom 10
Wharton 38, Chamberlain 22

Nov. 7
Boys Soccer
Steinbrenner 3, Leto 0
Wharton 4, King 3

Nov. 11
Boys Soccer
Sunlake at River Ridge, 7:30 p.m.
Land O’ Lakes at Ridgewood, 7:45 p.m.
Pasco at Nature Coast Tech, 7:30 p.m.
Girls Soccer
Ridgewood at Land O’ Lakes, 6 p.m.
River Ridge at Sunlake, 7:45 p.m.

Nov. 12
Boys Soccer
Land O’ Lakes at Wiregrass Ranch, 7:45 p.m.
Wesley Chapel at Springstead, 8 p.m.
Zephyrhills at Weeki Wachee, 7:30 p.m.
Girls Soccer
Wiregrass Ranch at Land O’ Lakes, 7:45 p.m.
Springstead at Wesley Chapel, 7:30 p.m.
Nature Coast Tech at Pasco, 6 p.m.
Weeki Wachee at Zephyrhills, 8 p.m.

Nov. 13
Playoff Football
Sunlake at Vanguard, 7:30 p.m.
Steinbrenner at Dr. Phillips, 7:30 p.m.
Zephyrhills at Nature Coast Tech, 7:30 p.m.
Boys Soccer
Alonso at Steinbrenner, 6 p.m.
Palm Harbor University at Wharton, 6 p.m.
Mitchell at Freedom, 6 p.m.
Girls Soccer
Sunlake at Hernando, 7:30 p.m.
Alonso at Steinbrenner, 8 p.m.
Anclote at Zephyrhills, 7 p.m.
Mitchell at Freedom, 8 p.m.
Palm Harbor University at Wharton, 8 p.m.

Nov. 16
Boys Soccer
Fivay at Sunlake, 7:45 p.m.
Gulf at Land O’ Lakes, 7:45 p.m.
Wesley Chapel at Hernando, 7:30 p.m.
Mitchell at Pasco, 7:30 p.m.
Girls Soccer
Land O’ Lakes at Gulf, 7:45 p.m.
Sunlake at Fivay, 7:45 p.m.
Hernando at Wesley Chapel, 8 p.m.
Pasco at Mitchell, 7:30 p.m.
Nature Coast Tech at Zephyrhills, 8 p.m.

Nov. 17
Boys Soccer
Wharton at Steinbrenner, 6 p.m.
Palm Harbor University at Wiregrass Ranch, 6 p.m.
Freedom at Leto, 6 p.m.
Girls Soccer
Wharton at Steinbrenner, 8 p.m.
Palm Harbor University at Wiregrass Ranch, 7:30 p.m.

Sources: MaxPreps, various