Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By Kyle LoJacono

The Steinbrenner boys cross country team took Places 2 through 6 at the Class 3A-District 8 meet at Lake Park in Lutz Nov. 2.

The Warriors, also known as The Boss Cross, totaled 20 points to best Sickles by 23. Their top-five runners, who are all seniors, finished within 0.4 seconds of each other.

“It’s just like we do in workouts,” said Chris Cerreta. “We always stress running as a team. We weren’t thinking about who was going to win on the team. We’re just trying to get us all across the line together.”

Tanner Biles took second overall (17 minutes 17 seconds), followed by Tyler Lima, Cerreta, Matt Magee and Zach Lima in 0.1 second intervals, respectively.

“It brought a smile to my face seeing them all cross together,” said third-year Steinbrenner coach Bobby McConnell. “They really are a team and truly care about each other.”

Besides Biles, who transferred from Freedom as a junior, the top five have been with the program since it opened in 2009.

“They’ve matured so much the last four years,” McConnell said. “They’ve become students of the sport.”

A pair of area girls also advanced to regionals.

Gaither junior Rachel Cazares finished third by running a 20:39 after sitting out of the Hillsborough County meet in October because of pain in her left foot. She said she started feeling good again two days before districts.

“I was pretty much where I wanted to be,” Cazares said. “I was thinking second or maybe surprise people with a win, but I’m happy and ready to get them next time.”

Steinbrenner senior Lauren Garris is also working to overcome a physical setback. She had an appendectomy less than two months ago, but recovered enough to take 10th (21:27).

“I’m surprised, honestly, that I made it,” said Garris about putting up her best performance of the year. “It was really hard. I haven’t tried that hard all season. … It’s been a rough season. I wanted to make regionals for my dad (Paul) and for myself. I knew it could be my last race.”

Garris said it’s been frustrating to deal with the discomfort while pushing to improve.

“I feel like I should be better,” Garris said. “It’s not like my legs or I’m really tired. It’s just every time I push my stomach gets tight. … Hopefully by track season it’s better.”

Garris, Cazares and the Warriors boys will compete at regionals Nov. 10 at Lecanto High starting at 9:30 a.m.

—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker

By Jeff Odom

Wiregrass Ranch girls cross country runner Nikita Shah had done nearly everything in her high school career except win an individual district title.

The senior accomplished that mission at the Class 3A-District 6 meet Nov. 2 at Crews Lake Park in Shady Hills. The Harvard University commit dominated the field by completing the 5-kilometer course in 18 minutes 39 seconds.

“I feel like all my hard work has paid off,” Shah said. “I was really grateful for my past district competition. … (It was) a bit hot, but it was hot for everybody. None of us are used to running in the evening.”

The Bulls put up 47 points to capture their fifth straight district title, winning by 29 over Sarasota. Wiregrass Ranch coach Don Howard said he was proud of his team, especially Shah.

“She knew coming in she would be in front,” Howard said. “The girls, we knew we were far enough ahead of our competition that we could just relax and run for time.”

Other top times by the Bulls were turned in by senior Berlin Waters (20:14, sixth place), junior Elise Cedre (20:54, 11th place) and sophomore Addie Cornwell (21:10, 14th place).

Wiregrass Ranch won despite being without No. 3 runner freshman Madison Conway, who was participating at the regional swim meet. Howard said his squad fared well and will be prepared for regionals.

“We’ve done hill work since June,” Howard said. “We’ve spent a lot of time in San Antonio running the hills there, running there weekly. … We won’t change anything.”

On the boys’ side, Wiregrass Ranch edged Land O’ Lakes by six points to finish as the runner-up behind Sarasota. The Bulls have been shorthanded all year after No. 1 runner Ermias Bireda missed the first half of the year with shin inflammation.

Bireda (16:49) took fifth despite pulling a muscle in his back during the first lap. The senior said he knew he had to fight through the injury to keep his team in the running for second.

“I pulled something in my lower back on the first mile, so I fell off the front group,” Bireda said. “It kind of (stunk), I’m not going to lie, but I just had to score for my team and I did the best that I could.”

The Bulls placed five runners in the top 20, including Thor Alastre (16:52, seventh place), Patrick Hill (17:07, 10th place) and Ben Hall (17:18, 12th place).

Bireda said it was really special to see the team perform well, especially against a team like Land O’ Lakes.

“My team did really well … everyone on the team, they all did great,” Bireda said. “To come back and beat (the Gators), it’s definitely a great feeling.”

Land O’ Lakes was paced by juniors Travis Nichols (16:20) and Tyler Stahl (16:28), who finished third and fourth, respectively.

The three squads all earned spots at regionals, which is at Lecanto High Nov. 10 starting at 9:30 a.m.

By Jeff Odom

The Freedom girls cross country team finished as the Class 4A-District 6 runner-up for the second straight year Nov. 1 at Al Lopez Park in Tampa.

The Patriots captured second place in record fashion as six of the seven runners set personal records to finish with 64 points, 49 off Plant’s perfect score. Meet host Wharton came within one point of Freedom to finish third.

“I knew Wharton would be coming hard and they had us in the virtual meet at districts in third, so I knew it would be tight,” said Patriots coach Dwight Smith. “I know when we get to regionals, it will be a little more spread out. As far as my team’s performance, I’m proud of them.”

Freedom was paced by Annie Tedesco (19 minutes 58 seconds), who finished eighth. Teammates Lauren Arfaras (20:14) and Alex Mitchell (20:15) placed 9th and 10th, respectively.

Mitchell, a senior, said it felt great to move on to regionals and inch closer to the team’s goal of reaching states in consecutive years.

“It feels good to finish second,” Mitchell said. “Plant’s a really good team, and we just tried our best and competed. Can’t really do anything else.”

Tedesco, who spent most of the first lap in the top three before the Panthers zipped by, added she didn’t know where the squad had placed initially, but was excited when she found out.

“We’re trying to get second place at regionals too, that’s what we’re planning on,” Tedesco said.

Smith said his Patriots are peaking at the right time.

“I think we’re running better than we did last year at this time, especially on the back end,” Smith said. “My No. 4 and 5 runners ran pretty good. They all ran really well, (Mitchell) beating Wharton’s No. 2 (Kallie Golicher) to the line pretty much sealed our second-place finish. I told the girls at our team dinner the other night that this is the best cross country team I’ve had since getting to Freedom.”

For Wharton, Mariah Henderson (19:24) finished seventh and Golicher (20:15.10) was denied a top 10 spot by a footstep.

On the boys side, the Patriots placed third with 83 points behind Plant and Bloomingdale, respectively.

Freedom’s highest finisher, Adam Urbaniak (16:53.46), finished ninth, while teammate Brandon Edwards (18:01.76) crossed the line in 13th.

Wharton took fourth with 114 points. Taylor Young (18:20.80) was 16th and Bernie Ayala Turcios (18:47.19) was 21st.

Both teams from Freedom and Wharton will compete in the regional meet at McIntosh Middle in Sarasota Nov. 10 starting at 9 a.m.

By Kyle LoJacono

The Wiregrass Ranch girls soccer team had a breakout season two years ago when the Bulls won 23 games, claimed a district championship and reached the regional finals, all program firsts.

The Bulls (1-0) managed 17 victories when they moved up in classification last season, but came up just short of the seventh-year program’s second playoff berth after falling to Freedom 2-1 in penalty kicks in the Class 4A-District 8 semifinals.

“Depressing, rough, sad,” said senior defender Ashley Murphy. “It was rough.”

Wiregrass Ranch is the only Pasco County school in 4A-8, which also includes Freedom, Steinbrenner, Gaither, Sickles and Chamberlain. The Patriots, Warriors and Cowboys were all coming off playoff appearances when the district was formed before last season, giving the Bulls top-notch competition every night.

“It was a change,” said senior forward Berlin Waters. “We had to realize that it was a lot more competition than we were used to. We adjusted and learned how to play better.”

Part of the learning process was getting used to the more physical brand of soccer played in Hillsborough County.

“It was different because it was the first year playing Hillsborough teams,” said senior defender Lauren Gordon. “I think we adjust well, we just didn’t adjust in time. We tried our hardest, and I think we’ll be better because of it this year. … We won’t be scared.”

First-year Bulls coach Edwin Costa said they plan on using that physical play against their opponents.

“Our defenders who are back are big, strong girls,” said Costa, who has coached soccer for 18 years. “There are a couple upperclassmen who have come in who fit that mold as well. I think if we can, as we say, step up on them and not let the physical game get away from us and gain possession of the ball first we should be fine. Teams can be as physical as they want, but if we hold the ball and move the ball we’re going to wear them down.”

Costa took over the program after Erin Dodd, who coached Wiregrass Ranch the previous two seasons, resigned to pursue a job with a school in Doha, Qatar. Costa said he is working to build a squad that outthinks its opponents as much as it outplays them.

“I haven’t picked my formation yet, but I think we’re going to surprise some people with what we come up with,” Costa said. “I like to say that I’m tactically inclined. That’s my strength. We’re going to have different formations. … We’re trying to hold the ball more instead of just giving the ball up. That’s going to be the main focus is maintaining possession. When teams think we’re going to play up we’ll fall back, and when teams think we’re going to play back we’re going to attack.”

The Bulls shouldn’t have trouble doing either.

On offense, they bring back leading scorer in Waters (23 goals, 10 assists), along with senior midfielder Anne Cypriano (six goals, 12 assists) and senior midfielder Hannah Eder (six goals, six assists).

Wiregrass Ranch also gets a big boost with the return of senior forward A.J. Blount, who scored a single-season program record 40 goals while adding 15 assists two years ago. She missed the entire 2011-12 season while recovering from a torn ACL in her right knee.

The defense returns backliners like Gordon and Murphy, who helped limit the opposition to 15 goals in 22 games. Another big part of that goal prevention is senior goalkeeper Dayton Wetherby, who had 78 saves, 11 shutouts and a goals against average of 0.57 last season.

The unit will have to replace two-year starter Grace Olsen, who opted to focus on volleyball this year. Costa said he is happy with the defenders he has, especially the Gordon-Murphy combo.

“Lauren and me are like sisters, so we work well together,” Murphy said.

Waters pointed out that the team has a lot of experience playing together, especially the eight seniors, which will give them a leg up in pressure games.

“I think we have a chance of being district champions like we were two years ago,” Waters said. “Last year was just, we didn’t know what to expect. Now we do, and we can definitely go pretty far.”

Costa said it’s going to take that kind of conviction to reach their goals.

“The slogan this year is, ‘In order to achieve, you must believe,’” Costa said. “If you don’t believe in yourself, your teammates or me as a coach, then we’re never going to achieve and grow. They want to get to states, and to do that we need to believe and focus on the small things first.”

The Bulls hosted Land O’ Lakes Nov. 5, but results were not available by press time. They play at home against Sunlake Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m.

—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker

Wiregrass Ranch roster

No. Player Pos. Yr.

1 Berlin Waters* F Sr.

3 Lauren  Luzzi M Jr.

4 Stephanie Brady M Jr.

5 Karissa Leist M So.

6 Hannah Eder F Sr.

7 Bethany Sakowski D Jr.

8 Olivia Viera F Jr.

9 Julissa Lawrence M Jr.

10 Laci West D Jr.

12 Dayton Wetherby* GK Sr.

13 A.J. Blount F Sr.

14 Anne Cypriano M Sr.

16 Gabby Bierhorst D So.

18 Ashley Murphy D Sr.

19 Camille King M Fr.

20 Chloe Lipovetsky D Fr.

21 Vanessa Jordan F Fr.

22 Taylor Muzik-Eversdijk F So.

23 Lauren Gordon* D Sr.

*Team captain

By Kyle LoJacono

The Land O’ Lakes girls soccer team has made the playoffs 12 of the last 13 seasons, but something is a little different as the squad enters this year.

For the first time in nine seasons, the Gators (1-2) are a defending district champion. They won the Class 3A-District 7 crown, the program’s first district title since 2003, while going 14-7-3.

“The best thing was that they really worked for it,” said Vicky King, the only coach in the program’s 26-year history. “They had to work for it, so it meant so much to them. They know how long it’s been, so it was like, wow, we did something no one expected us to do, and teams that came before us that were maybe noted as better teams couldn’t do.”

Being a defending district champ does come with some outside expectations, but junior midfielder Georgia Allen said it doesn’t change much internally.

“I feel like people expect us to go farther than we did last year, but the thing is we always want to go far,” Allen said. “It’s not like it’s more pressure on us because we always want to make the playoffs and win in the playoffs.”

King said the program’s history makes them a target no matter what they did the year before.

“It wouldn’t matter if we are a defending district champs or anything else,” King said. “Whenever someone comes to play us because of our tradition, they play their best. It’s hard to ask 16-, 17-, 18-year-olds to play their best every day, but that’s what we look for. We have a large squad this year, and if someone is having a bad day someone else can come in and play for them.”

Land O’ Lakes’ title run came while replacing 13 seniors from the year before.

“People didn’t think that we were going to be good,” said junior midfielder/forward Catherine Gray. “They expected us to lose and not go far, but we proved them wrong.”

One of the biggest tasks last year was remaking the defense.

The Gators had only one returning backline starter last season, Kelsee Larson. Almost no one else had ever played defense with the program before.

King moved a couple players back, worked in some younger ones and added Holly Nasello, whose family moved from Jacksonville, to the backline.

“Mitsy Audate and Holly are still in the back, and we’ve got some players who will complement them,” King said. “We’ve got a little bit of experience there, and the other players we’ll put back there have a lot of playing experience. Not a lot of high school experience, but a lot of high level club.”

Nasello, a senior, said having a good number of the defenders back will help early on.

“Last year we didn’t know how to work together as a defense at the very start, but we got it pretty quick,” Nasello said. “We lost two of our defenders, but, yeah, we do have a lot of the defenders back, so we should have a little bit of an easier time with that.”

The defense also benefits from the return of senior goalkeeper Arie Bailey (146 saves, 13 shutouts).

Last season, Bailey took over in net for Tara Marshall, who was not only a four-year starter, but is also Bailey’s first cousin. The current goalkeeper, whose parents are Land O’ Lakes graduates, knew all about the program’s tradition years before attending the school.

“I’m definitely more confident then I was at this time last year,” Bailey said. She added, “It was great, but I was really scared that I was going to mess up the tradition. It was exciting to help them win districts.”

The squad does lose seven seniors from last year, with some of the biggest departures coming up top.

Gone are leading scorers Alyssa Lonsway (11 goals, three assists) and Arielle Le-Tran (nine goals, six assists), and senior Alexa Satmary (five goals, one assist) decided not to play this season.

Among those who will be looked to for scoring this year will likely be Gray (eight goals, seven assists) and junior Brooke Silvest (three goals). Silvest pointed out that there were question marks up top entering last season too, as Lonsway was primarily a defender before her senior year and Le-Tran was coming off a torn ACL in her left knee.

“We did lose Arielle and Alyssa, and they were really good at scoring,” Silvest said. “The thing is going into last year we didn’t even know Alyssa would be playing offense, and then Arielle hurt her knee the year before. … I think we have some players who can really help fill in for the goals they scored last year.”

King agreed: “We got some new girls and young girls who appear to be attack minded, and not afraid to go to the goal. We always try to push numbers up.”

The offense will also benefit from a number of returning midfielders to set up the attack, such as Allen.

“We all have to try hard to replace the scoring from Alyssa and Arielle,” Allen said. “When we see a chance to score we have to take it, and when we see an open pass we need to make it.”

The 3A-7 tournament is at Wesley Chapel Jan. 15 to 18, with the final on Jan. 18 at 7 p.m.

The Gators traveled to Wiregrass Ranch Nov. 5, but results were not available by press time. They host district rival Wesley Chapel Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m.

—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker

Land O’ Lakes roster

No. Player Yr.

00 Ariana Bailey Sr.

0 Hannah Miller Sr.

1 Maci Galan Fr.

2 Colby Batchelor Jr.

3 Holly Nasello Sr.

5 Caitlin Matthews Fr.

6 Lindsay Pearl Jr.

7 Marissa Lewis Sr.

8 Sarah Dowler Sr.

9 Georgia Allen Jr.

10 Zoe Pointer So.

11 Lacy Nasello Fr.

12 Ashliegh Williams Sr.

13 Lauren Arrabito So.

14 Sotiria Tsilionis Fr.

15 Raquel Villareal Jr.

16 Catherine Gray Jr.

17 Sarah Smith Jr.

18 Makenzie Fish So.

19 Kameryn Kailimai So.

20 Mitsy Audate So.

22 Savanna Ronk Fr.

24 Brooke Silvest Jr.

By Kyle LoJacono

The Wharton girls soccer team won its invitational tournament for the first time, defeating Steinbrenner 2-1 in penalty kicks (PKs) Nov. 3.

The Wildcats (3-0-1) fell behind the Warriors (2-1) in the sixth minute, but scored after halftime to force PKs.

The squads each converted four of five attempts, with Steinbrenner senior goalkeeper Eleanor Wilson making the only save, setting up sudden death PKs.

Wharton senior midfielder Leah Chisolm set the ball, took a deep breath and fired a shot toward the bottom right corner. Wilson appeared to stop it, but the ball just trickled across the line.

“Coach will ask who wants to go, and people step up,” said Chisolm, an Eckerd College commit. “I didn’t at first, but after our fifth one missed, I figured just go for it.”

Chisolm said she is “terrified” of PKs and never normally takes them.

“I was thinking I have to get over that fear,” Chisolm said. “I can’t run away from it.”

Wildcats coach Denis Vukorep said he was “proud” Chisolm decided to take the PK.

“She stepped up for her team, stepped out of her comfort zone and did it,” Vukorep said.

Wildcats’ goalkeeper Gabrielle Hyppolite stopped Claire Groenstein’s shot to send the home team out a winner.

Steinbrenner was without seven players and Wharton was without four during the finals because of injuries, club games or SAT testing.

“We said at the start we might get down 1-0 or up 1-0, but we’ve got to keep pushing,” Vukorep said. “We can’t use any excuses based on who’s here and who isn’t here. Everyone who made the team wanted to play. This was an opportunity for people to step up.”

Warriors coach Angela Gillisse wouldn’t use being shorthanded as justification for losing.

“We’re only going to be as strong as our weakest players, and we were looking to the depth on our bench to finish some of these opportunities,” Gillisse said. “I think we outplayed them, but we made a few key mistakes. … It was just some early in the season jitters that hopefully, with more training, will improve the dynamic of some of our midfielders and forwards.”

Steinbrenner dominated possession in the first half and scored the game’s opening tally when senior forward Alexis Bredeau notched her eighth goal. The University of North Florida commit totaled eight last season.

The Wildcats started attacking more after halftime to counter the Warriors’ offense.

“First half we just wanted to be conservative because we had some kids playing who haven’t gotten into games yet because of not having some starters today,” Vukorep said. “We just wanted to feel things out. The girls felt good at halftime, so we said let’s go attack. We went to a more attacking formation, created more opportunities and had more possession. We were only able to do that because some people stepped up.”

The change paid off when junior midfielder Laura Johnson found Chisolm on a through ball, who capitalized with the game-tying tally seven minutes after halftime.

Vukorep said Chisolm was fighting an ankle injury.

“If we had more numbers she probably wouldn’t have played today, but she was an absolute beast,” Vukorep said. “When she was on the ball she was unstable.”

Vukorep felt good going into PKs.

“We’re money on penalty kicks,” Vukorep said. “We’re probably 5-1 in the last four years in PKs.”

Vukorep added getting past quality teams for the title will benefit his young squad that is replacing seven seniors from last year.

“We’ve done this the last six years, and we invite the best teams we can get,” Vukorep said. “Steinbrenner has won a state championship, but they’ve never won our tournament. This is not an easy tournament to win.”

Wharton beat Sunlake 5-2 and Berkley Prep 3-1 to advance to the finals. Forward Lexie Oeth and Chisolm each recorded two goals against the Seahawks.

Steinbrenner defeated Clearwater Central Catholic (CCC) 9-1 and Newsome 4-3 in PKs to reach the championship game. Bredeau scored six times against CCC, while forward Jessica Taylor had two goals.

The Wildcats play at Freedom Nov. 7, while the Warriors host Newsome. Both games start at 8 p.m.

—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker

The University of Tampa (UT) women’s soccer team can boast the Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Player and Freshman of the Year, and a pair of North Hillsborough County high schools can share the pride.

Sophomore midfielder and Gaither graduate Lauren Moore was named the SSC Player of the Year Nov. 1, the same day forward and Steinbrenner graduate Cici Gonzalez picked up Freshman of the Year honors. The duo is among six UT (13-3-4) players on the Division II soccer program’s all-star list.

Moore has posted a team-high 17 goals and 39 points this season, while Gonzalez has 12 goals, eight assists and 32 points. The offensive combo has accounted for 50 percent of the No. 23 ranked Spartans’ tallies this year.

Moore, who is the second player in program history to earn the honor, is averaging an SSC-best 1.95 points and 0.85 goals per game this game. She set the school record by scoring five goals in a game during a 13-0 win against Florida Memorial in September.

Gonzalez is second in the SSC with 1.60 points and 0.60 goals per game. She is the fourth player in program history to receive the honor.

Gonzalez’s award was the second for her last week.

She was also named the SSC Offensive Player of the Week for the third time after factoring in all four of UT’s goals in a 4-0 win against Saint Leo Oct. 24. Gonzalez scored the opening tally and assisted on the other three scores.

The Spartans’ duo helped the program win its third straight SSC conference tournament title Nov. 4 by defeating Rollins College 2-1 in penalty kicks.

Another local high school product made the list — Eckerd College sophomore Morgan Crescent.

The goalkeeper graduated from Land O’ Lakes High and was given second-team honors as an at-large selection. Crescent has a 10-7-3 record with 129 saves and seven shutouts this season.

The conference’s soccer coaches and sports information directors voted for the all-stars.

—Kyle LoJacono