The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Rowers raise thousands for hospice

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By Kyle LoJacono

The Land O’ Lakes Rowing Club’s second annual Row and Paddle for Hospice brought in just more than $2,000 for HPH Hospice.

Members of the Land O’ Lakes Rowing Club and HPH Hospice display the check the club gave after the Row and Paddle for Hospice event this year.

The same event in 2010 raised $1,550, and club founder Mary Jane Kranendonk said the goal is to keep bringing in more each year.

“It means a lot to our family to help them because they have helped us so much,” Kranendonk said.

HPH offered support to the Kranendonk family to help deal with the loss of Kranendonk’s oldest son, Thomas, four years ago in a tractor-trailer accident.

“They offer a wonderful grief camp each March for children who have lost significant people in their lives,” Kranendonk said. Her son John attended the camp after Thomas died.

Laura Finch, HPH’s manager of bereavement services and children assistance programs, said the grief camp and other services from the organization could not exist without such donations.

“Without the generosity, time and talent of people like the Land O’ Lakes Rowing Club, HPH Hospice would not have the resources to assist the number of children who seek our services every year,” Finch said. “With their help, we’re able to help our community’s youngest members understand and cope with grief and loss.”

The event, which was at Lake Saxon Park in Land O’ Lakes, included rowing and paddling demonstrations, races, food vendors and massages for those who wanted to loosen up their muscles before or after the exercise.

The rowing club was formed earlier last year. Members paddle each Saturday or Sunday mornings at 7:30 a.m. For more information on the club, email .

Warriors’ season ends in five sets

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By Kyle LoJacono

The Steinbrenner volleyball team has been one of the most consistent in the Tampa Bay area this season, but things went awry during the Class 7A regional semifinals.

Warriors senior libero Cary Anne Bame came up with a team-high 14 digs in the regional semifinals against Clearwater.

The Warriors (24-5), who lost just 18 sets this season entering the contest, fell to Clearwater 22-25, 25-21, 25-22, 24-26, 15-7 at home on Nov. 8. Steinbrenner coach Jennifer Graham said it was a tough loss because the squad committed a lot of mistakes.

“It wasn’t our best game, so as a coach it’s frustrating to see us go out when you’re supposed to be peaking,” Graham said. “They know it and that’s why it hurts them so bad right now.”

Graham said emotions were running very high during the match, which may have led to some of the 58 total errors.

“It was just an emotional rollercoaster,” Graham said. “Really I’m at a loss for words about what the emotion was.”

Things started promising for Steinbrenner. After taking the first set, the Warriors jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the second thanks to five aces from senior outside hitter Miranda Powell and a kill by sophomore rightside hitter Rachel Mathison, but a plethora of errors derailed the chance to go up two sets.

Tornadoes (14-6) senior outside hitter Nikki O’Rourke, who finished with 22 kills and 21 digs in the contest, began to put pressure on Steinbrenner’s defense in the third set. On the flip side, the Warriors’ outside hitters Madison Seuzeneau and Powell posted 21 kills combined.

“Usually one of our outside hitters is on, and lately when they’re both on it’s a beautiful thing and I think we’re unbeatable,” Graham said. “Both of them were off. Our freshman middle hitter Lauren Heldt was on tonight for the first time. She was just connecting, and she’s going to be something to watch.”

Heldt finished with eight kills.

Steinbrenner rebounded to claim a hotly contested fourth set, but the momentum did not carry over. Clearwater jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fifth and was helped by six straight errors by the Warriors to stretch the lead to 13-3.

Steinbrenner’s season ended on a soft, fluttering kill by Tornadoes rightside hitter Sarah Case that just found the back right corner.

“We capitalized on their mistakes,” said Clearwater coach Kara Betourn. “We played them earlier this season and they are a very good team.”

Steinbrenner senior outside hitter Miranda Powell posted 10 digs, nine kills and a team-high seven aces against Clearwater on Nov. 8.

Seuzeneau finished with 12 kills, while Powell and Mathison added nine and seven, respectively. Junior middle hitter Baylee Hooker posted five blocks.

Four Warriors recorded double-digit digs. Senior libero Cary Anne Bame led the way with 14, Mathison kicked in 12 and Powell and sophomore setter Casey McLean contributed 10 each.

Despite the way it ended, Steinbrenner did set a program record by winning 24 matches this season. It also showed the squad can maintain a high level of play even after losing seven seniors from last year.

“I’ve got so many sophomores and freshmen,” Graham said. “Physically they’ll just grow and get stronger. It’ll be nice to see them continue that during the next few years. It’s going to be a heck of a team when we get back together next August.”

The Warriors will have to find replacements for three graduates — Bame, Powell and rightside hitter Audrey Clifford. Graham said each brought something special to the team the last few years.

“Cary Anne brings a comfort to the team,” Graham said. “She’s a constant on the court. She’s our go-to player on defense. When she’s there we’re confident. She’s just a pleasure to coach and to have on the team. Miranda stepped up with leadership this year and really grew as a young woman. I think it was a great thing for her to help lead this team. Audrey didn’t get to play as much this year, but she really worked hard at being a leader. There’s not just the on the court, there’s the off the court she added to us there.”

Bishop McLaughlin falls in three

The Bishop McLaughlin volleyball team’s season was ended by familiar opponent Tampa Prep 25-8, 25-19, 25-19 on Nov. 8 in the Class 3A regional semifinals.

It is the third time the Hurricanes (16-9) have lost to the Terrapins (16-11) this season, following straight-set defeats in the regular season, district tournament and regionals.

Bishop McLaughlin was led by senior outside hitter Jess Johnson’s 10 kills.

Wildcats giving back

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Second-year Wesley Chapel football coach Ben Alford believes in having his team give back to the community whenever possible.

The Wildcats (5-5) took some time to help make students at Veterans Elementary in Wesley Chapel more excited about reading on Nov. 3. Five members of the squad read various stories to the kids.

Those who made the trip included Keegan Tanner, Robert Jota, Luke Fisher, Xavier Leatherbury and Angel Ramos. The five also signed autographs for the students after they finished reading.

“I believe this is a great learning experience for these guys to understand how much kids really look up to them,” Alford said. “That they are more than just a football player. They are a role model and the things they do not only affect them, it affects everyone.”

It is the third time Wesley Chapel football players have read to elementary students since Alford took over the program. He added they plan continuing the same thing in the future.

Novotna advances to nationals

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Saint Leo University’s (SLU) Tereza Novotna set the lofty goal of making the NCAA Division II national cross country meet during her first year in college, and she did just that with her performance Nov. 5.

Novotna, a native of Opocno, Czech Republic, finished as the South Regional runner-up by completing the 6-kilometer course at Dover Park in a time of 22:11. She edged out University of Tampa runner Jess Butler by less than a second.

“I know I wanted to stay in the lead group if I wanted a chance at nationals,” Novotna said. “The thought of crossing the tape got me through this race.”

Novotna becomes the first Lions runner in program history to earn a spot at nationals. The second-place performance is the best finish of any SLU runner at regionals ever and also the fourth top-five showing of her freshman season.

Novotna will travel to Spokane, Wash. to compete at nationals on Saturday, Nov. 19.

 

Lessons from Saddlebrook

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Challenges require creative response, resort leader says

By B.C. Manion

When Saddlebrook Resorts, Inc. opened in 1980, it was built with a specific purpose in mind.

“We built it basically for corporate meetings,” Thomas L.Dempsey, chairman and CEO of the resort, told those gathered at a business growth conference in Pasco County last week.

Over time, however, the resort’s role expanded to include training facilities for professional golfers, tennis and baseball players.

It also added a school that provides college-preparatory and athletic programs for young athletes who come to the Wesley Chapel facility from all over the world.

Over the years, like any business, Saddlebrook has had its share of challenges. Dempsey told those attending the conference organized by the Pasco Economic Development Council.

Initially, the resort built about 500 suites, some hotel rooms, two golf courses, a tennis facility, a huge swimming pool and some meeting space, Dempsey said. It soon needed more meeting space, which it added.

That was just the first of many challenges, said Dempsey, who has more than 40 years of diversified business experience in publishing, manufacturing, resort development and the hospitality industry.

“Challenges. I have to tell you, they come every day,” he said.

While the resort was booking hundreds of corporate meetings a year, business fell off when there were holidays, such as Christmas, Easter, the Fourth of July and Labor Day.

“Corporations are closed on holidays, so you’ve got zip meetings. You really have nothing to come in the door,” the business leader said.

Eventually, that became a positive because the resort had to find ways to diversity its business, he said.

“Sometimes a problem turns out to be an opportunity,” Dempsey said. “You kind of have to look at life that way or it gets tough because those problems should be opportunities. There’s always a solution to something if you think hard enough or get creative enough.”

Over the years, the resort has seen significant changes in the market, Dempsey said. In the early days, a meeting might have a half dozen women and 300 men, he said.

“Today, sometimes there are 60 percent women and 40 percent men. Some meetings are all women. It’s a totally different market. It’s completely changed over the past 30 years,” he said.

In response, he said, “We’ve put in big spas. When men are golfing, women who don’t golf want the spa or want the pool. A lot of them play tennis.

“The character of the market has changed, and when the character changes that is one of your challenges.”

Over time, the resort branched out and became a training facility for professional athletes in tennis, baseball, football, hockey, golf and other sports.

“Derek Jeter has trained at Saddlebrook now for about four years,” he said.

“Every spring, 32 professional players from the teams come to Saddlebrook and stay with us for five weeks and go through our training and then they leave on a Wednesday and the next week they’re going to spring training.

“They go there absolutely in perfect condition,” he said.

“It’s very serious stuff,” Dempsey said, noting that millions of dollars in contract negotiations can be riding on an athlete’s ability to perform.

The resort also is working with aspiring athletes. One of those is a 12-year-old boy from China whom some believe could one day surpass the accomplishments of Tiger Woods, Dempsey said.

Besides adding profit centers to its business through its athletic training facilities, the resort has adapted in other ways.

At the moment, it is rewiring the entire resort with fiber optics to accommodate new technology and it is installing 43-inch, flat-screen televisions.

Being able to adapt is important, but businesses must be forward thinking, too, Dempsey told the crowd of more than 80 gathered in a conference room at Pasco-Hernando Community College’s West Campus in New Port Richey.

“What if there’s an airplane strike. What if they don’t fly to Florida? They can’t come here. What are you going to do?  Well, you’ve got to a have plan.”

 

Helping students graduate

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By B.C. Manion

It starts with a failed class, or two.

Before long, a struggling student no longer wants to go to school because there’s no way he or she can catch up and catch up with his or her graduating class.

Pasco County Public Schools wants to put an end to that scenario.

That’s why the school system launched a district-wide initiative this year aimed at helping students graduate with their class.

Students who have failed a class can make up that lost ground in the district’s credit recovery program, said Ramon Suarez, supervisor of the district’s Graduation Enhancement Program.

The district tested out the idea at four pilot high schools for two years before making it a countywide initiative this year, Suarez said.

“We’re trying to maximize the opportunities for students to graduate with their class,” Suarez said. “If a student fails a course, he has an opportunity to catch up.”

The district wants to help students before they veer off course so far that they don’t think there’s a way to recover, Suarez said.

Each high school across Pasco County has a computer lab where students who have failed a class can take an online course to catch up, Suarez said. That course can be taken during the school day and there’s also an after-school option, he said.

Students take the courses online, but there’s also a teacher in the lab to ensure that the students are progressing.

“The teacher has to open the quiz,” Suarez said. “Once they (students) take the quiz and they score high enough on it, they move on to the next level.”

The program goes beyond sheer academics, Suarez said. It also addresses the social and emotional aspects of the student.

Often, the students who need to take courses over are smart enough to pass, but have other issues, Suarez said. There may be problems at home, or they may have had to skip school to help the family financially, he said.

The credit recovery program aims to help students be motivated to attend school and be successful.

“It’s about connection with the students,” Suarez said.

Anyone wishing additional information about the program should contact his or her high school’s guidance staff, he said.

Honoring those who serve

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By B.C. Manion

Suzanne Denny was walking through Lutz Memorial Park on the Fourth of July and noticed that the memorial in the park was choked with weeds.

“It was so overgrown by poison oak you couldn’t even see what it was,” said Denny, who was in the park that day with her life partner, Randy Coviello.

Denny declared the situation “a disgrace.”

Coviello told her she should do something about it.

So she did.

But she didn’t do it alone. She joined the GFWC Lutz-Pasco Junior Woman’s Club and suggested the group take on a makeover of the memorial as a group project.

The memorial honors not only those who have been in the military, but also firefighters, police officers, emergency responders and others who serve or have served their community or nation.

On Sunday, in honor of this week’s celebration of Veterans Day, there will be a special ceremony to rededicate the lovingly restored memorial.

As many of these things go, the project was a lot more involved than it seemed it would be at first.

“We kicked it off on 9/11,” Denny said. “We must have pulled 15 black contractor bags full of weeds and trash out of the memorial.”

Initially, the volunteers thought they would simply pull out the weeds and fill in the gaps with fresh plants, said Sharon Grace, a member of the GFWC Lutz-Pasco Junior Woman’s Club.

But they consulted two landscapers who told them the garden needed a complete overhaul, Grace said.

The organizers had not envisioned spending much money on the project, but they got help from Denny’s company, Commonwealth Insurance; Coviello’s company, American Outlaw Jeep Parts; Capstone Credit & Collection Agency; SITA, Inc. and W.S.P. Consultants, Inc.

They also got other kinds of contributions.

PlayNation of Tampa donated the mulch and Image Painting of Florida provided the paint and did the pressure washing. And, on the kick-off day, Nancy’s Good N Fast restaurant supplied sandwiches to feed the hungry crew.

Duncheon’s Nursery & Landscaping and ValleyCrest Landscape Companies provided plant consultations and got the organizers very good prices for the replacement plants, Denny said.

Three men from Duncheon’s also helped rip out many of the old plants to make way for new ones, Denny said.

She and Coviello had been out in the rain pulling out the old plants so the new ones could be planted.

Some men from Duncheon’s drove by and took pity on them, Denny said.

The men used special shovels and had the plants out in 20 minutes, a job that Denny said would have taken her and Coviello hours to complete.

She’s still grateful.

“My back was killing me,” she said.

The updated memorial garden now boasts Knockout Roses, dwarf firebush, Indian Hawthorne and dwarf Walter’s viburnum.

In addition to the money and materials donated for the project, many people gave their time and sweat equity.

Besides the woman’s club, their families and friends, there were other volunteers.

Some members of the Exchangettes, a service club from Steinbrenner High pitched in, and so did some scout troops.

Hillsborough County firefighter Artie Taylor helped out several times and he and he drafted another firefighter, Michael Hudkins, to help out, too.

Others who pitched in were Sheila Tramontana, a former candidate for Lutz Guv’na and Lizz Owen, of Standard Pacific Homes, who told Denny about Image Painting of Florida and ValleyCrest Landscape Companies.

Craig Jewesak, the aide in Hillsborough County Commissioner Victor Crist’s office and Rina Rojas, a manager at the Hillsborough parks department were also responsive, Denny said. The sprinklers in the garden needed to be repaired and they were, she said.

Denny also touched base with Phyllis and William Hoedt, who were on the committee that originally installed the memorial and with the Orange Blossom Garden Club, the group that originally maintained it to get their blessing for the project.

Denny is thrilled by the project’s outcome.

“People came out and gave their time and effort,” she said. “I love how the community has come together.”

 

/Rededication of Lutz Service Memorial

What: Rededication of the Lutz Veteran’s Service Memorial hosted by the GFWC Lutz-Pasco Junior Woman’s Club.

When: 11 a.m., Sunday, Nov. 13.

Where: 98 First Ave. S.W., Lutz (at the corner of Lutz-Lake Fern Road and US 41)

Who: Everyone is welcome to attend

 

Steinbrenner beats Seminole in playoff opener

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By Kyle LoJacono

The Steinbrenner volleyball team swept Seminole 25-15, 25-16, 25-18 in the regional quarterfinals on Nov. 1, but the Warriors were not pleased with the straight-set victory.

“We were a little slow coming out to start,” said Steinbrenner coach Jennifer Graham. “They graded themselves a C-. There were just a lot of small errors here and there, and at this point we can’t be making those errors.

“Overall a win is a win and it’s great to win,” Graham continued. “We have to get better because we’re going to play better and better teams coming up, so it’s just going to get harder for us. We have to come out of the gate faster is the bottom line.”

Steinbrenner junior outside hitter Madison Seuzeneau goes up for one of her career-high 18 kills in a victory against Seminole on Nov. 1.

Errors committed by the Warriors (24-4) let the Warhawks (13-11) hang in the match. Steinbrenner saw a 20-7 third-set lead shrink to 23-16 and 24-18 before sophomore rightside hitter Rachel Mathison put an end to Seminole’s season with her fifth kill of the match.

The Warriors’ serving game, which is usually their strength, was off by their standards.

“The serves weren’t always going where we wanted them to,” Graham said. “That becomes frustrating because we can do it, we just weren’t. Those are things that can be fixed. Some errors are good errors though. If we’re serving aggressive and it’s a foot out of the back wall then it’s a great serve as long as it’s not four or five.”

Freshman middle hitter Lauren Heldt brought some normalcy to Steinbrenner’s serving when she recorded seven of her team-high eight aces on one rotation.

“I’ve never had that many all together like that before,” Heldt said. “I was trying to get it to certain spots and it dropped in. … Our serving has been key for us all year. It’s our top priority. The better we serve, the better our whole game is. If you’re not serving, you can’t play this game.”

Graham said Heldt tends to get aces in bunches.

“And it usually ends with an aggressive miss,” Graham said. “She’s just got a great snap and it’s a really hard ball to read. I would hate to be serve receiving against it. We look forward to her jump serving eventually, which will be a real threat.”

Warriors sophomore setter Casey McLean posted 37 assists in a straight-set win against the Warhawks in the regional quarterfinals.

It was also fun for Heldt’s teammates to watch her go on her run of aces.

“It was absolutely amazing,” said junior outside hitter Madison Seuzeneau. “I was jumping up and down after every ace.”

The Warrior frontline attack was led by Seuzeneau for the second straight match. She had a career-high 15 kills in a victory against Freedom in the district finals on Oct. 27 and broke her own mark with 18 put down on the Warhawks.

Graham said Seuzeneau has become a more consistent player the second half of this season.

“She’s peaking at the right time,” Graham said. She then added, “I’ve been working with her for three years straight now with playing smart, hitting smart shots. Defensively we’re working on getting her there. Right now she’s just playing front row and eventually we’d like to be able to play her all the way around.”

Steinbrenner senior outside hitter Miranda Powell posted six kills. Junior middle hitter Baylee Hooker added six kills of her own while adding two blocks. Sophomore setter Casey McLean recorded 37 assists in just three sets.

Seminole was without 6-foot-2 Marissa Lisenbee, who had a team-high 324 kills and 118 blocks this season. She received a red card during the district tournament and was ineligible to play.

The Warriors host Clearwater in the regional semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. The Tornadoes defeated Freedom 25-12, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18 on Nov. 1.

Steinbrenner defeated Clearwater 29-27, 30-28, 15-7 this season during a tournament in Gainesville.

‘Canes win first regional match

The Bishop McLaughlin volleyball team went out and swept Lakeland McKeel Academy on Nov. 1 despite playing in its first playoff match in program history.

The Hurricanes (16-8) swept the road match 25-14, 25-17, 25-20. Senior outside hitter Jess Johnson had a team-high 15 kills in the contest.

Bishop McLaughlin’s win sets up a rematch of the Class 3A-District 8 finals against Tampa Prep, which the Terrapins won 25-10, 25-21, 25-4.

The Hurricanes travel to Tampa Prep for the regional semifinal match on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.

Wiregrass Ranch’s fourth straight district sweep

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By Kyle LoJacono

Wiregrass Ranch girls cross country runner Nikita Shah summarized the Class 3A-Ditrict 6 meet with one sentence.

Nikita Shah

“This is a good day for Wiregrass,” Shah said.

Nov. 3 was indeed a good day for the Bulls, as the girls and boys teams each claimed district championships for the fourth straight season. The four-peat is even bigger for the programs, as each lost four of its top-seven runners from last season.

“It pretty much proves we can bounce back even though we lost four seniors from last year,” said Wiregrass Ranch boy runner Sam Hippely. “Coach has gotten us better and everyone’s times are even better.”

Bulls boys coach Chris Loth said the ability to rebound after losing some of the squad’s top athletes is a testament to his runners’ hard work.

“We had a lot of bodies around all summer and they were ready to fill those shoes and get some of the glory themselves,” Loth said. “They were motivated to do that and they did. Four in a row.”

Wiregrass Ranch had 39 points at the meet, 14 less than the second place boys from Sarasota and 31 fewer than Land O’ Lakes. The Bulls claimed five of the top-14 spots and had an average finish of 16:37.3 at the event.

Travis Nichols

The Wiregrass Ranch girls’ 35 points was 38 less than second place Bellview. The Bulls claimed seven of the top-17 spots at the meet.

Wiregrass Ranch also set a Pasco girls record in a 5-kilometer race by having an average finish of 19:41.57. The county started having 5Ks in 2002.

“When we started the season we knew we had to do some rebuilding,” said Bulls girls coach Don Howard. “What they did shows that we’re actually a better team this year than we were last year.”

Every one of Wiregrass Ranch’s top seven set a personal record (PR) at districts.

“All I can say is coach Howard is a really good coach,” Shah said. “He’s able to — with four graduating seniors in the top seven — make our team better than we were last year.”

Shah, a junior, led the way with a 17:52, faster than any other time for a girl in Pasco this year. Her PR entering the race was 18:38.

“I actually couldn’t see the time at all,” Shah said. “My eyes get really blurry when I’m running and I didn’t have my watch like I normally do. I forgot it, so I had no idea what kind of time I was running. When I was crossing I looked up and saw it was under 18 minutes I was really surprised.”

Shah said running without her watch may have made her run a little faster.

“I was basically running blind,” Shah said. “I usually check it close to the end to see if I run this fast I’ll be done in 1 minute or something like that. I didn’t know today, so I was just sprinting my hardest coming in just to be on the safe side.”

The finish for Shah comes about a year after she started suffering through a bout of anemia that zapped her strength.

“It’s really exciting for Nikita to overcome it,” Howard said. “She’s worked really hard this year. She’s run more miles than I’ve ever had a girl run. She’s done more work than I’ve ever had a girl do and it’s paying off now.”

The performance made Shah the individual runner-up to Bellview’s Anne-Marie Blanev’s 17:39.1.

Sam Hippley

As for the Bulls boys, Hippely also set a PR by finishing in 16:02.7, 4.3 seconds off the championship pace of Land O’ Lakes’ Travis Nichols. Hippely beat Nichols the week before to claim the Sunshine State Conference championship, and the two have finished near the top of meet leader boards all year.

“There’s someone always out there who wants to beat you and someone you want to beat,” Hippely said. “It makes the races more exciting and it makes you run better times. If he runs fast then I have to run fast to stay up with him.”

The Bulls will compete in regionals at Lecanto High on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 a.m. Both Wiregrass Ranch squads won regional titles last year.

Warriors sweep districts

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By Eugenio Torrens

Steinbrenner’s cross country teams moved up in classification this year, but the Warriors showed they can run with anyone by winning Class 3A-District 8 meets Nov. 4.

The boys used an average time of 16:50.86, which translated in all seven members finishing in the top-11 spots. Tyler Lima led the Warriors with his third-place pace of 16:23.67.

Lauren Garris crossed the finish line in third place with a 20:29.11 for the girls team. The dual-sports athlete — she also plays soccer — was disappointed with her position.

“It was like one or two minutes, big difference,” Garris said of her time behind first-place finisher Sarah Hartman, of Sickles, who ran a 19:33.52.

It is the second straight district title for the Warriors boys, while the girls finished as the runner-up last season.

Gaither’s Rachel Cazares clocked in at 20:44.51 to nab fourth place and was the lone Cowboy to advance.

“We were expecting definitely her to be in the top 10, but we were not expecting fourth,” said Cazares’s coach, Amber Traci.

In 4A-6, there was no topping Plant, which attained perfect scores of 15 in both the boys and girls races.

Freedom girls coach, Dwight Smith, knew the Panthers would not be dethroned.

“They competed the first two miles with Plant — we knew they were going to break away, but I’m happy that they fought really hard,” Smith said.

“It’s great for me, it’s great for the team, it’s great for Freedom High School,” Smith added about his team finishing as district runner-up.

Under second-year coach Greg Lewandowski, the Freedom boys squeaked into regionals with a team score of 88, five points better than Wharton. Because there were only six full teams in the 4A-6 meet, only the top three advanced.

“We got such a young team. … We’ve got so much room for improvement over the next year,” Lewandowski said. “This is our second year making it to regionals, and we’re just climbing the ladder.”

Adam Urbaniak’s finished in sixth place and was the first Patriot to finish the 5-kilometer race in 17:27.86. He said he was in 10th place when he started picking off runners ahead of him — except for the Plant runners.

“The Plant guys are hard, they’re all great runners. They know what they’re doing, so it’s tough to pass those guys,” Urbaniak said.

Urbaniak admitted he was just hoping for top 15, so finishing sixth surpassed his expectations.

Wharton girls runners Taylor Griffith and Mariah Henderson finished in 10th and Mariah Henderson finished in 13th to advance individually. No boys Wildcats qualified.

Both Freedom teams and the Wildcats who qualified will race in the regional meet at McIntosh Middle on Saturday, Nov. 12. Steinbrenner and Cazares will compete at Lecanto High on Saturday, Nov. 12, where they will face off against defending regional champs Wiregrass Ranch.

“Now we’re just focusing on Wiregrass Ranch and region, because they’re the team that beat us bad the first two meets of the year,” Lima said. “So we just have to get revenge and beat them.”