The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

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Zephyrhills tennis center opens housing complex

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(Courtesy of Andy Taylor/Pasco County)

The Sarah Vande Berg Tennis & Wellness Center held a grand opening ribbon cutting on Nov. 3 for The Well, which is 34,000 square feet of multi-bedroom apartments that can house more than 90 students and families. The apartments are adjacent to the tennis facility and will be available for players and their families during training and tournaments. Commissioner Mike Moore emceed the event, with speakers including Florida Sen.  Danny Burgess; Florida Rep. Randy Maggard; SVB CEO Pascal Collard; Florida Sports Coast’s Adam Thomas; Bob Simons, who sold SVB the property; and Todd Lovinger, an investor. Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson was on hand for the ceremony, too.

Friday Night Lights Playoff Scoreboard (Nov. 11/12)

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West Orange 35, Steinbrenner 0
Gaither 27, Pinellas Park 6
Winter Haven 29, Land O’ Lakes 14
Lecanto 45, Pasco 14
Zephyrhills 56, Gulf 27
Wharton at Oviedo**

Regional Semifinals (Nov. 18)
Lecanto at Zephyrhills
Gaither at Jesuit
Carrollwood Day at Northside Christian*

All games begin at 7:30 p.m.
*7 p.m. start
**Played Nov. 14

Youth running team shines at state championships

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Front row, from left: Natalia Gaona-Zelaya (11:18.8), Jasmine France (11:32.9), Skylar Manatt (9:44.8), John Iwanski (10:54.0) and A’saph Barnes (10:45.3). Back row, coach Paul Lefebvre. (Courtesy of Paul Lefebvre)

The Wesley Chapel/New Tampa Youth Running Team recently participated in the 2022 Florida Youth Running Association Middle School State Championships, with several of the teams bringing home medals.

During the event on Oct. 28 and Oct. 29 at Holloway Park in Lakeland, the Mustangs placed third in the Middle School Club Girls 3K division and fifth in the Middle School Club Boys 3K. On the boys side, Skylar Manatt was crowned the state champ, running a 9:44, which was just a second off the state record.

Additional medalists were A’saph Barnes at 13th and John Iwanski in 17th, while for the girls, Natalia Gaona-Zelaya finished fifth, Jasmine France in ninth, Lydia Vincent at 17th.

The club team, coached by Paul Lefebvre, consists of kindergarten through eighth-grade runners that practice in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa, and there is no cost to join the team.

For more information about the team, email .

Land O’ Lakes High inducts new Hall of Fame members

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(Courtesy of Michael Williams)

After a two-year hiatus because of COVID, the Land O’ Lakes High School Athletic Hall of Fame inducted five new members. The honor has now been bestowed to 50 members.

The newest honorees were celebrated in a ceremony on Oct. 18 because of their former and continuing contributions to the Gators athletics history.

The hall of fame was started in 2013 by the Land O’ Lakes Gators Athletics Foundation Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which was founded to enhance the athletic programs at Land O’ Lakes High School (LOLHS) by providing additional funds for facilities, uniforms, transportation and other athletic program needs not covered by traditional school funding. The Foundation wished to honor alumni athletes for their contribution to the athletic program.

The 2022 Hall of Fame Induction Class

Calvin Baisley, baseball coach/administrator
Calvin Baisley has coached for 38 years at the school and is the county’s winningest baseball coach (619). He has amassed nine district championships, 10 Sunshine Athletic Conference (SAC) championships, been named the SAC Coach of the Year seven times, twice named the Tampa Tribune Coach of the Year and has seen 103 former players go on to play at the college level. He’s also had 16 former players sign Major League Baseball contracts, including his three sons.

Danielle Jones, class of 1985
Danielle Jones, a former four-sport athlete — basketball, softball, volleyball and tennis — was a four-year letter winner in basketball and a Captain’s Pen recipient. She lettered in every sport she played, was a two-time All-Gulf Coast Conference basketball player and the first female LOLHS athlete to be awarded a full Division 1 scholarship, as she went on to play at Tulane University.

Logan Payne, class of 2003
Logan Payne was a three-sport letterman athlete and featured on the football, basketball and baseball teams. As a senior, he was named the Tampa Bay area and Pasco County Player of the Year after leading the state with 74 receptions for 1,250 and 23 touchdowns. He finished his Gators’ career with 109 receptions for 1,650 yards and 30 touchdowns before playing collegiately at the University of Minnesota. There, he had 97 catches for 1,344 and 11 touchdowns. Payne then spent six seasons in the NFL, playing for the Seattle Seahawks, New York Jets, Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings.

Godfrey Pestana, class of 2001
Godfrey Pestana was a three-sport athlete, playing football, basketball, and track and field, but shined on the gridiron and was named the SAC Player of the Year twice and the St. Petersburg Times All-County Player of the Year as a senior. During that season, Pestana rushed for 1,641 yards and 16 touchdowns on 243 carries. Pestana finished his football career with 4,057 rushing yards and 51 touchdowns before attending the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, where he had 1,280 yards over two seasons. Pestana enlisted in the Army Reserves in 2003 and was deployed the next year to Tallil Air Base in Iraq and served as a commander-captain to the 368th Military Intelligence Battalion Alpha Company.

Charlene Rogers, Lifetime Achievement Award
Charlene Rogers, a Class of 1992 graduate, played three years of softball and a season of soccer for the Gators. In 2003, she would become the co-founder of IERNA’s Heating, Cooling & Plumbing in Lutz, which started out of a makeshift office in the back of her house. She previously served as president of the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce and was a founding member of the Women-n-Charge networking organization. She also has been nominated for the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Woman of the Year Award. In 2016, IRENA’s was honored as the National Bryant “Dealer of the Year” and is the first and only HVAC company in Florida to earn the Bryant Pinnacle Award.

Friday Night Lights Football Scoreboard (Oct. 28)

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Pasco County
Pasco 49, Wesley Chapel 10
Land O’ Lakes 43, Wiregrass Ranch 7
Victory Christian 40, Bishop McLaughlin Catholic 2
Zephyrhills 53, Cypress Creek 10
Mitchell 41, Sunlake 0
Northside Christian 34, Zephyrhills Christian 22
Lakeside Christian 44, Academy at the Lakes 0

Hillsborough County
Gaither 57, Leto 0
Steinbrenner 52, Sickles 12
Wharton 76, Freedom 6
Carrollwood Day 21, Cambridge Christian 3

Nov. 4 Football Schedule

Pasco County
Wesley Chapel at Mitchell
Tarpon Springs and Land O’ Lakes
River Ridge at Cypress Creek
Central at Pasco
Baker County at Sunlake
Wiregrass Ranch at The Villages
Dunnellon at Zephyrhills

Hillsborough County
Newsome at Gaither
Riverview at Steinbrenner
Hillsborough at Wharton
Spoto at Freedom

*All games start at 7:30 p.m.

Volleyball Region Final Matches
Class 6A
Mitchell at Land O’ Lakes

Class 5A
Merritt Island at Wesley Chapel

Games are Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.

Disability Awareness Week a hit

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From left: Lions baseball coach Rick O’Dette along with Special Olympics athlete Matt Paoletti and Savannah Rock, Area 5 community engagement manager for the Special Olympics Florida. (Courtesy of Hailey Latlief, Saint Leo University)

Saint Leo University’s baseball and softball teams and Campus Recreation joined the Office of Accessibility Services for the annual beep baseball game on Oct. 13, at the university’s Turf Stadium on campus.

Part of Disability Awareness Week activities at Saint Leo, the annual game is a

favorite for competitors and spectators. During the game, the baseball and softball teams and others learn what it’s like to play this adaptive sport for the blind and visually impaired by putting on blindfolds and having to keep their ear on the beeping ball and bases. The softball team won 8-7 on a walk-off hit.

Area 5 serves those in Pasco, Hillsborough, Sumter, Citrus, Hernando and Pinellas counties.

Bulldogs runner breaks school record

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(Courtesy of Kimberly Poe)

Zephyrhills High distance runner Will Poe wanted the record, so he went out and not only got it, he shattered it. On Oct. 15, at the Sunshine Athletic Conference Cross Country Meet at Sunlake High in Land O’ Lakes, the junior Bulldog set the new 5K school record by posting a 15:53, and taking first place in the meet.

Poe broke the 18-year-old record held by Jose Espinosa, who posted a 16:10 in 2004. Up next is the Class 3A-District 4 tournament in Inverness on Oct. 20, where Poe will look to advance to regionals and eventually the state tournament, where he placed 26th last year. ‘I’ve put a lot of work into this season, so hopefully I can get 15th place or better at states,’ Poe told The Laker/Lutz News earlier this month. ‘The top 15 runners get on the podium and get a medal. It’s that position or higher, or nothing. That is what I’ve been running for all season.’

Friday Night Lights Football Scoreboard (Oct. 7)

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Pasco County
Land O’ Lakes 17, Nature Coast 14
Pasco 19, Auburndale 9
Cypress Creek 33, Hollins 8
South Sumter 23, Zephyrhills 20
New Smyrna Beach 20, Sunlake 9
Tohopekaliga 41, Wesley Chapel 14
Zephyrhills Christian 53, Discovery 0
Halifax Academy 42, Bishop McLaughlin Catholic 6

Hillsborough County
Wharton 42, Newsome 21
Steinbrenner 22, Armwood 14
Gaither 25, Bloomingdale 21
Rockledge 20, Carrollwood Day 6
Robinson 64, Freedom 19

Standings
(Overall, district)

Pasco County
Class 4 Suburban, District 6
Springstead 7-0, 1-0
Land O’ Lakes 6-0, 1-0
Mitchell 4-3, 1-1
Wiregrass Ranch 1-4, 0-2
Sunlake 1-5, 0-0

Class 3 Suburban, District 7
Pasco 6-0, 1-0
Cypress Creek 5-1, 0-1
Zephyrhills 3-3, 1-0
Wesley Chapel 0-6, 0-1

Class 1 Suburban, District 5
Lakeland Christian 5-0, 2-0
Victory Christian Academy 4-2, 1-0
Zephyrhills Christian 2-4, 0-2
Bishop McLaughlin Catholic 1-6, 0-1

Sunshine State – Gulf (8 Man)
Shorecrest Prep 5-1, 4-0
Lakeside Christian 4-2, 0-1
Canterbury 2-1, 2-1
Sarasota Christian 3-4, 1-2
Academy at the Lakes 1-3, 1-1
Real Life Christian Academy 0-6, 0-3

Hillsborough County
Class 4 Metro, District 6
East Lake 5-1, 1-0
Palm Harbor University 4-2, 0-0
Steinbrenner 3-3, 0-1
Sickles 1-6, 0-0

Class 3 Metro, District 4
Tampa Bay Tech 7-0, 1-0
Wharton 5-1, 0-0
Armwood 3-3, 0-0
Freedom 0-7, 0-0

Class 3 Metro, District 5
Jesuit 3-3, 1-0
Gaither 3-3, 1-0
Hillsborough 2-4, 0-1
Leto 2-5, 0-1

Class 1 Metro, District 3
Clearwater Central Catholic 5-1, 0-0
Cambridge Christian 4-2, 1-0
Carrollwood Day 3-2, 0-0
Seffner Christian 3-3, 0-1

Oct. 14 Football Schedule
Pasco County
Wesley Chapel at Cypress Creek
Land O’ Lakes at Springstead
Zephyrhills Christian at Bishop McLaughlin Catholic
Zephyrhills at Pasco
Wiregrass Ranch at Sunlake
Shorecrest Prep at Academy at the Lakes

Hillsborough County
Jesuit at Gaither
Palm Harbor University at Steinbrenner
Wharton at Tampa Bay Tech
Freedom at Armwood
Carrollwood Day at Seffner Christian

*All games start at 7:30 p.m.

Goal Diggers win summer league

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(Courtesy of Colin Eke)

Wesley Chapel Summer 2022 Woman’s League crowned its soccer champ recently, with The Goal Diggers winning for the eighth-straight season.

The Goal Diggers, playing at Wesley Chapel District Park, were almost beaten by the Sonic team, who took the Diggers to penalty kicks. The Diggers won 5 to 4 on the PKs.

Registration is now open for the Fall season, for both men and women. Cost is $500 per team of up to 14 players and an eight-game season. Free-agent registration is $50.

To register, visit www.newapsl.com/leagues. For information or questions, text Colin Eke at 813-610-2278.

Hockey champs at Center Ice

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(Courtesy of Nick Mancini)

The Tampa Bay Crunch competed in the Blue Line Hockey Labor Day Weekend Barn Burner at AdventHealth Center Ice, and of the 11 Crunch teams competing in eight divisions, five emerged as champions.

Team winners and their coaches included 10/12U A Girls Crunch (Kristin Folch); 14U A Blue Crunch (Paul McDuffie); 14U AA Crunch (Garrett Brown); 12U A Blue (Stan Neckar); 14U A White (Tommy Burgess).

Collectively, the Tampa Bay Crunch, also hosts at the Barn Burner, had a 34-15-4 showing at the tournament.