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Saint Leo University women’s cross-country runner Paige Patterson took first place last month at the 2021 Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Championships, at the Rinker Athletic Complex in West Palm Beach.

The junior from Edmonton, Alberta, clocked a 22:34.88 in the 6K race, besting the second-place finisher (Embry Riddle’s Alyssa Jack) by 8 seconds.

Patterson makes history as the program’s third runner to win an individual conference title, joining Colett Rampf and Tereza Novotna. Her first-place finish at the conference meet is the first for the Lions women’s distance runner since Rampf won in 2017 (which marked her fourth-straight crown).

Cypress Creek High School athletic director and varsity boys soccer coach Justin Pelliccia was named one of 100 regional winners for the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) 2021 Double-Goal Coach Award, according to an announcement by the organization.

Nominees are assessed on the extent to which they reflect the model of PCA’s Double-Goal Coach, “whose first goal is winning, and whose second, more important goal is teaching life lessons through sports,” according to the organization.

Pelliccia and others were selected out of over 600 nominations that received over 3,000 letters of reference. He is one of 11 Florida-based coaches recognized.

In coming weeks, the organization’s selection committee will next identify 25 National Winners who will each receive $500, a certificate from PCA, and recognition on PCA’s website, newsletters and media campaigns.

From there, one special coach will win the Taube Family Prize in Recognition of Excellence in Coaching and be named PCA’s National Coach of the Year. This prize, to be awarded in April, will include $10,000 ($2,500 to the coach and $7,500 to a youth sports organization or school of their choice).

Pelliccia joined Cypress Creek when the school first opened 2017. Under his leadership, the upstart school’s athletics department earned the FHSAA’s Fred E. Rozelle Sportsmanship Award for Class 4A for the 2019-2020 season.

Saint Leo University acrobatics and tumbling head coach Allie Williams has stepped down from the program, to spend more time with her family after welcoming her first child last year.

Williams was hired as the first head coach of the acro and tumbling program in November 2018 — then Saint Leo’s newest and 21st intercollegiate sport.

Williams spent her first year recruiting and building the first collegiate acrobatics program in the state of Florida, while also procuring necessary equipment, uniforms and staffing.

The program’s first season of competition in spring 2020 was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Williams herself was a four-year standout at Baylor University, helping lead the team to three national championships in 2015, 2016 and 2017. She also scored individual event national titles in 5 element Acro (2015), Pyramid Heat 1 (2015), and multiple titles in Pyramid Heat 2 (2015, 2017).

Lions assistant coach Joely Smith will serve as the interim head coach for the program. A search will be conducted at a later date when COVID-19 protocols allow for the process to occur, according to a release from the school’s athletics department.

“We will always be grateful to Coach Williams for starting the Acrobatics & Tumbling program at Saint Leo,” Saint Leo athletics director Fran Reidy said, in a release. “Allie built things from the ground up, not only in recruiting great student-athletes but also in equipment needs, logistics, and promoting a new sport. We wish Allie, and her family, all the best as they start their newest journey as proud parents.”

Acrobatics and tumbling, a discipline of USA Gymnastics, is the evolution of different forms of gymnastics, and involves tumbling, tosses, and acrobatic lifts and pyramids. Teams participate in head-to-head competition and are scored in six events, including compulsory, acro, pyramid, toss, tumbling and team.

The Land O’ Lakes High School varsity wrestling team took first place overall at Pasco County’s Sunshine Athletic Conference championship meet, at Anclote High School in Holiday. Participating Land O’ Lakes wrestlers included Brandon Austin, Collin Bogle, David Dzuibek, Devyn Clearly, Tristan Grogan, Cole Henderson, Ryan Lebsack, Zayden Matthews, Elijah Newman, Morgan Ray, Isaac Tavo, Isaiah Tavo and Jarod Wright. The team is coached by Eddie Marley and Danny Miller.

Carrollwood Day School senior forward Aryana Dizon eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for her varsity basketball career. The 6-foot-2 Dizon, who guided the Patriots to a state title during the 2019-2020 season, is a University of Vermont commit.

Fifteen-year-old Land O’ Lakes resident Hailey Stricker recently recorded a hole-in-one at Pebble Creek Golf Club in New Tampa. The feat occurred on the course’s 116-yard par-three, 12th hole, using an eight-iron and a Wilson Chaos ball. Stricker — a freshman at Sunlake High — earned second team All-Conference honors as a member of the school’s varsity girls golf team.

Academy at the Lakes senior guard Caleb Yann recently crossed the ‘1,000 career points scored’ plateau. The 5-foot-11 Yann has averaged a combined 12.7 points per game across four varsity seasons, including a high of 17.7 points as a junior. Yann also played varsity football for the Wildcats, notably as a receiver, defensive back and punter.