Check This Out

Charles Isaac, a 6-foot-2 forward at Pasco-Hernando State College, has signed to play basketball with the College of St. Joseph in Vermont, a United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division II school. Isaac, also a former Blake High School standout, averaged a team-leading 22.8 points per game last season. The state college finished the 2016-2017 season with a 12-14 record.

During the South Pasco Bassmasters March tournament at Lake Istokpoga, Mike Mathews, left, and Kevin Corcoran won first place by reeling in five bass, totaling 19.82 pounds; the largest bass weighed 6.40 pounds. Both are Port Richey residents and caught their fish flipping a junebug jig. Elsewhere, Joe and Jim Felice, of Team Felice, won the tournament’s Big Bass Award, with a 7.46-pound catch. The next tournament is May 20 on the Kissimmee Chain.

Evan Hogan, a 6-foot-2, 300-pound senior lineman and long snapper at Wiregrass Ranch High School, has signed to play football at Keiser University, an NAIA school in West Palm Beach. Hogan, a three-year varsity starter for Wiregrass Ranch, will be part of Keiser’s inaugural football season in fall 2018. Last October, the university announced the addition of football to its slate of 21 varsity sports; the program will compete in the Sun Conference.

The West Pasco Soccer Club’s U10 girls squad took first place in the 2017 Best of the Bay Tournament. The event ran from March 31 through April 2, in St. Petersburg. The team, based in Land O’ Lakes, also won the 10th annual Largo March Madness Tournament last month. For information about the club, visit WestPascoSoccer.com.

Santara “Santy” Dembele, a freshman at Land O’ Lakes High School, recently competed in the 2017 USA Basketball 3-by-3 U18 National Tournament for Women in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The 5-foot-8 forward teamed up with Kali Barber (Palm Harbor University High School), Nicole Nanos (Palm Harbor University High School) and Shayleese Vazquez (Weeki Wachee High School) to form Hard2Guard. The group went 1-4 in the 10-team tournament, April 8 and April 9.

Dembele was the lone freshman on the Land O’ Lakes High girls varsity team, during the 2016-2017 season.

The Pasco-Hernando State College Foundation has established a softball fund in memory of former student-athlete Brooke Gonzalez, who died after being struck by a car last April.

The Brooke Gonzalez Softball Fund, created after an initial donation from her family, will provide resources to support the women’s softball program at PHSC.

Gonzalez, who was 19 at the time, was reportedly returning to her apartment when she was struck by a car that drove onto a sidewalk along State Road 52.
Gonzalez, of Citra, Florida, was a key member of the 2016 PHSC softball squad, batting .415 with two home runs, 20 RBIs and 13 runs scored. She was also an honors student, set to graduate in May 2016 with a 3.5 GPA.

Contributions to the fund may be made through the PHSC Foundation office at PHSC.edu/foundation.

Following an impressive debut season, Saint Leo swimmer Annie Lindstrom has been named the Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Freshman of the Year.

The Kristianstad, Sweden native became the second Saint Leo women’s swimmer to earn Freshman of the Year honors. (Nicole Weber was named Freshman of the Year in 2014.)

Individually, Lindstrom qualified for the NCAA Division II championships in the 50 Free, 100 Fly and 100 Free during the 2016-17 season after finishing in the top four in all three events at the SSC Championship. At nationals, she finished 16th in the 50 Free, 23rd in the 100 Free, and 27th in the 100 Fly. In relays, Lindstrom was a part of four Saint Leo school records, including the Lions’ 200 Medley Relay that finished Top-8 at the national championship meet.

For the second straight year, the Pasco-Hernando State College cheer team finished fourth in the Cheer Ltd. Nationals at CANAM in the small coed collegiate division.

The competition was March 17, at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Two years ago, in 2015, the team finished fifth in the event.
“I am extremely proud of the team’s hard work this season,” head coach Sophia Fluellen said, in a statement. “Despite a few mistakes during the competition, they pulled through and took home the fourth place national trophy.”

She added: “It takes a tremendous amount of dedication for these student athletes to work for seven months to perform a 2½- minute routine.”

The college’s cheer team captured the state championship title on Feb. 11 in the College Co-Ed Level 6 division at the Florida State Fair, for the fifth time in seven years.

For information about the PHSC cheer team, visit PHSC.edu/athletics/cheerleading.

PHSC Cheerleading roster:

• Dealaney Allen
• Adam Hall
• Scott Howery
• Elizabeth Stowers
• Sarah Kahn
• Kelli McKenna
• Jasmine DeSierra
• Nicole Ficarrotta
• Amanda Kahn
• Hailey Bishop
• Marisa French
• Miko Sharkey

Randy Haynes Jr., a senior free safety at Wharton High School, has committed to play football at Ohio Wesleyan University, a Division III school in Delaware, Ohio.

A two-way player, the 5-foot-10, 185-pound athlete also played quarterback, running back and slot back throughout his Wildcats career.

Dylan Hohenthaner, a senior kicker/punter at Land O’ Lakes High, has committed to play football at Indiana State University, a Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) school in Terre Haute, Indiana. Last season, Hohenthaner averaged 38.2 yards per punt (42 punts) and kicked four field goals, including a long of 46 yards.

With Hohenthaner’s commitment, Indiana State features two players from our coverage area on its 2017 roster. Zephyrhills High alum Devin Brockington, a senior cornerback, joined the team in 2016 after transferring from Ellsworth Community College, in Iowa.