Wiregrass Ranch High football standout Jordan Miner received a football scholarship offer from the University of South Florida on June 27. Miner, a rising junior, also has offers from Bowling Green, Toledo and Tulane. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound defensive back totaled 35 tackles last season and served as the team’s kick returner, where he averaged 34 yards per return. Miner is also a member of the Wiregrass Ranch basketball team, where he was second on the team in points (10.5 points per game) and rebounds (4.5 rebounds per game) last season.
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Saint Leo senior is an All-American
Saint Leo University senior Valentin Lenz was named a 2015-2016 Second-Team Academic All-American in men’s cross-country and track and field.
Lenz, of Dusseldorf, Germany, is only the second Saint Leo men’s cross-country/track athlete to earn Academic All-America honors, following in the footsteps of Carl Dunne who won the honor a year ago. Lenz, the 2015 Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Year, was the 2015 SSC men’s cross-country individual champion and led Saint Leo to SSC cross-country titles for two consecutive years. He finished in ninth-place at the 2015 NCAA Cross-Country South Region Championships, which qualified him for the 2015 NCAA Cross-Country National Championships in Joplin, Missouri, where his 10K distance time of 31:08.30 set a new Saint Leo record.
Lenz is an accounting and economics major.
Saint Leo golfer makes All-Nicklaus team
Saint Leo freshman golfer Hugo Bernard was recently named to the 2016 All-Nicklaus Team. Bernard is one of 24 honorees, and one of only four Division II golfers on the list. Bernard was crowned the 2016 NCAA Division II individual national champion after winning the individual title in Denver, Colorado, on May 19. The All-Nicklaus Team was created in 2008, and is named after Jack Nicklaus, one of the sport’s all-time greatest players.
Former Zephyrhills star now on staff
Bryan Thomas, a former Zephyrhills High football star, has been added to the school’s football staff.
Thomas, a 2006 graduate of Zephyrhills High, will be an assistant on first-year head coach Nick Carroll’s staff for the 2016 season.
Thomas was widely regarded as one of the top high school safeties in the nation. (The recruiting service Rivals.com labeled him as a 4-star recruit and the 12th best safety in the 2006 recruiting class.) He started his college football career at the University of Florida before transferring to the University of North Alabama. The Zephyrhills Bulldogs went 8-3 last season under former coach Reginald Roberts.
Saint Leo tennis coach heads to Baylor
Chris Frusci, Saint Leo’s head men’s and women’s tennis coach for the past two seasons, resigned his post last week to become a women’s assistant tennis coach at Baylor University.
“Saint Leo athletics wishes Chris Frusci all the best as he moves to the next stop along his coaching career,” Saint Leo athletic director Francis Reidy said in a release. “While disappointed he was with us just a few years, it is clear by the programs’ results, he is a fantastic coach and recruiter. Baylor is getting a talented and dedicated coach.”
In two years at Saint Leo, Frusci posted an overall record of 43-8 and 11-1 SSC (Sunshine State Conference) on the men’s side and a 42-9, 14-2 SSC record on the women’s side. He also led both programs to their first-ever Sunshine State Conference regular season titles.
A national search is underway for a new head coach.
Gaither pitcher to play college baseball
Gaither High left-handed pitcher Josh Bobrowski has signed on to play collegiate baseball at South Florida State College. The 6-foot-2, 178-pound pitcher compiled a 2.01 ERA in 24.1 innings pitched in his senior year. Bobrowski was part of the school’s first baseball state championship won last month.
Baseball standout signs letter of intent
Pasco-Hernando State College third baseman Jordan Ding recently signed a National Letter of Intent with Division II Francis Marion (South Carolina) University. The PHSC baseball standout set a new school single-season batting average record of .467 this past season. (The previous record of .432 was set by Mike Aranda in 1998.) In 43 games, Ding had 12 doubles, six triples, one home run and 45 RBIs. He also led the team in runs scored (59) and hits (77). Ding was also named the NJCAA DII Marucci Elite for the Southeast District and the NJCAA DII Region VIII Player of the Year.
Pitcher receives All-American honors
Pasco-Hernando State College (PHSC) sophomore pitcher Tanner Thompson has been named an NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) DII Second Team All-American. He becomes the third PHSC pitcher in the 25-year history of the program to earn the honor, joining Frankie Sanders (1994) and Danny Rodriguez (2015). The right-handed pitcher finished the season with 9-1 record and a 1.52 ERA in 82.2 innings pitched; he also compiled 70 strikeouts in his 15 appearances.
Saint Leo adds two players
The Saint Leo women’s basketball team will have a few new faces next season. Head coach Anthony Crocitto added two players to the 2016-2017 roster: junior college transfer Ragen Dotson and European import Gina Brierley. Dotson is a transfer out of Daytona State College, and Brierley, a native of Manchester, England, played for Loreto (Manchester) College and most recently earned a spot on England’s U18 team.
Dotson, a 5-foot-10 guard, averaged 7.0 points per game and 2.3 rebounds per game, and shot nearly 41 percent from 3-point range in her sophomore season at Daytona State.
“Ragen is a special young lady and can really shoot the ball,” Crocitto said in a release. “We will count on her to play multiple positions for us at Saint Leo and score the ball inside and out. She can really stretch a defense with her long-range shooting and has a huge upside to do some special things in her two years here.” Brierley, a 5-foot-7 point guard, averaged 17 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game at Loreto College; she also averaged 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game.
“Gina will be a rookie to watch in our conference,” Crocitto said. “She is a multi-talented guard who plays the game the right way while playing hard. Gina will be expected to contribute right away and play multiple guard spots for us.”
Brierley and Dotson join Madelin Lang and Courtney Cox, who both signed with Saint Leo during the fall period.
Saint Leo golfers honored
Saint Leo senior Liam Ainsworth and junior Joey Savoie were recently named to the Division II PING All-America teams. They join freshman Hugo Bernard, who was named to the first team in May.
“I am so proud of these guys and all that they achieved this year,” Saint Leo University men’s golf coach Chris Greenwood said in a release.
Ainsworth, a native of London, England, was selected to the DII PING All-America Second Team following his performance at the NCAA National Championships at the Green Valley Ranch Golf Course in Denver, Colorado. He finished in a tie for eighth place at the championships with a 209 total (-7) in stroke play.
Savoie, a native of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada, was named to the All-America Third Team after his nationals performance, finishing in 11th place with a final of 210 (-6) during stroke play.
On May 21, the Saint Leo’s men’s golf team won the school’s first-ever National Championship, defeating top-ranked Chico (California) State in match play 3-2.