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Saint Leo University head men’s golf coach Chris Greenwood was named the 2016 Dave Williams Division II National Coach of the Year Award by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).
The third-year coach led the Lions to back-to-back NCAA National Championship appearances, but this season concluded with a title in hand. The No. 2 Lions defeated No. 1 Chico State 3-2 in the national finals on May 21 in Denver, Colorado, to culminate in the University’s first-ever team National Championship. During the season, Greenwood guided Saint Leo to 11 top-five tournament finishes. Prior to working at Saint Leo, Greenwood served as the Director of Golf at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for one year, and also spent seven seasons as the head men’s golf coach at Lynn University in Boca Raton. A former golf pro, Greenwood spent 12 years on the Canadian Golf Tour before becoming a college coach.

The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) recently announced new football practice procedures that limit live contact. The procedures, which aim to improve player safety, take effect Aug. 1, the first practice day of the 2016 season.

During the regular season, live contact will be restricted to 30 minutes per day and 80 minutes total per week. Live contact — defined as drills with game-like conditions where players are taken to the ground—will not be allowed to occur on more than two consecutive days, and cannot exceed three practice days per week.

“Player safety has and will always be the number one goal of the FHSAA,” outgoing FHSAA Executive Director Dr. Roger Dearing said in a release. “Protecting our student-athletes is paramount in growing the game of football and this administrative procedure is a step in the right direction.”

From day six of preseason practice (Aug. 1) through the Monday of the first regular season game, live contact will be limited to 40 minutes each day, with no more than two straight days of live contact. During two-a-days, only one practice can include live contact and cannot surpass 40 minutes. On that Monday, the regular-season guidelines come into effect for the remainder of the season.

Several athletes from our coverage area were named to the All-Western Conference baseball teams. The teams are selected by the public school coaches in Hillsborough County.

American Division
Coach of the year: John Crumbley, Steinbrenner

First team
P Gavin Gillespie, senior, Gaither

P CJ Van Eyk, junior, Steinbrenner

DH Ryan Russell, senior, Steinbrenner

Second team
OF Jose Cadenas, junior, Gaither

INF Bradley Hession, senior, Steinbrenner

INF Chipper Holland, junior, Gaither

1B Patrick Morris, junior, Steinbrenner

OF Kenny Rodriguez, junior, Gaither

National Division
First team
P Jonathan Baughman, senior, Wharton

INF Drew Ehrhard, junior, Wharton

OF Dalton Smith, senior, Freedom

Several athletes from our coverage area were named to the All-Western Conference softball team. The teams are selected by the public school coaches in Hillsborough County

American Division
First team
P Hailee DeCicco, sophomore, Gaither

IF Bethany Kursch, senior, Gaither

C Elizabeth Mason, senior, Gaither

Second team
OF Amelia Iacovino, junior, Steinbrenner

National Division
First team
C Maddy Hall, senior, Freedom

OF Gracie Seidl, junior, Freedom

Second team
P Ashlee Markovitz, senior, Freedom

IF Lauren Hall, junior, Freedom

The SAC (Sunshine Athletic Conference) East All-County baseball teams were recently announced. The first and second teams were voted on by Pasco County public school coaches:

East Team
Coach of the Year: Jeff May, Land O’ Lakes
Player of the Year: McCabe Sargent, Land O’ Lakes

First team
P Kirby Osborn, senior, Land O’ Lakes

C Dillon Sink, senior, Wesley Chapel

INF Michael Wu, junior, Sunlake

INF Max Law, junior, Land O’ Lakes

INF Zach Ghelfi, senior, Wesley Chapel

INF Marcus Gonzalez, sophomore, Wesley Chapel

OF Colton Bierly, sophomore, Wesley Chapel

OF Jake Starling, senior, Pasco

OF Austin Forest, senior, Land O’ Lakes

DH/Utility McCabe Sargent, junior, Land O’ Lakes

Second team
P Tommy Mace, junior, Sunlake

C Jacob Ortiz, junior, Sunlake

INF Marcus Gonzalez, junior, Zephyrhills

INF Ethan Nuebling, senior, Sunlake

INF Dustin Harris, junior, Land O’ Lakes

INF Corey Mills, junior, Pasco

OF Dylan Gobel, senior, Pasco

OF Jeremy Moser, senior, Wiregrass Ranch

DH/Utility Hunter Moye, junior, Wesley Chapel

 

Several senior baseball players in The Laker/Lutz News’ coverage area were named to the Hillsborough senior All-Star team, made up of the county’s top 25 players. The Hillsborough County senior all-stars defeated the Pinellas County senior all-stars 6-3 on May 29 at Tropicana Field.

Pitchers
Gavin Gillespie, Gaither (11 wins, 0.79 ERA, 89 strikeouts in 88.2 innings)
David Masuck, Gaither (7 wins, 2.47 ERA, 32 strikeouts in 51 innings)

Infielders
Bradley Hession, Steinbrenner (.340 avg., four home runs, 11 doubles, 22 RBIs)

Outfielders
Drew Burkhart, Steinbrenner (.354 avg., 10 doubles, 16 RBIs)
Gabriel Montenegro, Carrollwood Day (.375 avg., three HRs, 25 RBIs, 15 steals)
Dalton Smith, Freedom (.382 avg., 11 RBIs)

Saint Leo University sophomore Colett Rampf finished fifth in the 3000-meter steeplechase finals at the 2016 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 27 at IMG Academy.

Rampf posted a career-best time of 10:23.86, earning All-America honors with her fifth-place showing. Her finals time was slightly under two seconds faster than the time she posted in the meet’s preliminaries.

Rampf, who became Saint Leo’s first cross-country All-American earlier this season, now becomes the Lions’ first track All-American as well.

“I could not be prouder of myself and all the hard work it took to get here,” Rampf said in a release. “I did not expect to do this well because it was my first time running the steeplechase back-to-back within 24 hours. The steeplechase is a very tough, competitive race, so it very hard on my legs, and hard to stay mentally strong and push with whatever is left.”

Rampf is a native of Premintz, Germany.

Florida High School Athletic Association executive director Dr. James “Roger” Dearing announced his retirement last week. Dearing, who held the role for eight years, will step down once a new hire is made. The FHSAA’s Board of Directors will begin a nationwide search after the next board meeting June 13 and June 14. In a press release, Dearing said it was “simply time” to retire.

“After consulting with my family and my closest of friends, I feel it is in the best interest of all if I step aside, and give someone else the absolute privilege and honor of taking on this role,” he said.

Under Dearing’s leadership, the FHSAA reduced membership fees to $25 per school. He also helped steer media partnerships with Bright House Sports Network and the NFHS Network, making championship games available for viewing online. Moreover, student-athlete participation in the FHSAA’s 32 sports increased by about 33 percent since he was named FHSAA’s executive director.

Prior to working for the FHSAA, Dearing served as Manatee County Superintendent from 2003 to 2009.

Father and son Jim and Joe Felice teamed up to win their second consecutive South Pasco Bassmasters tournament at Lake Tarpon on May 16. Team Felice caught five bass totaling 12.45 pounds. They also caught the largest bass (5.09 pounds) during the tournament.

Kevin Merrell, a former standout on Steinbrenner High School’s baseball team and current shortstop on the University of South Florida’s baseball team, has been named a first team All-American Athletic Conference selection by the conference’s coaches. Merrell, a sophomore, leads USF in batting average (.309) and on-base percentage (.405), and is third on the team in stolen bases (16). Merrell was a four-year letter winner at Steinbrenner, and batted .462 during his senior year. He was also a standout track athlete and currently holds the school’s 100-meter dash record at 10.6 seconds, which he set in 2014.