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Girls’ basketball team achieves perfect season

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The Academy at the Lakes Middle Division girls’ basketball team won its league last season and team coach, Marla Oliver, was hoping it would be good enough to repeat as champions this year.

But she got much more than she expected.

The Academy at the Lakes Middle Division girls’ basketball team claimed its second consecutive league championship by achieving a perfect season. From left are coach Marla Oliver and players Zoe Moore, Zainab Nawaz, Lexi Fernandez, Lexi Kilfoyl, Amelia Cozzolino, Kendra Falby, Jordan Angeles and Bella Robichaux. Not pictured: Haneen McNamee. (Courtesy of Academy at the Lakes)
The Academy at the Lakes Middle Division girls’ basketball team claimed its second consecutive league championship by achieving a perfect season. From left are coach Marla Oliver and players Zoe Moore, Zainab Nawaz, Lexi Fernandez, Lexi Kilfoyl, Amelia Cozzolino, Kendra Falby, Jordan Angeles and Bella Robichaux. Not pictured: Haneen McNamee.
(Courtesy of Academy at the Lakes)

“I didn’t think that we were going to go undefeated at all,” Oliver said.

But that’s precisely what the Wildcats did. They ran the table, going 13-0 on their way to a second straight league title, making Oliver two-for-two as girls’ basketball coach. She also coached the boys’ basketball team for two years before taking over the girls’ squad.

They had a perfect season, but it wasn’t an easy climb.

As one of the smaller schools in the league, Academy at the Lakes has to deal with not only bigger schools, but older players as well. The Middle Division includes players from fifth-grade through eighth-grade, but since the academy also has a varsity team, their best players often get selected to that squad. That means they often have fifth- and sixth-graders facing eighth-graders from schools without a varsity program.

For Oliver, that meant using her team’s speed to overcome a size advantage from opponents.

“My girls can run,” she said. “Every time we got a rebound, we had our fast break in.”

Taking advantage of rebounds and fast breaks was key to their success, she said. Since that level of basketball often has low-scoring games (many teams don’t even score 20 points), every possession is important.

They were able to outrun many of their opponents, but they had some close calls.

Performing under pressure was good for the team, and it demonstrated players were able to follow the coach’s guidance and execute when necessary, Oliver said.

“I called the timeouts, I tell them what our play is and what our plan is, and they listened to me,” she said.

Listening to the coach was easy for Kendra Falby, a sixth-grader.

Falby described her coach this way: “She just says it like it is. She doesn’t sugarcoat it and water it down. She just gets to the point right away.”

That coaching style means the team has clear goals and knows what they have to do to succeed.

It also means tough practices, but that’s what was necessary to build on last year’s campaign.

Falby, who played for the team last season, is a softball player at heart, but really grew into her role with the basketball team. She scored nine points in the championship game against St. John’s.

Getting better meant taking the coach’s advice and trying some unusual methods, Falby said.

Falby practiced her shooting and lay-up mechanics at home. Falby also listened to her coach, who wanted her to try using her left hand for those plays.

The player said she would even eat with her left hand to get comfortable using it, which made shooting and going for lay-ups as a lefty more natural.

That kind of effort made a second-straight title all the more satisfying.

“It felt amazing because all the hard work we put into it,” Falby said. “It just showed how much I really did care.”

The girls cared so much that they made a special deal with their coach: If they won a second straight championship, Oliver would have special shirts made for them. They won, and now they have championship souvenirs as well.

The coach said she was happy to provide the shirts, and to commemorate back-to-back championships and a perfect season.

“They just worked really hard. They put in extra time and did anything I asked them to do,” Oliver said. “They’re awesome kids.”

Published April 1, 2015

Hot bats, hot start for Saint Leo

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Saint Leo University’s baseball team is off to a 21-5 start.

While the Lions have had strong records the last two years under coach Sean O’ Connor, his third season at the helm has produced the best results so far. They won 17 out of their first 18 games, and currently lead the nation in both hits and runs in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II play. They’re ranked 15th in the D2 Baseball News poll, and 16th in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.

At 21-5, coach Sean O'Connor has the Lions off to their best start in his three years with the team. He also played for Saint Leo in the early 1980s. (Courtesy of Saint Leo University)
At 21-5, coach Sean O’Connor has the Lions off to their best start in his three years with the team. He also played for Saint Leo in the early 1980s.
(Courtesy of Saint Leo University)

O’ Connor admits he is surprised by the team’s performance — he actually thought it would be better.

“I’m shocked we have five losses at this point,” he said. “We haven’t played our best baseball, to be honest with you.”

Still, to be 21-5 is an impressive start, and to build on consecutive 30-plus win seasons is no easy feat. O’ Connor attributes the team’s success this year to having a lot of returning players. The team’s starting lineup this year is about the same as last year, and playing underclassmen in the past is paying off now.

The Lions also benefit from a focus on depth during the recruiting process. O’ Connor wanted to avoid tying their fortunes to one or two star players, where an injury or slump could derail the entire season. Instead the team has depth, with players on the bench that could start for other schools. While they might not get as much playing time as the starters, those athletes can take over when necessary without a big drop-off in talent or production.

“We’ve tried to build this team so that when something does go wrong, we’re fully prepared for it and somebody else will step in and do the job that’s more than capable of doing so,” O’Connor said.

That method seems to be working, with double-digit run production in more than half of their games. But even with the strong start, O’Connor warns that there’s no guarantee of post-season success just yet. They weren’t selected for the regional tournament the past two years, and with most of the conference schedule ahead of them, they have to win when it matters most to make the tournament.

“The real test is the conference,” O’Connor said. “It’s nice that we’re 21-5, but if we don’t finish in the top two or three spots in the conference, it doesn’t mean a thing.”

The Sunshine State Conference provides a pretty tough test for its teams. All eight schools have a winning record, and five of them have 19 wins or more. With a 2-4 conference record, the Lions will have to win many of those upcoming conference games to keep up with the other talented teams and enter the regional tournament.

If they get there, they’ll do it with passion and emotion. While some coaches (and their teams) are stoic and don’t display much passion, O’ Connor said that Saint Leo plays with a lot of emotion. Being vocal and staying invested in the moment is part of the team’s personality, and he wants the team to remain that way.

And if that passion gets them to the first regional tournament of his tenure as coach, he thinks they can keep it going from there.

The talent level is so high in the Sunshine State Conference, O’ Connor thinks the teams that escape it have an advantage over teams that don’t face that level of competition on a regular basis.

“If you get out of the conference, you’ve got a good shot at going to the World Series,” he said.

Saint Leo is also proving that they can bounce back after losses as well. After being swept by Nova Southeastern earlier this month, they followed it up by winning four of their next five, including two of three against Florida Tech, ranked 10th at the time.

While there’s still a lot of baseball left to play before the season ends in early May, O’ Connor believes he has the kind of team that can get over the hump and make a run in the regional tournament and World Series.

“This is certainly the best team we’ve had in the three years I’ve been here,” he said.

Published March 25, 2015

 

Sunlake soccer success is no fluke

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When a team finishes in the exact same spot for three years in a row, you might think that’s cause for concern.

Unless, of course, that “spot” is the state semifinals. Then, that consistency is a cause for celebration.

Connor Spencer and the rest of the Sunlake Seahawks had a great season, claiming a regional title and reaching the state semifinals for the third straight year. (Fred Bellet/Photo)
Connor Spencer and the rest of the Sunlake Seahawks had a great season, claiming a regional title and reaching the state semifinals for the third straight year.
(Fred Bellet/Photo)

The Sunlake Seahawks boys’ soccer team didn’t feel like celebrating immediately after last month’s 2-0 loss to Choctawhatchee.

Despite the loss, though, the game capped another stellar season for the Sunlake soccer program. The team finished with a 28-2 record — giving the team its third straight year with no more than two losses in a season. And, for the third year in a row they lost to the eventual state champion.

Choctawhatchee defeated Merritt Island in a rematch of last year’s state championship.

Now that the dust has settled, coach Sam Koleduk can look back on the season and recognize the team’s accomplishments, and the difficulty they overcame just to get back to the state semifinals.

“I lost all four defenders from the previous year, and to only give up 10 goals the entire season was pretty remarkable,” he said. Overall, the team managed another Region 3A-2 title despite losing a total of seven starters from the previous season.

Most programs can’t lose that many starters without missing a beat, but Sunlake isn’t like most programs.

The school’s junior varsity team went 14-1 this past season, and Koleduk said many of those players could have played varsity at other schools.

Sunlake has so much talent it couldn’t fit these players on the varsity team, but they’re ready to step in and fill the roles vacated by this year’s graduating seniors.

One of those seniors is Cobi Shirmohammad, a forward who spent all four high school years on the team. This past season he chipped in 27 goals for the Seahawks, and Koleduk said his talents will be missed on the pitch.

“It’s his speed and tenacity. He’s very aggressive,” the coach said of Shirmohammad. “He’s a real hard worker.”

For his part, the senior is proud of his team.

“I feel like we accomplished a lot, honestly. Even though we didn’t win, we had a great season,” he said. “I left it all on the field. There’s nothing else I could do.”

When he says he left it all on the field, Shirmohammad isn’t kidding. He broke his collarbone in the state semifinal. Now, with 12 screws and a plate keeping it together, he’s around six weeks into a healing process that will take a few months.

Another benefit Sunlake has in soccer is the team’s activity at the club level. Every player participates in club soccer (Shirmohammad plays for the FC Tampa Rangers) and that training helps create a more professional atmosphere. And while many club players don’t bother with high school soccer, Sunlake’s players enjoy being part of the team and accomplishing team goals for the school.

That doesn’t stop when they graduate. Even though Shirmohammad is now considering college options and playing at the next level, he always will be a supporter of Sunlake soccer.

“Those are all my teammates, and I support them to the end,” he said.

Nobody should be surprised if that includes another regional title next season. While each year brings its own challenges, they should have the talent to compete at a high level and replace the graduating seniors with other talented players.

It also doesn’t hurt that their star goalkeeper, Danny Hrenko, will be protecting the goal once again. Hrenko already holds the state record for shutouts with 63, and with another season ahead of him, the national record is a possibility.

But for now, Koleduk is able to get past the semifinal loss and acknowledge another successful year. After the loss he told his team how proud he was, and looks back on what they accomplished with pride.

“In retrospect, it was really a good season for us,” he said.

Published March 18,2015

LOL girls’ basketball repeats as regional champs

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When the Land O’ Lakes High School girls’ basketball team reached the state semifinal last year, it might have looked like a bit of good fortune. They hadn’t approached that level of success during coach Phyllis Crain’s tenure, so it seemed to come out of nowhere. People could have wondered if it was a fluke or a lucky run.

Nobody is wondering that anymore.

Jhade Hayes was a big part of the Gators' success as a senior, but now they'll have to find a way to replace her talent on the court. (Fred Bellet/Photo)
Jhade Hayes was a big part of the Gators’ success as a senior, but now they’ll have to find a way to replace her talent on the court.
(Fred Bellet/Photo)

The Gators followed up last year’s tournament berth with another one just like it: For the second straight year, they won their region and reached the state semifinals.

And while, like last year, the team’s season ended before the state title game, the team and coach are very proud of their accomplishments.

“I’m very happy about that (making it back to the state tournament),” said Crain, who just completed her fourth season as coach. “It’s an accomplishment for the girls. They wanted to see that they could do it.”

They did it with a 28-4 record, even better than last year’s 24-5 mark. They also did it with more success along the way. Last season, Land O ‘ Lakes was district runner-up before winning its region. This season the team claimed district and conference championships on its way to another regional title.

The end of the season, however, was not a high point.

In fact, the Gators were overwhelmed last month in a 56-13 semifinal defeat to Paxon.

The margin of defeat reflected a combination of playing a great team, while the Gators were not performing well, Crain said.

The Golden Eagles, from Jacksonville, started out strong, and the game got away from the Gators before halftime.

Despite the loss, the team showed an ability to overcome adversity during the playoffs. They built leads, lost them and came back from behind to win games throughout their run. They found a way to win by pulling together and working together as a unit, a trait the coach said was their strongest quality this season.

“It’s a team game. We win and lose and play as a team,” Crain said.

They’ll do the same next year, though the team will look a little different. This year’s roster had seven seniors, including two starters, who will need to be replaced.

Departing players include standout player Jhade Hayes.

Coach Crain will rely on returning players such as Gabby Mills and Mikala Canada to pick up the slack.

“We’re losing a big part of us with Jhade, but Mikala’s coming back, and she’s going to be our floor leader next year,” Crain said.

Canada is ready to be that leader. While she has the talent to score, the point guard enjoys finding holes in the defense and getting the ball to the teammate who has the best chance to put points on the board. She’s fine with other players getting the points, if it achieves the team’s goals.

“I like to bring the ball down the court, and get my other teammates to score,” Canada said. “My coach calls me the quarterback of the team. I’ve got to make everybody else look good.”

While she’ll help the new starters look good, Canada said it’s up to the returning team members to show them how to fit in.

The Gators have been good at utilizing each other’s strengths and compensating for weaknesses, and while Canada’s ready to score a little more when required, she’ll still look to pass the ball to the most-open player.

But that’s next season.

For now, Canada is able to look back on what the team accomplished with pride and a sense of satisfaction that for the second straight year, they were one of the last teams standing.

“We had a really good season,” she said.

“In Pasco County, not a lot of teams go to state. So when we did it the second time in a row, it’s a big accomplishment,” Canada said.

Crain also feels that same pride, but it’s not for herself.

Even though the coach has built a strong program, she’s more focused on the experience for her players, many who will be playing in their last organized basketball league.

“It’s for the girls. It’s not about me,” Crain said. “I just love to see them, because this might be the only time they’re going to play basketball.”

Published March 11, 2015

Coach of the year, again

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Pasco-Hernando State College volleyball coach Kim Whitney has been named Coach of the Year.

While that’s an impressive accomplishment, it’s not a surprising one.

In fact, it happens all the time.

Volleyball coach Kim Whitney, right, gets help from assistants Brian Kachurak, Chris Vergnaud and Kristen Wimer on game days and throughout the season. But it all starts with the coach, who has captured yet another Coach of the Year award. (Courtesy of Pasco-Hernando State College)
Volleyball coach Kim Whitney, right, gets help from assistants Brian Kachurak, Chris Vergnaud and Kristen Wimer on game days and throughout the season. But it all starts with the coach, who has captured yet another Coach of the Year award.
(Courtesy of Pasco-Hernando State College)

The National Volleyball Coaches Association named Whitney the Two-Year College Northeast-Southeast Regional Coach of the Year for 2014. They did the same thing in 2011. And in 2010, and in 2006, too.

She was named the District P Division II Volleyball Coach of the Year in 2014 as well, just like in 2011 and 2010. Going back in her career, the Suncoast Conference named her Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2007, and District H Division I Volleyball gave her the same honor in 2004 and 2005.

Then, there was the time she was named Coach of the Tournament for the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II national volleyball tournament. PHSC won the national championship that year.

With a career record of 316-119 at the school, 11 straight regional tournament appearances and five national tournament appearances, it might be more newsworthy if she didn’t win a Coach of the Year award from somebody. Everybody thinks she deserves frequent praise and recognition.

Everybody, that is, except the coach herself.

“For me, it’s strange to take an award for what your team accomplished,” Whitney said. When a team does well, it tends to follow that the coach will be seen as doing an exemplary job.

Her most recent team reached the NJCAA Division II national tournament and finished eighth in the country despite having 11 freshmen on the team.

But with several accolades throughout her 11-year tenure at PHSC, it’s not one team or one tournament run that’s getting her recognized for outstanding coaching. She attributes those accomplishments to getting better organized and prepared for success over her career.

“The planning part of it, the organizing part of it, the managing part of it — over the years I think that’s something I’ve gotten better at, and I just know what it’s going to take,” she said.

Whitney, 37, knows what it takes both as a coach and as a player. She played for the United States Women’s National Volleyball Team, as well as professional stints in the U.S. and Spain. That experience has helped her coaching career, she said. Being around great players and teammates and competing at a high level provided a blueprint for how the teams she coaches should perform.

Having a coach whose teams perform at a high level year-in and year-out is a valuable asset to Steve Winterling, the college’s athletic director.

“It makes my job a lot easier,” Winterling said. “She’s a very organized person. She’s a good team player, and I depend on her a lot because she’s also my assistant athletic director.”

Whitney is a talented recruiter, Winterling said. She is able to size up her team’s needs each year and find the talent necessary to keep them competitive. That’s a particularly important skill at a two-year college, which naturally has a lot of turnover from year to year. Good recruiting is essential for a coach to remain successful over the long term.

Whitney’s accomplishments also motivate her fellow coaches.

Winterling coaches the team’s successful baseball program, and has fallen behind the volleyball team in national tournament appearances.

“She went back again (to the tournament), so I’ve got to play catch-up,” he joked.

There’s a good chance Whitney will be keeping the pressure on with more tournament appearances. Her team will have a good mix of experienced sophomores and incoming freshmen, along with a high level of expectations to continue the success of the program. For Whitney, it’s the players that will determine that success.

“You have to have the right people to make that work. I’ve been very fortunate to have athletes who are able to buy into that system and to do well with the way that we run things here,” Whitney said.

With the way she runs things at PHSC, there might be another opportunity in the future.

Winterling sees a time when the assistant athletic director might not have the word “assistant” in her title.

“I’m trying to throw more stuff at her (in assistant athletic director duties) where she could one day, after I do retire (become the director),” Winterling said. “She would be a great replacement for the college.”

Published March 4, 2015

 

Wiregrass Ranch boys claim first regional soccer title

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When the Wiregrass Ranch Bulls reached the regional semifinals last year, the team was experiencing its best season ever.

But that milestone lasted just one season, because this year the team took another step forward, by winning its region and advancing to the state tournament.

Wiregrass Ranch High School junior Brendan Duran races past Melbourne players during the regional final. Duran scored the game's only goal to lift Wiregrass Ranch to its first state tournament. (Fred Bellet/Photo)
Wiregrass Ranch High School junior Brendan Duran races past Melbourne players during the regional final. Duran scored the game’s only goal to lift Wiregrass Ranch to its first state tournament.
(Fred Bellet/Photo)

This time around, the Bulls won their region by shutting out Melbourne — last year’s state champion in Class 4A — by a 1-0 margin in the final.

The team’s first trip to the state competition ended in a 1-0 loss to Chiles, the tournament’s eventual champion. But no one at Wiregrass Ranch is hanging his head in defeat.

“From the moment that we ended up losing, I was proud of the boys,” said coach David Wilson, who also coaches the school’s state champion tennis team and serves as athletic director. “We hung tough and played well, but just not well enough to win.”

Wiregrass Ranch played well enough to win the vast majority of its games, racking up 25 victories against just two defeats and one tie. Wilson attributes the team’s success to a wealth of talent but also to a spirit of camaraderie and chemistry — a combination that he believes is critical in building a winning soccer program.

“It may be more important than having talent,” Wilson said of team chemistry. “If they don’t work together and pull for each other and push each other and everything else, then you could have all the talent in the world (and not succeed).”

Wilson said that he’s coached teams with more raw talent than his current regional champions, but never one that could rival both their talent and chemistry.

It’s also important for the players to take ownership of the team at Wiregrass Ranch. They hold each other accountable and can even run portions of their practices on their own. They also know that if things don’t go well, they need to find ways to bounce back. That characteristic was tested earlier in the year, said Brendan Duran, a junior.

“After we came back from our loss (a 2-0 defeat to Sickles in December) we regrouped and focused ourselves again, and just went from there,” he said. They wouldn’t lose again in their regular season, and went 12-0-1 until their exit in the state semifinals.

One of those wins was a 3-2 victory at Sunlake in January, and Duran said it was an important one. Given Sunlake’s track record of success — this season they reached their state tournament for the third year in a row — the win helped earn the Bulls some notoriety, and had people taking note of their skills and accomplishments.

While notoriety, victories and titles are the mark of a successful program, Wilson isn’t getting there by coming down hard on the athletes or getting animated when they don’t perform. He’d rather create a program they want to join, and let them motivate themselves into keeping it strong and reaching their goals.

“My philosophy the whole time has been the experience has to outweigh the outcome. If you go in and you keep screaming and yelling and everything else, it’s not worth doing. We don’t run a program like that,” Wilson said. “I think our kids really, really enjoy the experience of playing.”

They also enjoy the fruits of the team’s success. When the Bulls won their regional final game in the waning minutes, the sizeable home crowd provided vocal support. For Duran, who scored the game’s only goal, it was a highlight of the season.

“We had a ton of people at the game, and they all stormed the field after,” he said. “That was once-in-a-lifetime moment. I didn’t think that so many people actually cared about soccer until then.”

Soccer fans at Wiregrass Ranch might have more reasons to cheer in the future. Most of the players, including three goalkeepers, are eligible to return next season. In fact, out of 22 members on the team, only six will graduate this year.

Wilson also will look to the successful junior varsity soccer team, which went 13-1 in its recent season, to supplement the roster.

With that much talent coming back and their chemistry intact, this current “best season ever” achievement may not hold up long.

“Assuming everybody returns, we should be better next year than we were this year,” Wilson said.

Published February 25, 2015

PHSC’s Winterling is Regional Coach of the Year

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When Pasco-Hernando State College’s baseball coach Steve Winterling found out that he was named regional coach of the year, he kept it a secret from almost everybody.

“I laid low about it,” Winterling admitted. “I’m not an egomaniac-type person,” he said. Even some of his friends got mad at him because he didn’t tell them about it.

Steve Winterling, PHSC's athletic director and baseball coach, wears No. 1 on game days. He's also tops in the region after being named the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Regional Coach of the Year. (Courtesy of Pasco-Hernando State College)
Steve Winterling, PHSC’s athletic director and baseball coach, wears No. 1 on game days. He’s also tops in the region after being named the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Regional Coach of the Year.
(Courtesy of Pasco-Hernando State College)

Aside from informing his superiors at the college in September, Winterling didn’t really talk about it until he was officially given the award last month.

But winning the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Regional Coach of the Year award caps a great 2014 for the coach, who is now in his 24th season at the school.

Last season, the team reached the NJCAA Division II College World Series for the first time in school history, finishing fourth in the country.

Besides earning the coach some recognition, Winterling said it also put the school on the map for recruits seeking a school with a successful track record.

As a World Series-caliber program, he had an easier time finding interested athletes and can field a stronger team than he could before.

While he’s not wild about talking about himself, Winterling — who also serves as PHSC’s athletic director — said he’s changed a bit over the decades.

He’s slightly mellower now than his earlier days, when he was a bit harder on the players. He said he maintains that competitive fire, but is also focused on building a strong foundation of expectations and then finding players who meet them.

“My philosophy is now basically I teach them what I can, and get the good, quality kids who like my principles: Being clean-cut, follow the rules and regulations, do the job academically and be good student-athletes,” he said.

Those are the types of athletes that got the Conquistadors to the World Series last year, and the type Winterling hopes will help them get back this year.

The team returns two pitchers, three infielders and an outfielder from last year’s roster, and he believes the World Series experience will help the 2015 team.

The recruiting class also helped add more depth than he typically has had at his disposal. Overall, the team is more confident now that they’re building on the school’s best-ever finish.

As a coach, Winterling, of course, doesn’t get to play in the games. But he enjoys the strategy in baseball, and the challenge that different scenarios provide as the games and the season unfold. He credits Florida State University baseball coach Mike Martin, where Winterling served as an assistant for six years, for encouraging him to maximize strategic advantages.

“When I was at Florida State I learned from coach Martin so much. The discipline, and always trying to be a step ahead of the thinking process of your opponent,” he said. “The one thing about baseball that I’ve always enjoyed is there’s a lot of thinking to it. You can’t be distracted. I leaned from him that I can focus on the aspects of what’s going to give us an edge.”

Apparently, since there’s no edge gained by focusing on his award, Winterling chooses not to think about it too much. He’s appreciative of the acknowledgement, but prefers to save the reminiscing for the future. Now, his focus is on getting his team, whose season started in late January, back to the World Series. The team won four of its first five games in the New Year.

“It’s definitely a nice honor, and it’s attributed, obviously, to the players last year and what they accomplished,” Winterling said of the award. “I think once I retire, then I’ll be able to look back and appreciate it more.”

Published February 18, 2015

Sign Here: Local athletes commit to colleges

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High school seniors are used to writing.

On Feb. 4, though, a number of student-athletes did some writing that will change their lives.

Family members surround Mark Hutchinson, left, and Jaye Miner of Wiregrass Ranch High School as they sign their letters of intent to play college football. They're the first players in the school’s history to sign with NCAA Division I schools. (Michael Murillo/Staff Photo
Family members surround Mark Hutchinson, left, and Jaye Miner of Wiregrass Ranch High School as they sign their letters of intent to play college football. They’re the first players in the school’s history to sign with NCAA Division I schools.
(Michael Murillo/Staff Photo

“It feels good,” said Austin Yeloushan, a senior at Sunlake High School. “Finally, I’m committed and ready to go play somewhere.” Yeloushan was one of thousands of athletes around the country who participated in National Signing Day, the first day that a high school football player can sign a binding letter of intent with a member school of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Yeloushan accepted an offer to attend Jacksonville University, where he’ll also play on defense for the Dolphins. In addition to the football opportunity, he was impressed with the school’s academic offerings and its location. He plans to study business.

He’s also working out several times a day and adding in a lot of running in order to get ready to play football at the collegiate level. Although he had a stellar high school career, Yeloushan knows that the level of competition is tougher in college, and he wants to be prepared.

“I feel like everyone that’s really good from their high school goes to college. So it’s just going to be like a big all-star game,” he said.

Jaye Miner, a linebacker from Wiregrass Ranch High School, feels the same way.

“In college it’s like an all-star team every game,” he said. “I know I can’t take anything easy. Everyone’s going to be bigger, stronger, faster.” Miner received 14 offers to play football at the next level, and chose Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton on National Signing Day. He plans to study photography, sports medicine or marine biology in the classroom, and learn from his more experienced teammates on the football field.

He might be getting some early experience himself when the Owls’ season starts. Due to a lack of linebacker depth at FAU, Miner said he has a good chance of starting games early in his career.

If he’s in the starting lineup when the Owls play Florida International University on Oct. 31, he’ll face off against a former teammate’s new school. Mark Hutchinson, a Wiregrass Ranch wide receiver, sat next to Miner on Feb. 4 and signed his own papers to play at the next level. He chose FIU and will attend on a full scholarship.

Not bad for a kid who was cut from his seventh-grade football team.

“It was my first year. I was scrawny. I was a skinny little boy,” Hutchinson recalled. “So I had to put in a lot of work, a lot of effort and focus. Because I knew this was something I wanted. I wanted to be an athlete in high school.”

Now that he’s completed a standout athletic career in high school, Hutchinson knows he’ll have something to prove when he enters college as a freshman. But working his way up is nothing new for Hutchinson. He started his freshman year on the junior varsity team before earning a promotion to varsity. He’s focusing on adding strength in the off-season to be prepared when they call his number.

Miner and Hutchinson are good friends and have been playing together for years. And even before they were seriously thinking about Division I college football and making big life decisions, this is a moment they considered.

“In Mark’s room right now, he has a chalkboard wall. It says ‘D-1 bound.’ We wrote that when we were in seventh grade,” Miner said.

Friends and family were in attendance at National Signing Day to congratulate the athletes, coaches praised their abilities, and the schools served cake to help celebrate the event. And while they’re proud of their athletes and have confidence in them at the next level, those athletes are leaving big shoes to fill on their football teams. When the new season comes around, the coaches will have to replace their talented athletes who have moved on from Friday night games to playing on Saturdays.

“You miss all your seniors. You really do,” said Sunlake coach Bill Browning at Yeloushan’s signing event. “And he’s been really successful here, so we’ll miss him.”

Published February 11, 2015

Freedom High shocks district with playoff berth

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When a soccer team finishes the regular season with a 2-8-3 record and a seven-game winless streak, most people wouldn’t expect them to advance past their district tournament and into the regional playoffs.

Not even their coach.

Senior Ruben Gutierrez fights to maintain control on the field. In the district tournament, Freedom fought past a tough season to earn a spot in the regional playoffs. (Courtesy of Freedom High School)
Senior Ruben Gutierrez fights to maintain control on the field. In the district tournament, Freedom fought past a tough season to earn a spot in the regional playoffs.
(Courtesy of Freedom High School)

“Realistically, no,” said Freedom High School boys’ soccer coach Charlie Haueter. The team finished a tough early part of their schedule 2-2-2, and he felt like they had a good chance to finish strong with their remaining opponents. But when that didn’t happen and the losses piled up, he thought it just wasn’t their year.

But, the Patriots proved a lot of people wrong.

In the first round of their district tournament, they knocked off Mitchell High School, who had a 17-5-1 record at the time. In the second round, they scored a season-high five goals and defeated Chamberlain High School. That doubled their season win total, put them in the district finals and earned them a berth in the regional tournament.

“I think my seniors realized it was about to end, and they didn’t want it to (end),” Haueter said. Their good play didn’t end there, either: Although they lost in the finals to Wiregrass Ranch, who was 23-1-1 at the time, they took a 1-0 lead in that game and were tied at the half.

Even though the Bulls won the district title by a 3-1 score, Freedom’s effort wasn’t lost on Wiregrass Ranch coach David Wilson.

“They’re one of those teams that put all the pieces together at the right time,” he said. “The coach did a really nice job with them, too.”

Haueter’s job was pretty tough this year, overcoming a number of obstacles on the team’s way to the playoffs. First, their star player, Mohammed Saad, missed most of the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury. He had scored five goals in the first six games, and they missed his skills on the pitch.

He also had disciplinary problems during the season. The better high school players tend to play club level soccer in addition to high school soccer, Haueter explained. With the majority of his players also participating in club soccer, many of them weren’t giving enough attention to their high school team.

So he had them sign a contract, agreeing to give their full effort and participation. And when they failed to live up to that promise, there were consequences.

“We had to bench guys,” Haueter said. “I don’t think they believed that we were going to stick to the rules.” That means benching seniors, playing freshmen, and suffering losses. Throw in more injuries and the negative attitudes that can stem from losing, and a district run seemed out of the question at the end of the year.

But when they bought in to the system, and started being accountable for their participation, they pulled together and earned a berth in the regional tournament. Seeing the players overcome their early struggles was rewarding for the coach, who also teaches Advanced Placement classes at Freedom.

“Anytime you see kids maturing in high school, it is a great and wonderful thing,” he said.

Unfortunately, the regional playoffs didn’t have a great or wonderful ending for the team. They lost to Kathleen on Jan. 29 by a 3-1 score that included several disciplinary cards issued and Haueter being ejected toward the end of the game. The coach said the ejection was unwarranted, there were many complaints about the officiating that day, and he’s writing a letter to the Florida High School Athletic Association.

But regardless of the final outcome, Freedom went from a two-win team in the regular season to playing in the regional tournament. And playing younger players while others were being disciplined means, they’ll have more experience when next season rolls around.

And, since the team knows that full effort is required to participate in Freedom soccer, Haueter thinks next year’s team will be more dedicated and able to focus on winning.

“I’m a pretty firm believer that we’re not going to have any of the same issues,” he said.

Published February 4, 2015

 

Court presence: Land O’ Lakes basketball preps another playoff run

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When the Land O’ Lakes girls’ basketball team bowed out of the Class 5A playoffs last year, they had many reasons to be proud. The Gators were beaten in the state semifinals by eventual-champion Southeast High School from Bradenton, and they completed their third-straight winning season under coach Phyllis Crain. Since they had gone farther than any girls’ basketball team in school history, students and fans might wonder if they could repeat that success and possibly claim a state title this year.

Land O' Lakes coach Phyllis Crain has guided the girls’ basketball team to another season with more than 20 wins. Now she'll try to guide them back to the state tournament, where they reached the semifinals last season. (Fred Bellet/Photo)
Land O’ Lakes coach Phyllis Crain has guided the girls’ basketball team to another season with more than 20 wins. Now she’ll try to guide them back to the state tournament, where they reached the semifinals last season.
(Fred Bellet/Photo)

But with the playoffs starting, the coach isn’t focused on anything but the next opponent.

“We don’t look any further than we have to. We look at one game at a time, and we take it from there,” Crain said. “If you overlook an opponent, they can sneak up behind you.”

Very few teams have snuck up on Land O’ Lakes this season. They finished their regular season campaign with just three losses, fewer than last year. They ran the table in Class 5A-8 with a perfect 14-0 record. And according to Crain, they enter the postseason with even more confidence after last season’s accomplishments.

While senior Jhade Hayes has paced the team as both leading scorer and rebounder, the coach believes it’s the other players doing their jobs and playing important roles that allow skilled players like Hayes to shine, and the team to succeed in each game.

“It’s teamwork, not an individual that’s going to win the championship. They really believe in each other,” she said.

The school has good reason to believe in Crain, who has built a strong program in her four seasons at the helm. After nine seasons as an assistant at the University of Tampa, she came to Land O’ Lakes High School wanting to create a team that consistently has both experienced players and younger talent who can contribute and take on leadership roles later in their careers. This season’s team has a good mix of returning starters and reserves (the starting five consists of three seniors and two juniors), as well as newer players who are looking to help continue the team’s forward progress.

As a result, Crain believes the team is at least as good as the one that was one step away from the state championship game.

“I would say as good, and maybe a little bit better,” Crain said. “We have a little bit more rebounding presence inside.” A lot of that increased presence can be attributed to junior Gabby Mills, which makes the team more dangerous when she’s on the court. But as they head to the playoffs, the coach wants to see better team rebounding and tighter defensive play from the Gators.

While Crain has created a perennial contender in just a few short years, it’s not her only goal when it comes to coaching. She’s aware that many of her players might not continue their basketball careers in college, so she wants them to get the most out of their high school experience.

“I went into it thinking that I really want to teach these girls the game of basketball, and I really want to teach them some life lessons, too,” Crain said. “Don’t get me wrong. We all want to win. But I really think it’s an experience.” The coach follows their academic progress and believes that learning lessons like not being late to practice, working hard and believing in yourself will help them off the court.

But the team is performing well on the court, too. Another season with more than 20 wins is already secured, and another playoff berth is looming. And while Crain believes the team has the ability to make another deep run, she doesn’t want players to think about anything but the hard work that got them this far, and about the next opponent they face.

“We want to win the district championship. We want to get back to Lakeland (where the state championships will be held). That’s our main focus,” she said “But to do that, we need to focus on the little things and take it game by game,” she said.

Published January 28, 2015