Local Sports

A Pasco County classic: Sunlake stops Land O’ Lakes in OT

October 23, 2013 By Michael Murillo

When a football game looks like a good match-up on paper, too often the end result is a lopsided affair that fails to live up to expectations.

And last Friday’s contest between Land O’ Lakes and Sunlake looked like a potential classic on paper.

This time, the game didn’t meet expectations. It beat them.

At the end of the game — which required overtime — the Sunlake Seahawks defended their home turf, put themselves in good position in the district standings and turned away the previously unbeaten Gators with a 28-21 victory.

That overtime was necessary underscores how close the game was: Neither team led by more than seven points, and they were tied at halftime, the end of the third quarter and at the end of regulation. And when Sunlake stopped Land O’ Lakes in overtime to clinch the win, Seahawks head coach Bill Browning’s first thoughts came from the perspective of both a football coach and a football fan.

“It was just relief, and what a great game to be a part of,” Browning said. “It was a great high school football game. Both teams played their hearts out.”

Each team had an offensive star suiting up for the contest, and both showed up to play: Sunlake’s junior running back Nathan Johnson and Land O’ Lakes’ junior quarterback James Pensyl had a hand in six of the seven touchdowns scored in the game. In the end, it was Johnson’s third touchdown run in overtime that became the margin of victory, eclipsing Pensyl’s three scoring passes.

But Browning pointed out that another player was instrumental in Sunlake’s victory. Senior quarterback Esteban LeWallen didn’t dominate the stat sheet, but his second start in place of injured junior Dayton Feiden was a solid one. He ran in a short touchdown and made important plays with his arm when it mattered.

“He came in and hit some very big passes in the course of that game that helped tremendously,” Browning said.

While beating an undefeated team is cause for celebration in itself, there was more at stake than one football game. With the win, Sunlake improved to 2-1 in the district while Land O’ Lakes fell to 1-1, keeping Sunlake alive for one of the two playoff spots. An earlier one-point loss to Springstead (currently 2-0 in district play) meant that losing to Land O’ Lakes would have handed both teams a better current record and tiebreakers over the Seahawks, eliminating them from playoff contention.

Instead they emerged with new life, a big victory and a potential tiebreaker against their district rival.

But if the team is vulnerable to a letdown after such a big win, Browning plans to use the schedule to ensure that doesn’t happen. The Seahawks have a bye this coming week, and he plans to use it to get them settled after an emotional victory and focused on their final district contest against Fivay (0-2 in district play, 3-4 overall) on Nov. 1.

Headed into their week off, Sunlake now has a 1,000-yard rusher in Johnson, renewed confidence and an eye on the playoffs. But to Browning, none of that matters unless they take care of business in their final district game.

“It kept us in the hunt. It guaranteed nothing, but it kept us in the hunt,” he said about the team’s recent win. “Land O’ Lakes still has to play Springstead, and of course, we still have to beat Fivay. All we can do is keep winning and things will take care of themselves, hopefully.”

Collision Course: Gators, Seahawks battle for gridiron supremacy

October 16, 2013 By Michael Murillo

The one thing a high school football team can’t control is its schedule.

Some games look pretty lopsided; either a team is playing an outmatched opponent, or they’re facing a superior team and have little chance at success. Other games look evenly matched but reveal a lack of talent, which might produce a dull contest.

But every so often there’s a game on the schedule that features two powerful teams that have enjoyed a lot of success, and are in each other’s way as they battle for district supremacy. They both have a lot of strengths and relatively few weaknesses, and it will be up to the coaching staff and individual efforts on the team to try and exploit them.

It’s Land O’ Lakes versus Sunlake this weekend, and while James Pensyl, below, is ready to tack on to his 230 yards per game, the Seahawks will have to do without Dayton Feiden, left, who suffered a season-ending knee injury. Senior Esteban LeWallen is taking over after shutting out Wesley Chapel last week. (File photos) — It’s Land O’ Lakes versus Sunlake this weekend, and while James Pensyl is ready to tack on to his 230 yards per game, the Seahawks will have to do without Dayton Feiden, below, who suffered a season-ending knee injury. Senior Esteban LeWallen is taking over after shutting out Wesley Chapel last week. (File photos)

With a lot on the line for the teams and plenty of entertainment for the fans in the stands, those are the good ones.

One of those good ones is on tap Friday night at Sunlake High School, when the Seahawks (6-1, 1-1 in district play) host the Land O’ Lakes Gators (6-0, 1-0 in district play).

This isn’t just a matchup featuring two good teams: It’s the highest-scoring offense in the district (Land O’ Lakes has already put up 181 points) facing the stingiest defense (Sunlake has given up just 23 points all year, with four shutouts).

It’s also a true hometown rivalry, as the schools are less than 10 miles away from each other. And it’s critical to the standings, as both teams are chasing Springstead (6-1 overall but already 2-0 in the district). According to Land O’ Lakes Head Coach Brian Wachtel, following the game plan will be key in a contest featuring two good teams.

“Football is kind of like a chess match out there on the field,” he said. “The bottom line is, with football it comes down to execution. Your players have to execute the plays that are called.”

Nobody will be surprised if Land O’ Lakes tries to execute a number of passing plays, since they have a star in junior James Pensyl. He is averaging more than 230 yards per game, with a couple of rushing scores to complement double-digit touchdowns through the air.

Pensyl has shown a lot of growth in his second year, Wachtel said, and has a firm grasp of both the team’s objectives and the scheme they’re using to get there.

Even Sunlake Head Coach Bill Browning has taken note of Pensyl’s progress.

“He is vastly improved over last year,” Browning said. “They’ve developed a good scheme around him, that I think fits what he does well.”

Unfortunately for Browning, his own starting quarterback won’t be suiting up for Friday’s game: Junior Dayton Feiden suffered a recent knee injury, and was scheduled for surgery earlier this week. He’s out for the year.

That means senior Esteban LeWallen is transitioning from backup to starter (he was behind center for the team’s win against Wesley Chapel last weekend). With four years’ experience in the system, Browning saw good things in LeWallen’s first start and has confidence in him going forward.

Still, fans can expect a lot of running plays for Sunlake, specifically for star running back Nathan Johnson. The junior scored two more touchdowns last week against Wesley Chapel (boosting his season total to 10), and already is closing in on 1,000 yards rushing.

But Johnson isn’t guaranteed an easy time on Friday: Land O’ Lakes is second in the district with just 54 points allowed all year.

Still, Browning admits that Johnson will, as usual, be the focal point of their offense. “He is every week. It’s no secret,” he said.

No matter how the game itself plays out, both coaches are coming into the contest with a healthy respect for their opponent and the realization that this is a special week.

“This is a rivalry game. This is a community game. There will definitely be a great atmosphere there; there’s no doubt about that,” Wachtel explained.

And Browning agrees. “This is what high school football is all about. You want challenges like this as you play,” he said. “I would imagine that anybody who’s a high school football fan in Land O’ Lakes, Fla., will be at that game Friday night.”

From afterthoughts to winners, Sunlake’s volleyball team is ready to dominate

October 9, 2013 By Michael Hinman

New players and a new head coach meant that Sunlake High School had to prepare for some big changes heading into the 2013 volleyball season. But few probably expected one of those changes would be to become accustomed to winning.

And winning a lot.

With just three games remaining — including Tuesday’s late matchup with district-leading Fivay — the Sunlake Seahawks are 12-5, producing the first winning season in school history, and chalking up the most wins in school history as well.

Nelly Diaz, a freshman member of Sunlake High’s junior varsity volleyball team, updates her notes just before she talks to the crowd about breast cancer awareness during last week’s district matchup between Sunlake and Land O’ Lakes high schools. Diaz is one of several young players working their way up onto a solid squad under coach Deann Newton. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

Ask the players, and they’ll point toward first-year coach Deann Newton as the reason for the change. But ask Newton, and she points right back at the players.

“The whole team has really come together,” Newton said. “They like each other, which is good anytime. But these girls really get along well, and that has really helped with our team chemistry.”

Newton joined the Seahawks after a 10-year break from coaching. Her most recent job before that was with Mitchell High School, where she took a 17-9 team into the playoffs, knocked off a heavily favored Lakeland High School in the first round, and then lost to eventual state champion Plant High School in four sets in the regional semifinals.

She returned to a sport that has changed a lot (primarily, the implementation of rally scoring, which allows points to be scored on every serve). The higher point totals means a lot more scoreboard watching for many, but not for the Seahawks.

“I tell my girls all the time not to even look at the scoreboard,” Newton said. “It doesn’t even matter. We have to play every point like it’s the last point of the game. Every ball, every serve, we have to focus on each one at a time.”

The Seahawks have developed a strong core of players in recent seasons, but got some extra help this year with four transfers, including Sunlake’s new team captain, Malika Saffore. The Bishop McLaughlin High School transplant is one of the leaders in digs with 157, and has more than 400 assists.

Other transfers this year included junior outside hitter Shelby Stratton from Land O’ Lakes Christian High School, senior outside hitter Maeghan O’Fray from Ocala, and junior outside hitter Sara Nafziger, who moved to Florida last summer.

Saffore, who actually played on Sunlake’s varsity team as a freshman, says she returned to a much different Seahawks team for her senior year.

“There is a much more excitement than I ever remember on this team before,” Saffore said. This stems from the need for everyone to stay focused and contribute, because this is a team that doesn’t operate with star players.

“I’m a senior, and I’m the captain, but I’m really just one of 12 girls on this team,” Saffore said. “We always work as a team, and we always motivate each other as a team. And this year, we have so much talent. We keep looking at that talent, and are getting a hint of what we can accomplish.”

The season is almost over, and while Sunlake has been successful on the court, they know that once the playoffs begins, everyone starts back at the beginning. And a loss there means the season is over. But just as Newton directs her players to focus on just one point at a time, she asks them to focus on the games the same way.

“We don’t think one game is more important than another because every game is important,” Saffore said. “Each game has to turn into a win, and we can’t take anything for granted.”

Crowds have started to grow for Sunlake home games as more and more people start to hear about the success the Seahawks are having on the court. But Newton wants to see the bleachers filled, because the energy of the crowd fuels her girls even more.

“That’s probably one of the most disappointing things I’ve noticed since coming back, it’s the size of crowds for volleyball games at our school and other schools,” Newton said. “I’m 36, I’m not that old, but when I played, we packed the gym.”

People will really start to come as the team improves, and for now, the Seahawks are getting tremendous support from its core of parents and students who make it a point to be at every Sunlake volleyball game.

And they shouldn’t miss a thing, because it only gets more exciting from here.

“Our district is so tight right now,” Newton said. “The top five teams are all strong teams, and anyone can knock anybody off. We’re going to have to play our game the whole time to really make it through to the finals. That’s for sure.”

Runners take over for Keppel on the track

October 9, 2013 By Michael Murillo

Everything was in place for a successful year for Land O’ Lakes High School cross-country team: High expectations, skilled runners and a dedicated coach with decades of experience under his belt.

The runners were optimistic and prepared for whatever they had to face on the various courses.

Unfortunately, nobody was prepared for Coach Kris Keppel’s recent pancreatic cancer diagnosis. Now the man who hadn’t missed a competition in 20 years of coaching has been forced to miss practices and meets, leaving the team stunned and concerned.

“I was just shocked, and I think the rest of the team was, too,” said Tyler Stahl, one of the team’s top runners. ” You feel like if you’ve been through something like this before — like with Steven — there’s no way it could happen again.”

“Steven” is Steven Barnebei, a cross-country athlete who was diagnosed with brain cancer in his junior season. After emergency surgery and dozens of radiation doses, Barnebei has returned to the sport in his senior year with a cancer-free diagnosis and a determination to compete at a high level.

That experience was emotionally taxing for the team last year. And now, after rallying around their teammate, the runners now have to rally around their coach. Since the diagnosis, it’s the experienced runners who have stepped up to lead the team.

Stahl and Travis Nichols — seniors, team captains and state qualifiers last year — are getting a lot of support from parents and Rick Moody, a friend of Keppel’s with experience coaching Olympic athletes. But they know that to keep things running smoothly, they have to demonstrate real leadership both on and off the courses.

“We’ve had to really step up in keeping our team focused on post-season goals, and keeping them from being discouraged from the setbacks,” Nichols said. That means coaching teammates in practice and keeping them focused and upbeat during events.

Keppel still guides the team by sending out workouts and goal times via email, and the team leaders know that everyone wants to succeed for him.

“The team is staying pretty focused and we just keep saying that they need to work hard and perform well for coach,” Stahl said.

Working hard and performing well was commonplace when Keppel was at every practice and competition, and it’s carrying over in his absence: The team placed third in the 2013 Gator Invitational Oct. 5 at Crews Lake Park. At the event, the top times were nearly dominated by Land O’ Lakes runners. Nichols took first place, Stahl took third and teammate Jake Poore finished fourth. All three broke the 17-minute mark easily.

Both Stahl and Nichols share optimism for the rest of the year, and look forward to having their coach back as soon as possible. And while it might seem difficult to keep running and stay focused while missing their leader, nobody is letting up or lowering their goals because Coach Keppel isn’t able to be there right now.

In fact, Stahl said he’s been able to improve his concentration in the face of the team’s recent adversity.

“I think it is actually easier to focus on running after hearing about” Keppel’s diagnosis, Stahl said. “I have more of an incentive to work hard and do well than before. I want to make him proud.”

Overcrowding creates challenges at Wesley Chapel District Park

October 2, 2013 By Michael Murillo

When Wesley Chapel District Park opened in 2007, the county hoped that residents would use the 140-plus acres for a variety of activities.

And they have. Football, baseball, softball, basketball, lacrosse, cheerleading and soccer draw thousands of participants each year. The park has become a magnet for local youth sports, and that’s considered a good thing.

Only now it might be too much of a good thing. Overcrowding is creating a difficult situation for concurrent activities, but a few fields also need repair, and that means even less space for everyone.

Repair work at Wesley Chapel District Park has gone on longer than expected, with the commute to Zephyrhills creating concerns about attracting new players to the various recreational sports there.

As a result, some participants have been pushed out of the area altogether until the repair work is done: Eight soccer teams and 120 players now have their practices and games at the Samuel W. Pasco Recreation Complex in Zephyrhills. That extra 20-mile round trip can be a challenge to participating families, despite the fact that they paid a convenience fee to park at the Wesley Chapel Park.

Jeff Olsen, a soccer coach whose daughter now plays in Zephyrhills, says the situation is anything but convenient.

“It places a burden on the families. There’s lost time as a family, there’s lost time for homework,” he said. “There’s an extra rush on the evening schedule and extra costs for gas. So there’s a burden there.”

The teams started their season on Aug. 1 and estimated they’d be displaced for about six weeks. But more than two months later, there’s still no timetable for return.

Aside from the inconvenience, playing outside Wesley Chapel can impact the area’s reputation regarding youth soccer. Gil Gonzalez, a coach who also leads public relations efforts for the Wesley Chapel Soccer Club, says local parents want their children to play locally. If their first taste of local youth sports is a lot of inconvenience, it affects their impression of the organization.

“I think the biggest impact, in my opinion, is for newer parents, who don’t have the background in terms of understanding that this is really a temporary issue,” he said. “But if we have new parents and new players, I think it creates a negative experience for them.”

If word of mouth is negative as a result of those experiences, families might start considering competing programs for their children. If not resolved, those issues could affect recruiting and the program’s ability to grow.

The displaced teams aren’t the only ones dealing with issues related to overcrowding, Gonzalez said. The players and teams who are still at the park have to contend with their own problems.

Scheduling can be a challenge, with some teams dealing with later practices. The games themselves also are affected: Gonzalez said that matches are so close together that parents cheering at one game might have to duck incoming soccer balls from a nearby contest.

Throw in some long walks due to crowded parking lots, and it’s a situation everyone hopes is resolved quickly.

Unfortunately, predicting how and when the county will provide a satisfactory resolution is a bit more difficult. Interest and participation in youth sports has increased since the park opened, while related budgets have decreased. According to the Wesley Chapel Soccer Club, the county has decreased park and recreational spending by more than 28 percent since 2006.

Still, Gonzalez — whose daughter also now practices in Zephyrhills — is hopeful that there will be both short-term solutions (resodded fields at Wesley Chapel District Park) and long-term solutions (more space) on the horizon, whenever that may be.

“I think what will happen is there will be continued discussions for the county to acquire additional property near the district park to expand it as well,” he said.

If there’s a silver lining, it might be that player interest in soccer hasn’t really waned as a result of the extra challenges. Olsen said that even those who have to play in Zephyrhills still enjoy the sport and the competition.

“Do they mind? They like to play,” Olsen said. “But nobody wants to take a 30-minute drive out there when the rains start coming down, then take a 30-minute drive home.”

Freshmen golfers on course to exceed expectations at Wesley Chapel

September 25, 2013 By Michael Murillo

When your high school golf team is mostly made up of freshmen, it’s probably a rebuilding year.

The team at Wesley Chapel High School had a couple of players from the golf team graduate last year, and even lost some talent to other sports this season. Because of that, Coach Mike Rogers was expecting his team to learn from this year and build up experience for the future.

The Wesley Chapel High School golf team has already surpassed last year’s victory total with a 6-4 record in September. That’s despite having a team made up primarily of freshman. Helping in that winning effort are, from left, Aaron Hoyte, Zack Marquadt, Zack Lemmens, Tyler Rover, Alex Nay, David Lee and Ben Wolfman. (Photo courtesy of Randy Rover)

Instead, his golfers earned a 6-4 record in September and have already eclipsed last year’s win total of four victories.

“It’s been quite refreshing to see how we’ve come through,” Rogers said. “To beat some of the teams we’ve beaten, I’ve been pretty impressed.”

Wesley Chapel opened the season with a victory over Wiregrass Ranch, a team that beat them in 2012. Rogers said they even had respectable showings in losses to perennial powerhouses Plant and Jesuit.

Having a lot of young players to go along with a few sophomores and upperclassmen might be a frustrating challenge for some coaches, but Rogers enjoys it. Now in his third year coaching boys golf, he sees a team with a lot of talent and athleticism, and he appreciates the individual attitudes and personalities on it.

And those players are responding with good play on the courses — especially some of the freshmen. In fact, Rogers said his top athlete, Tyler Rover, is one of his many players who are new to the high school sport experience.

“He’s my No. 1 golfer at this moment,” Rogers said of the freshman. “He’s just been outstanding for his first year in high school golf.”

While Rover is new to the high school format (he’s never played golf as a team competition before), he’s no stranger to the sport itself: He’s been playing in amateur golf tournaments since he was 9. And his enthusiasm runs in the family. His father, Randy, is a PGA Club Pro at the Avila Golf & Country Club in Tampa. He also volunteers with his son’s golf team and offers tips and advice to both the newer and experienced golfers.

With his father and a new coach guiding him in high school, Tyler has learned to appreciate having a team component to an individual sport.

“I think it’s definitely a little relieving since you have a few teammates behind you to pick you up if you’re down,” he said. “You go up and play the best you can for each shot, and if your friends play well, it’s even better.”

Tyler explained that golf can be mentally and physically draining — that’s what he enjoys about the sport — so it’s a positive experience to participate with other students and have a coach help him.

Even though the team is still working its way through the season (with individual competitions at the district, regional and state levels to follow), Tyler said he’s already seen benefits from working with Rogers.

“Coach Rogers has definitely given us lots of opportunities,” he said. “I think it’s good to get some different knowledge about my game.”

For his part, Rogers believes that his team’s success lies mostly with the ones who are making the tough shots.

“They’ve put a lot of work and time and effort into it,” Rogers said. “I don’t think it’s necessarily anything I’ve done. I think it’s what they’ve put into it, and some good old-fashioned talent as well.”

Whoever deserves the credit for the team’s success, both the players and coaches know that the team’s prospects look even better down the road, as freshmen turn into experienced upperclassmen. Rogers is excited to see the team grow together, and Rover knows they have a bright future as well.

“That’s what we’ve been talking about all year,” he said. “If we get our new players to keep improving and learning new things, we’ll definitely be good for the next three years.”

Wanted: Your best football photos

September 25, 2013 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Think you have the best eye when it comes to prep football pictures? Then your work could end up in this very section, complete with your own photo credit.

The Laker/Lutz News is looking for photos at football games, whether they are of the cheerleaders, crowds, or even game play if you can zoom in well enough. We’ll publish our favorite ones right in this section. (File photo)

The Laker/Lutz News wants your pictures from local gridiron games. Whether it’s of a special play, a new routine from the cheerleaders, or even screaming fans from the grandstands — we want you to send it.

Each week, we’ll select the best pictures and post them to our Facebook page at Facebook.com/TheLakerLutzNews, and our favorite could actually end up in print in the paper’s sports section.

Pictures should be submitted by email, but only one picture per email. Each entry must include the full name and address of the photographer, which game the photo was shot at, and identify all the prominent people in the photo.

They should be submitted no later than 3 p.m. each Monday to .

Anything can happen on any given Friday, and here’s your chance to be a part of it.

NFLer wants to help kids who trashed his home

September 25, 2013 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

A retired professional football player who makes his home in Lutz is receiving national attention this past week after some 300 teenagers allegedly trashed his vacation home in New York.

Brian Holloway, an offensive lineman for the New England Patriots and later the Los Angeles Raiders in the 1980s, learned about the destruction happening at his home in Stephentown, N.Y., as it was happening through Twitter. Now he is working to track down all the teenagers that damaged his home, and is working to get their help in cleaning up.

Graffiti litters the walls of Brian Holloway’s barn in New York after a party there allegedly involved some 300 teenagers. Holloway was at his home in Lutz while the party was taking place. (Photo courtesy of Brian Holloway)

Holloway’s launched a website to accomplish that. There he says that while broken things can be fixed and stolen things can be returned, the 300 or so people who attended this party are “in peril.”

“I know one thing, if my child was involved, I would want to know everything now,” Holloway said on his website. “We are old school disciplinarians, we do not sit back, we take action. We step in and take charge. It’s so easy for kids to get off track if we let them.”

Holloway bought the house soon after joining the NFL, but now spends most of his time in Florida because of his football injuries. He would host community gatherings at the home when he lived there full-time, which included guests like civil rights activist Rosa Parks and football star William “The Refrigerator” Perry.

The former NFL player is now trying to bring some of the people involved in the party together to help them take a different path.

He called them “the future leaders, each who possess tremendous potential if they choose to do the right thing, make the right choices, and take the first steps.”

For more on Holloway’s efforts, visit www.HelpMeSave300.com.

Swimmers scramble to compete at elite level

September 18, 2013 By Michael Murillo

When Brian Vaile took over as coach of the boys swim team at Land O’ Lakes High School this year, he saw a lot of things he liked: A dual-meet winning streak spanning more than a decade, a few very talented athletes, and an interest in maintaining a strong program.

Cam Hilgenberg is part of a small family dynasty that has been part of the Land O’ Lakes swim team’s dual-meet streak dating back to 2000. He had to recruit some new swimmers to make sure that streak remained intact this season. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

But it was the one thing that was missing that worried him: Swimmers. As in, not enough swimmers to field a competitive team.

“Unfortunately, you could win first place in every event and still lose the meet,” said

Vaile, who has more than 15 years experience as a swim coach. In high school swimming, teams need more than just the fastest athlete in the pool. They need enough competitors to challenge for the second- and third-place spots and collect those points as well.

Otherwise, a team could win individual competitions but still lose the overall contest if their opponent takes the points associated with the other places. And without enough swimmers to challenge for those spots, Vaile knew his team would face a lot of disappointment no matter how fast they swam: The school’s win streak would evaporate and be replaced with a season of frustration.

With just seven experienced swimmers on the roster — and needing to increase those numbers quickly — Vaile called upon his team to recruit others to join the cause. And the team responded; the Land O’ Lakes boys swim team now has 12 members.

While Vaile would have liked 16 swimmers, the Gators have enough to compete in their meets. And he feels good about where the team is headed this season.

“I’m a science teacher. I look at it like an atom: We have a really good nucleus,” he said. “You’ve got seven strong swimmers who can swim almost any stroke or event you ask them to.” And with the added depth, they can work toward keeping their winning streak intact.

That streak is important to the team, but it’s a source of family pride for Cam Hilgenberg.

The senior has been with the team since his freshman year, but he’s not the first of his family to swim for Land O’ Lakes. His brother Craig was on the team when its dual-match streak began back in 2000. Another brother, Curt, kept it going after him. His mother, Robin, even coaches the girls swim team.

So a lack of numbers that threatened the Gators’ winning ways had Hilgenberg worried.

“At the end of last year we weren’t sure what was going to happen,” he said. “Even at the beginning of this year, until the week before (the first meet), I was still pretty nervous.” Hilgenberg is the youngest of his siblings to compete for the Gators.

“I’m the last Hilgenberg,” he said. “I’m just trying not to blow the winning streak.”

As one of the team’s leaders and top swimmers, Hilgenberg did his part to boost their numbers: A member of the school’s baseball team, he recruited one of the pitchers to compete in the pool as well. And along with the other experienced swimmers, he helps guide and advise the new members, working on techniques and providing pep talks when necessary.

That work has paid off. The team has won all their meets so far, and the members have confidence as they complete the schedule.

“I think if we keep on the same path as we’re on right now, I think we’ll do pretty well,” Hilgenberg said.

Vaile wants to prepare the swimmers for conference, district and state competitions, but he still has an eye on the dual-meet schedule. He said they’ve defeated some quality opponents and still have challenges on the schedule, but he feels confident the streak won’t end under his first season as coach.

“I think it’s safe for the rest of this year,” he said.

Youth movement: Eighth-graders anchor Academy volleyball

September 18, 2013 By Michael Murillo

Most people expect to see teams full of seniors in varsity sports. Sometimes there are a number of talented juniors, and maybe even a sophomore or two. Once in a while, a special freshman might make his or her way onto the roster.

Academy at the Lakes volleyball coach Brian Gonzales rallies his young team during last weekend’s tournament at Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School. The Wildcats have welcomed four eighth-graders to the team this year, a chance for them to build for the future. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

But even at a private school, you probably wouldn’t expect to find eighth graders. And at Academy at the Lakes, there isn’t a single eighth-grader on their varsity volleyball team: There are actually five of them. And four are starters.

But if opponents think they can take the young team for granted, the Wildcats say that would be a big mistake.

“I hope they don’t underestimate us,” said Julia Mollick, one of the starting eighth-graders on the volleyball team. “If we didn’t have some of them (young players), we wouldn’t have the team we have today. We’re a lot better with them.”

The older players have embraced the addition of their young teammates, Mollick said, offering advice and support as they prepare to face juniors and seniors from other schools.

While starting young talent has been good for team chemistry, it’s not a decision the coach made easily. Brian Gonzales, now in his second season with the team, had to really think about front-loading his varsity squad with eighth-graders.

“I went back and forth a little bit,” said Gonzales, who has nearly a decade of volleyball coaching experience. “I didn’t want to put that much pressure on them. I wanted to make sure they could handle that, being as young as they are.”

But after going through school-wide tryouts, those players emerged as the best options for the team, and he didn’t want them to be held back due to their age.

The need for experience also played a role in his decision, Gonzales said. While the girls could have participated as junior varsity players, the level of competition is very different and he didn’t think it would prepare them for high school-level opponents.

So far, he believes the girls have adjusted well to being varsity players, and meshed well as a motivated team. Mollick, who only started playing volleyball a couple of years ago, supports that belief with a real passion for her chosen sport.

“When you’re up in the air and you’re hitting that ball, I love it,” she said. “When I’m playing, my mind is clear.”

While Academy at the Lakes has had an up-and-down start to the season — they started at 3-6 after playing some big schools — Gonzales also has an eye toward the future when it comes to his team. With growing experience and years of eligibility left for his young athletes, he sees successful seasons in the future for the academy’s volleyball program.

“Two or three years down the road we can really have something there if we keep them all together,” he said.

Mollick agrees. She’s enjoying her time on the varsity team this year, but she knows the team could be something special if the young players grow and compete together in the future.

“I can’t wait to see how far we get,” she said.