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Gianna Levy

Cancellation of spring sports leaves many dejected

April 28, 2020 By Kevin Weiss

There was at least a glimmer of hope the 2020 Florida high school spring sports season would resume, even amid concerns about coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19).

But, optimism vanished when the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) on April 20 announced it would cancel all FHSAA-affiliated events.

The cancellations include the state series and championships events, for spring sports.

Due to the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) on April 20 announced it would cancel all FHSAA-affiliated events, including the state series and championships events, for spring sports. (File)

The statewide sports organization also announced no additional eligibility will be granted for spring sport athletes, including seniors, “under the guidance of the Florida Department of Education regarding grade level retention, and upon review of Florida Statutes and FHSAA Bylaws.”

And, just like that, high school senior athletic careers have come to an end.

It happened months sooner than expected, with no clue for athletes that a game, match or meet around mid-March would officially be their last.

The reality has left many local senior athletes feeling dejected, including Sunlake High’s Gianna Levy.

“It was really hard on me,” said Levy. “I cried. To be honest, I cried a lot.”

The prep track and field season offered Levy a final chance to boost her stats and times, to get on the radar of NCAA Division I college programs, as a heptathlete. She’s still holding out hope of being able to compete on the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) circuit this summer to get those college looks, but even that’s no guarantee.

“It definitely is really taking a really big toll on me,” Levy said. “This was a lot of people’s out ticket (to college) and now we don’t have that out ticket.”

Levy was only able participate in a couple track events before the varsity season came to a screeching halt. She was nursing a hip injury, which arose in February after she won a state title in girls weightlifting.

Though she’d already been a three-time state track and field qualifier and holds the school’s 400-meter dash record, Levy was dogged to put forth a banner senior campaign. “I just had so many goals in mind,” she said.

Other seniors had similar ambitions for their high school swan song.

Land O’ Lakes High senior Courtney Piltaver is a two-time Sunshine Athletic Conference East Girls Tennis Player of the Year. She was poised again to shine in her final high school tennis season, coming off a district title and state finalist.

From left: Wiregrass Ranch High softball seniors Kailey Riddlesworth, Cassidy Eason, Lexi Gaiefsky and Loryn Finn. These athletes only played nine games of a 27-game regular season schedule, due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Courtesy of Tyler Finn)

“I was pretty upset because it was my senior year, and it really sucks that I didn’t get to enjoy the full season with my team and my coaches, and kind of just close out,” said Piltaver, who’s signed with NCAA Division II University of Montevallo in Alabama.

The tennis standout added that not having the typical ceremonial senior night celebration, “was kind of heartbreaking, because that was something I was really looking forward to since my freshman year.”

Senior infielder Loryn Finn was in the midst of her best hitting season on the Wiregrass Ranch High softball team, sporting a .360/.467/.440 slash line through nine games.

The team captain also was chasing the 100 career hit milestone — a possibility with 18 regular season games remaining on the schedule, until athletics activities were scrapped.

Finn won’t be playing college ball. She hasn’t quite come to grips that a March 11 loss to Wesley Chapel High is perhaps the final time she’ll pick up a bat, ball and glove competitively.

“It’s definitely hard. I’m kind of in shock,” Finn said, bluntly.

Aside from game action, Finn still longs for those last few “bus rides to games, and just jamming to music with players and teammates.”

With a tinge of despair in her voice, Finn labeled her four-year softball experience as “just always been fun.”

Wiregrass Ranch assistant softball coach Tyler Finn feels for his senior daughter and the many other players on the team: “It’s really just not the seniors, it’s freshmen, it’s everybody. It’s tough on them, too. It affects every player, all of them; their season was cut short.”

He also observed his daughter’s high school athletics career coming to an abrupt halt.

Besides softball, Finn was a three-time All-Conference golfer: “She’s gotten to the point where she just wants to get into college and get the education going. She had a really good high school softball career and golf career. …She’s going to miss those kids that she played with since she was little — that’s the hard part.”

Though the traditional season is done, the assistant coach is looking for some way to hold a final showcase in the summer that would bring together various senior high school softball players countywide, assuming restrictions on parks and gatherings are lifted.

“The kids deserve it,” he said.

‘I knew it was coming’
Back on March 31, the FHSAA issued a statement that left open the possibility of a spring sports season, saying they could run from as soon as May 3 through June 30.

The FHSAA also had indicated if a spring sports season is canceled altogether, it was working on a solution to create additional athletics eligibility for students who were unable to participate.

FHSAA-sanctioned spring sports include baseball, flag football, lacrosse, softball, tennis, track & field, boys volleyball, water polo and boys weightlifting.

However, as days and weeks pressed on, many saw the writing on the wall that spring sports would not return this year, due to the pandemic.

Sunlake High senior track and field standout Gianna Levy was looking to get on the radar of Division I college athletics programs before the spring season was cut short. (Courtesy of Gianna Levy)

“I knew it was coming. I didn’t want to admit it to myself, I didn’t want to accept it, but I knew it was coming,” said Academy at the Lakes (AATL) varsity baseball coach Ken Akins.

“Once the FHSAA said, ‘OK, we’re thinking about extending it into summer and deep into June,’ there was a little bit of hope there, but once you get into June you start messing with all the travel sports — baseball and softball are huge in the summertime.”

Academy at the Lakes athletic director Tom Haslam offered a similar take on the FHSAA’s decision: “We kind of knew this was coming, but we hated to hear the actual directive.”

He added: “It’s understandable, they have to do it, so we don’t disagree with it, we expected it.”

The directive came at a time when multiple AATL programs were hitting their stride.

The AATL baseball team was on its best start in program history, already matching its win total from 2019  —  thanks to contributions from four seniors.

The school’s boys tennis team, meanwhile, was expected to contend for a state championship, like the prior season.

Of course, the FHSAA’s salvo wiped out the Land O’ Lakes-based private school’s softball, track and field, and boys weightlifting teams.

All told, there were 17 seniors among those five teams.

“It affects everybody’s season,” Haslam said, “but the seniors, you really feel for it.”

He added, “It’s not just athletic seniors, but seniors in anything. You’re talking about proms and special events that just aren’t going to happen. It’s just sad. Sad’s the best word I have for it.”

Though much attention has been brought to how this year’s seniors are affected, and rightly so, the longtime athletic director also believes the canceled spring season could have major ripple effects for juniors looking to get recruited by various college programs.

Haslam put it like this: “It hurts a lot of the juniors, because not only are they putting stats on paper, but they’re also missing workout time, and it’s going to be hard to develop their skills as normal, because they can’t get in the cages and gyms, and there’s no spring ball, and there may not even be travel ball in the summer.

“It’s pretty far-reaching, so it doesn’t just affect seniors on that level. You can’t even go out in a park and shoot hoops,” he said.

Published April 29, 2020

Sunlake girls weightlifting state champs — again

March 11, 2020 By Kevin Weiss

Since taking its first-ever state title last year, Sunlake High School’s varsity girls weightlifting had a newfound target on their back — as hungry competition looked to dethrone the team all season long.

Some opponents went so far to say it to their face.

The Sunlake High School varsity girls weightlifting team are back-to-back state champs. After winning the program’s first state title last year, the Seahawks again took gold at the 2020 FHSAA State Weightlifting Championships in Panama City Beach. (Courtesy of Denise Garcia)

“We knew there were going to be people trying to take the title and trying to overcome us in general,” Sunlake senior Antoinette Farmer said. “We even had people straight up telling us, saying they were going to beat us.”

Apparently, their foes spoke too soon — as Sunlake again won the FHSAA (Florida High School Athletic Association) Class 2A State Weightlifting Championships in Panama City Beach last month.

Along the way, the Sunlake team took district and regional crowns, too.

The Seahawks tallied 28 points to edge second-place finisher Navarre High School (26) and third place Winter Springs High School (24) — to become back-to-back state champions.

The program also experienced another milestone — with two weightlifters earning individual state titles in the same year: Seniors Gianna Levy (139 pounds) and Juliette Pacheco (169 pounds) took first place in their respective weight classes. Pacheco set a state record 225-pound bench press in her weight class.

All told, five of Sunlake’s seven state lifters earned points with top-six finishes in the bench press and clean-and-jerk aggregate lifts.

  • Madison Guincho, junior — second place, 119-pound (180-160 — 340)
  • Gianna Levy, senior — first place, 139-pound (175-180 — 355)
  • Juliette Pacheco, senior—first place, 169-pound (225-185 — 410)
  • Brianna Caban, senior — third place, 183-pound (200-170—370)
  • Antoinette Farmer, senior—second place, 199-pound (210-190 — 400)

“We were ready for the challenge,” Farmer said of winning states again.

She said she and her teammates fed off the “good competition energy” sent their way throughout the 2019-2020 campaign.

Pacheco concurred: “We all just have a really competitive mindset, and when we hear that people are saying they’re going to beat us… it just motivates us more.”

Pacheco also credits the team’s overall success to the myriad multi-sport athletes on the team’s weightlifting roster. Many have participated in cheerleading, softball, swimming, and track and field, among other sports.

There are many “all-around athletes,” Pacheco said, noting “we all have really high goals for every aspect of our lives, and we all just put it together and do what has to be done.”

Pacheco has a lengthy background in gymnastics and cheerleading, both of which she said have helped her build upper body strength over the years.

She also holds the school’s pole vault record in track and field.

“It’s just like every sport that I’ve done has aided me in (weightlifting),” Pacheco said.

Sunlake head coach Denise Garcia acknowledged there was more pressure to win a second state title, but praised her group for maintaining a positive mindset and working hard throughout the journey.

This team embraced challenges
Garcia noted several girls balanced schoolwork, other sports and extracurriculars, and part-time jobs to get their work done in the weight room.

Her message to the team entering the year: “Nothing will work unless you do.”

It’s something the team bought into it from the get-go, she said.

“They came together again, they wanted it again,” said Garcia. “They worked even harder, if that’s even possible. They’re such good workers, their work ethics are amazing.”

She added: “It just warms my heart that they succeeded, that they did what they wanted to, and that they put their heads together themselves and they did it. That’s a big accomplishment for them, individually, as well as a team.”

Garcia has led Sunlake’s weightlifting program for more than a decade. Her specialty and strategy comes in teaching proper bench press technique, trying to maximize the potential from each of her lifters. Pacheco’s state record is a case in point, but Garcia noted she strives to get everyone to bench at least 150 pounds.

“I love the bench,” Garcia said. “They say clean-and jerk-wins everything, but bench is good, too, because it’s the total (score), and if I can get them high in the bench, it puts pressure on the other girls (from opposing teams) to do even more.”

Though Garcia will be without four state-placing seniors, she believes the program is shaped up for another strong showing next season.

The team figures to center around, among others, rising senior Madison Guincho, who placed second at the state meet in the 119-pound division. “She’s one to look out for,” Garcia said. “She’s my future.”

Guincho likewise has high expectations for what’s to come: “I think we still will be good next year, because we have a lot of good up-and-coming girls that nobody really knows about yet. I think overall, we’re still going to be one of the best.”

Elsewhere locally, Zephyrhills High School’s varsity girls weightlifting team finished third at the FHSAA Class 1A State Weightlifting Championships. Bulldogs senior Lakisia Thomas won an individual state title in the 183-pound division, posting a 190-185 — 375. She was one of four Zephyrhills lifters who earned points with top-six finishes at the meet.

Class 2A
Team results
Sunlake — first place (28 points)
Wiregrass Ranch — no placing (0)

Bench press-clean-and-jerk—Total (in pounds)
Individual results

101 pounds
Alexandria Black, junior, Wiregrass Ranch: no placing (scratch)

110 pounds
Gabriella Schwarz, sophomore, Sunlake: 12th place (tie); 125-125 — 250

119 pounds
Madison Guincho, junior, Sunlake: second place; 180-160 — 340

139 pounds
Gianna Levy, senior, Sunlake: first place; 175-180 — 355
Gianina Rios, senior, Wiregrass Ranch: seventh place; 185-140 — 325

169 pounds
Juliette Pacheco, senior, Sunlake: first place; 225-185 — 410
Daniella Vance, junior, Sunlake: 13th place (tie); 145-160 — 305

183 pounds
Brianna Caban, senior, Sunlake: third place; 200-170 — 370

199 pounds
Antionette Farmer, senior, Sunlake: second place; 210-190 — 400

Class 1A
Zephyrhills — third place (18 points)
Bishop McLaughlin — no placing (0)
Cypress Creek — no placing (0)

Bench press-clean-and-jerk—Total (in pounds)
101 pounds
Andje Costa, sophomore, Cypress Creek: seventh place (tie); 95-125 — 220

139 pounds
Kayla Zine, senior, Zephyrhills: 18th place; 125-130 — 255

154 pounds
Sarah Davis, senior, Zephyrhills: third place; 185-160 — 345
Madison Aguillera, junior, Zephyrhills: fourth place; 135-185 — 320

169 pounds
Kayla Robbins, senior, Zephyrhills: second place (tie); 180-170 — 350

183 pounds
Lakisia Thomas, senior, Zephyrhills: first place; 190-185 — 375

199 pounds
Kyleigh Smith, senior, Zephyrhills: seventh place (tie); 160-145 — 305

Unlimited
Adorina Lee, senior, Bishop McLaughlin: seventh place (tie); 210-150 — 360
Diamond Cowart, junior, Zephyrhills, 15th place; 175-165 — 340

Published March 11, 2020

Sunlake girls weightlifting coach earns statewide honor

May 22, 2019 By Kevin Weiss

In her decade-plus long tenure as the Sunlake High girls weightlifting coach, Denise Garcia has racked up her fair share of achievements.

Some of the biggest came this year alone.

Back in February, Garcia guided the Seahawks to the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Class 2A state championship — marking the program’s first-ever team weightlifting title.

Sunlake High girls weightlifting head coach Denise Garcia hoists the Class 2A state championship trophy at the 2019 Florida High School Athletic Association state meet in Panama City. Garcia has coached the school’s girls weightlifting program for 11 years. (Courtesy of Denise Garcia)

The veteran coach groomed eight lifters who competed in this year’s state meet. Six earned state medalist honors by placing among the top six individual finishes. The awards came across various weight classifications.

All told, the Seahawks registered 22 points collectively to defeat second-place Vero Beach High, which finished with 19 points.

Sunlake’s title also marked the end of the sport’s longest active streak of consecutive team state championships, which had been held by Navarre High School. Navarre had claimed four titles, from 2015 through 2018. This year, Navarre tied for seventh place.

Garcia’s efforts earned her the distinction of being named Florida Dairy Farmers Girls Weightlifting Coach of the Year. The award was announced last month.

Despite her program’s memorable 2019 campaign, Garcia remains taken aback by the designation as the state’s top girls weightlifting coach.

“As far as me getting this award, it’s a total surprise. It’s amazing, because there’s so many great coaches out there,” said Garcia, who wrapped up her 11th year as Sunlake girls weightlifting coach.

The recognition is always nice, of course.

But, for Garcia, it’s more important to see her high school lifters reach their potential and succeed in competition.

The coach put it this way: “All the awards you get, it all means a lot, (but) you don’t do it for getting an award, you do it for your team and to make them better. You do what you’re supposed to do for the team.”

Garcia praised her athletes — past and present — for being coachable and working hard along the way.

“I’ve just been blessed and I’m lucky enough to have girls with a good work ethic that want to learn, that want to buy into my program, and you see what happens,” Garcia said.

Under head coach Denise Garcia, the Sunlake varsity girls weightlifting team won its first-ever state crown. The Seahawks took eight lifters to the state meet, six of whom earned medalist honors on the way to the Florida High School Athletic Association’s Class 2A state title.

The coach outlined the recipe for success in the sport: “It’s a balance. It’s a balance of good work ethics, your program, being coachable. It’s just an everyday thing. They need to listen. It’s this formula they have to have. It’s got to be the whole, total package.”

Garcia said most of the girls she coaches initially begin with little background in weightlifting. Often, they discover a passion for the sport.

In Florida, high school weightlifters compete in the bench press and clean-and-jerk.

“It’s just teaching from the bottom up, and they absolutely fall in love with weightlifting,” Garcia said. “It’s something about weightlifting, and once they get hooked, that’s it.”

Garcia herself got her first taste of weightlifting as a student at Leto High School in Tampa. A softball and volleyball player, she learned “old-school” weight training techniques from the likes of FHSAA Hall of Fame coach and athletic director Vernon Korhn, and others.

“It’s just old-time coaches that would let me go in the weight room and work out, and I just fell in love with it,” she said.

Garcia figured she could take her knowledge of pumping iron and develop a program for girls when she was hired to work at Sunlake.

“I was like, ‘My god, I can do something with this program.’ I love weightlifting, so I put something together and there it is, it worked out,” said Garcia.

Garcia said she will be coaching the team again next year.

It’s frankly a no-brainer, with a roster that expects to return all but two of its individual state qualifiers from last year.

That includes rising junior Madison Guincho and rising seniors Gianna Levy, Juliette Pacheco, Abigail Schmook, Antoinette Farmer and Brianna Caban.

There’s also other up-and-coming lifters in the program, Garcia said, that could help Sunlake repeat as state champs.

“We have a lot of talent on this team,” the coach said.

And, besides the possibility of securing another state crown, Garcia hopes to witness one of her own lifters be named Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Weightlifting. Vero Beach senior Jayda Jenkins earned that honor this year after claiming the Class 2A individual state title at 119 pounds.

“That would be awesome. Oh my gosh, that would be awesome,” Garcia said.

The Florida Dairy Farmers High School Sports Awards program annually honors the state’s top athletes and coaches in all 30 FHSAA sanctioned and recognized sports. The program is in its 27th year.

Published May 22, 2019

Sunlake girls weightlifting celebrates state title

February 20, 2019 By Kevin Weiss

The Sunlake High School varsity girls weightlifting team perennially has been among the more dominant programs in the area, wielding multiple conference and district titles over the years.

But, their latest feat places them on an entirely new level.

The Seahawks claimed the 2019 FHSAA (Florida High School Athletic Association) Class 2A girls weightlifting state championship, on Feb. 8 in Panama City Beach.

The Sunlake High School varsity girls weightlifting team claimed the Class 2A state championship earlier this month. They join competitive cheerleading as the Sunlake’s only boys or girls sports program to win a state title since the school opened in 2007. (Courtesy of Sunlake High girls weightlifting)

The Seahawks tallied 22 points as a team, besting the second-place finisher, Vero Beach High School (19 points) by 3 points.

The title marked the end of the sport’s longest active streak of consecutive team championships held by Navarre High School — four titles won between 2015 through 2018 — who tied for seventh place with 11 points.

It also marks Sunlake’s second state championship among all boys or girls sports; the school’s competitive cheerleading won a state title back in 2014.

Sunlake’s girls weightlifting program has endured solid finishes in previous years in the state meet — including an eighth-place tie in 2018.

This year’s group, however, featured more than a handful of top-flight performances across multiple weight classes.

Six of Sunlake’s eight state lifters earned points with top-six finishes in the bench press and clean-and-jerk aggregate lifts:

  • Madison Guincho, sophomore—fourth place, 119-pound (170-155—325)
  • Loah Castro, senior—third place, 129-pound (165-160—325)
  • Gianna Levy, junior—fifth place, 139-pound (170-170—340)
  • Juliette Pacheco, junior—second place, 154-pound (205-170—375)
  • Abigail Schmook, junior—fourth place, 183-pound (170-170—340)
  • Antoinette Farmer, junior—second place, 199-pound (195-170—365)

Sunlake’s other two individual state qualifiers, senior Valerie Busot (129-pound) and junior Brianna Caban (169-pound) tied for seventh and ninth place, in their respective weight classes.

Hoisting the state championship trophy still leaves longtime Sunlake head coach Denise Garcia speechless at times.

“I’m overwhelmed,” said Garcia, who’s in her 11th season coaching. “I’m so happy. I sit there sometimes and am like, ‘Holy crap, we just did that with six girls. That’s amazing.’”

Absent of any individual state champions this year, Garcia noted the team’s strategy was to “nickel and dime” its way to the 2A crown.

And that they did.

“It’s about placing. If you have enough girls where you can accumulate points, then you’re going to win. And, we won by three,” Garcia explained.

Entering the 2018-2019 season, the coach had an inkling she had a special group on her hands.

Garcia saw the team had the drive, attitude and work ethic required to contend for a state title, alongside natural ability, and mastering the sport’s techniques and fundamentals.

“They wanted it so bad,” Garcia said. “The key is being coachable and accepting everything I give them, and all of them did it. …I’ve always said we’re the hardest working team.”

The coach credited the leadership of the team’s two captains — senior Loah Castro and junior Antoinette Farmer.

Garcia noted both helped keep the team’s entire roster of 32 girls in check through encouragement and positivity.

“You’ve got to have leaders,” Garcia said. “The captains, I think, really made a difference. They help their teammates. It’s like having another coach there.”

Castro joined the weightlifting team her sophomore year.

While many of her high school peers opted for traditional sports like softball or volleyball, she wanted to try something different.

Said Castro: “When I first started I didn’t go in thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to win a state title.’ I genuinely wanted to try it because I had never really done a sport before, so I was like, ‘Maybe this is something I could be good at.’”

She surely did — placing at states her junior and senior years.

“It was a lot of hard work,” Castro said. “It’s really a mindset type of thing. Like, this whole sport is a mind game.”

Castro first noticed the team’s potential for a state title at the end of last year’s state meet, realizing there’d be many returning lifters poised to make improvements.

Then, by the time this year’s Sunshine Athletic Conference meet came around — which Sunlake also won — Castro was convinced the team had enough to become state’s top 2A program.

Castro put it like this: “I was like, ‘There’s no way we’re not winning states. We’re going to work way too hard and everything, and, there’s no way we’re not taking the title.’”

Just like her coach, Castro is in awe being able to say she’s a member of a state championship program.

“It’s so surreal, especially because it’s my senior year,” Castro said. “I call us the dream team.”

Weightlifting was a relatively new venture for the team’s other captain, too.

Farmer’s sights were originally set on playing basketball in high school.

However, she was encouraged to give lifting a try by Sunlake graduate and family friend Brianna Anderson, who won the 183-pound state weightlifting title as a senior year back in 2016.

Farmer was hooked almost instantly when she tried out as a freshman.

“I didn’t even know that you could do that,” Farmer said of weightlifting. “After my first summer conditioning with coach, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I love this.’”

Farmer’s performance this season is arguably the most splendid, among her other teammates who placed at states.

That’s because she had surgery on a torn meniscus back in late September, right before the season started.

She methodically worked her way back to full health, to finish state runner-up in the 199-pound division, and set a county record for her weight class with a 180-pound clean.

Farmer remains unsatisfied, though.

The junior is gunning for an individual state title next year — motivated to unseat Niceville High sophomore Melaina Bryant, who edged her by 15 pounds in the bench and 10 pounds in the clean, respectively.

“I’m just a stepping-stone away from that first place,” Farmer said. “I want it.”

Her coach has little doubt it will happen

“She’s going to win next year,” Garcia said, confidently. “She’s closing the gap.”

Sunlake’s Juliette Pacheco is yet another that has a shot to claim an individual title next year. The junior finished state runner-up in the 154-pound division, just five pounds shy of top finisher, Oakleaf High senior Lexi Perez.

“They’re going to both be No. 1,” Garcia proudly said, of Farmer and Pacheco.

In the meantime, Sunlake’s prospect for winning another state crown next year also seems well within grasp.

The Seahawks expect to return every lifter that placed at states, aside from the graduating Castro; several others are projected to step up as well, Garcia said.

“Every year we get better and better,” the coach said. “Next year, it’s going to be even more.”

State results from area weightlifters and teams

Class 2A
Team results
Sunlake High—First place (22 points)
Land O’ Lakes High—10th place (tie) (seven points)
Wiregrass Ranch High—No placing (0 points)

119 pounds
Madison Guincho, sophomore, Sunlake: fourth place; 170-155—325

129 pounds
Loah Castro, senior, Sunlake: third place; 165-160—325
Valerie Busot, senior, Sunlake: seventh place (tie); 155-160—315
Gianina Rios, junior, Wiregrass Ranch: 17th place; 170-0—170

139 pounds
Gianna Levy, junior, Sunlake: fifth place; 170-170—340

154 pounds
Juliette Pacheco, junior, Sunlake: second place; 205-170—375

169 pounds
Veronica Salazar, senior, Land O’ Lakes: first place; 200-185—385
Alyssa Kremer, junior, Land O’ Lakes: seventh place; 200-160—360
Brianna Caban, junior, Sunlake: ninth place (tie); 180-170—350

183 pounds
Abigail Schmook, junior, Sunlake: fourth place; 170-170—340

199 pounds
Antionette Farmer, junior, Sunlake: second place; 195-170—365

Class 1A finals
Team results
Pasco High—14th place (tie) (five points)
Zephyrhills High—14th place (tie) (five points)
Wesley Chapel—No placing (zero points)

Bench press-clean-and-jerk—Total (in pounds)
101 pounds
Prestine Carter, senior, Pasco: second place; 115-135—250

139 pounds
Sarah Davis, junior, Zephyrhills: sixth place; 160-150—310

154 pounds
Kayla Robbins, junior, Zephyrhills: eighth place; 160-150—310

169 pounds
Lakisia Thomas, junior, Zephyrhills: sixth place; 160-165—325
Dinah Harden, senior, Wesley Chapel: 13th place; 145-145—290

199 pound
Cynthia Wilkes, senior, Zephyrhills: 14th place; 155-145—300

Unlimited
Abby Shaffer, senior, Zephyrhills: fourth place; 230-220—450

Published February 20, 2019

Youth track club reaches nationals

July 12, 2017 By Kevin Weiss

One local youth track club has reached the national stage — gearing up to compete against some of the sport’s best.

Speed Starz Track Club recently qualified for the 21st Annual AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) Club Championships, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.

The Wesley Chapel-based club is sending five athletes, ranging in age from 13 to 17, for its first appearance in the national showcase, held July 11 through July 15.

The Speed Starz Track Club recently qualified for the 21st Annual AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) Club Championships, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando. From left: Landon Williams, Gianna Levy, Melissa Mowery, Arielle Boone and Guadalupe Guerra.
(Kevin Weiss)

The club championships offer the last chance for athletes to qualify for the 2017 AAU Junior Olympic Games in Detroit, Michigan, July 26 to Aug. 5. The top eight finishers in each track and field event qualify for the Junior Olympics.

Representing Speed Starz at the national meet are a trio of athletes from Sunlake High School — rising seniors Arielle Boone and Melissa Mowery, and rising sophomore Gianna Levy.

Joining them are Guadalupe Guerra, a rising freshman at Wiregrass Ranch High School, and Landon Williams, a rising seventh-grader at John Long Middle School.

Since May, the five athletes — along with several others — have been training extensively with BB Roberts, the club’s head coach.

Roberts organized the Speed Starz in 2013 and simultaneously created a sports training company — Fast, Sprint, Quick Athletic Performance LLC.

The AAU circuit is regarded as more challenging than the high school and middle school levels. That’s because it has an increased number of elite-caliber athletes from every region of the country.

“It’s much more competitive,” said Guerra, a long-distance runner who last season was named 2017 Pasco County Middle School Girls Track Athlete of the Year.

“At the school level, there’s not as many people that have as much fast times, so (AAU) pushes you harder,” she said.

The athletes’ emotions have been swirling, leading up to the weeklong festivities.

“I’m happy, and I’m nervous,” said Boone, “because I’ve never been to a national event.”

“I’m kind of just anxious to see what happens,” added Levy. “I feel like this type of competition will give me motivation to really try hard.”

Williams, the youngest competitor at 13 years old, echoed similar sentiments.

BB Roberts is the club’s head coach. He organized the Speed Starz in 2013 and simultaneously created a sports training company — Fast, Sprint, Quick Athletic Performance LLC. (File)

“I’m a little nervous, but it will be exciting,” she said. “I just want to do my best, and beat my previous times.”

The national showcase, meanwhile, provides an opportunity for track athletes — particularly upcoming seniors — to catch the eye of college recruiters, who seldom attend regular high school meets.

“I tell kids all the time, ‘If you really want to get recruited, get involved with this stuff.’ I wish I had done it,” said Roberts. “(Recruiters) go to the state meets sometimes, but they always go to AAU meets every summer.”

Roberts also does his part to ensure the club’s athletes get noticed.

“He makes sure that we have our own portfolio…and he really pays attention when it comes to getting recruited,” said Mowery, who’s competing in the heptathlon.

Roberts, now 31, was a record-breaking sprinter at Wesley Chapel High School, and later at Coffeyville Community College, a junior college in southeast Kansas.

Today, he maintains his passion for track and teaching youth, of all ages and abilities.

“Track can help you do anything,” Roberts said, noting it translates well to other sports, including football and soccer.

His pupils come from all over Pasco, including Dade City, Zephyrhills, Wesley Chapel, Wiregrass and Land O’ Lakes, over the last few years.

Roberts emphasizes proper running form.

He’s also an advocate of resistance training, utilizing Kbands and speed parachutes, among other products.

Those methods helped Boone set a personal record in the 200-meter dash (25.97).

“My first two weeks working with him, I PR’d by over half a second; it’s been a really big help,” said Boone, the 2017 Sunshine Athletic Conference (SAC) East Field Athlete of the Year and one of the county’s top jumpers.

It likewise helped Levy, a 2017 SAC East Second-Team All-Conference sprinter and hurdler.

A former gymnast, Levy acknowledged her running stride used to be “really bad.”

Intense, one-on-one work with Roberts quickly changed that.

“He’s really helped my arms, so now I don’t even think about the way I run,” Levy explained.

“He takes more time to develop you.”

No matter the group’s outcome in Orlando, each is laying the groundwork for next track season.

“If you compare their times back when they ran in March or February, there’s a big difference,” Roberts said.

“If you ask any professional track athlete, during the summertime is when you peak the highest. It’s why the Olympics are in the summer, and why they have tryouts in the summer.”

And, that summer grind has made the athletes eager for the possibilities ahead.

That’s especially true for Boone and her fellow Sunlake High comrades.

“It’s exciting,” Boone said, “because I know when we come back to the high school season, we’re going to do really good.

“We’ve been training all offseason — and that’s when you get better,” she said.

Speed Starz Track Club national qualifiers
Arielle Boone, senior, Sunlake High School
Events: Long Jump, Triple Jump, 200-meter dash, 100-meter dash

Gianna Levy, sophomore, Sunlake High School
Events: 400-meter hurdles, 200-meter dash, 100-meter dash

Melissa Mowery, senior, Sunlake High School
Events: Heptathlon (100m hurdle, 800m, 200m, high jump, long jump, shot put, javelin)

Guadalupe Guerra, freshman, Wiregrass Ranch High School
Events: 3,000-meter run, 1,500-meter run, 2,000-meter steeplechase

Landon Williams. seventh-grade, John Long Middle School
Events: 3,000-meter run, 1500-meter run, 800-meter dash, shot put

Published July 12, 2017

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