The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Mitchell High School

Sunlake, Zephyrhills, Pasco football teams in tiebreakers tonight

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The high school football season is coming to a close, but not every game takes place on a Friday.

In fact, the lights are coming on at both Sunlake and Zephyrhills high schools Monday, as teams from both schools take part in a rather unusual tiebreaker game that could mean a district championship for one team, and a runner-up status for others.

Football teams from Springstead and Mitchell high schools will travel to Sunlake in Land O’ Lakes tonight to participate in one of the two tiebreaker games. Both teams will play a single 12-minute quarter, with the leader at the end of that quarter going on to play another quarter against Sunlake for Class 6A-District 6.

Springstead and Mitchell are tied overall at 6-3, including 3-1 marks in district play. Sunlake is 8-1 overall, but also is 3-1 in the district. So the winner of the second quarter will be named the district champion, and the loser of that quarter will become the runner-up.

It will be pretty much the same at Zephyrhills High School when Nature Coast Tech and Pasco show up to play a quarter against each other, with the winner taking on Zephyrhills in the second quarter in a Class 5A-District 6 showdown.

Zephyrhills is 7-2 overall, but 4-2 in the district after a loss to district champ South Sumter earlier in the season, and being edged by a single point in its game against Pasco last Friday. Nature Coast Tech and Pasco are 6-3, but also are 4-2 in district play. The team that comes out on top at the end of the second quarter will be the district runner-up, and will advance to the playoffs.

All teams are allowed a maximum of 60 players in uniform, and marching bands are not invited.

The games — which begin at 7 p.m. — are open to fans. Admission is $7.

All teams are scheduled to play their final regular season games next weekend, with district winners and runners-up then heading to the playoffs.

 

Pasco boasts semifinalists for National Merit Scholarship

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Five local students are among eight in Pasco County who have been recognized as National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, and will join hundreds of others in the state to the national semifinal round.

The National Merit Scholarship Corp. recognizes high school seniors with the highest scores on the preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, who met published program participation requirements. The semifinalists are now eligible to compete for one of 8,000 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $35 million.

Local students recognized include:

• Brendan Foley of Pasco High School
• Lisa Goldsworthy of Sunlake High School
• Veronica Grady of Land O’ Lakes High School
• Olivia Sunna of Wiregrass Ranch High School
• Emily Suvannasankha of Land O’ Lakes High School

Other county semifinalists were Juliana Cavallaro from Mitchell High School, and both Mackenzie Marques and Jaquelyn Nagy from Gulf High School.

“I am very proud of our students for achieving such a distinguished honor,” said Pasco County Schools superintendent Kurt Browning, in a release. “Their success is a direct result of their dedication to academic excellence and the rigorous instruction provided by our outstanding teachers.”

To be considered, students must submit a detailed scholarship application that includes their academic record throughout high school, participation in school and community activities, demonstration of leadership abilities, and honors and awards received. Students also must be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn an SAT score that confirms the earlier performance on the qualifying test.

Finalists are selected based on exceptional skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

The National Merit Scholarship Corp. is a not-for-profit organization established in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Scholarship program.

Developers, Andreychuk set to unveil new ice sports facility

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As the ink dries on sales documents conveying key land to its new owners near Interstate 75 and State Road 56, hockey great Dave Andreychuk and other dignitaries will gather Thursday to unveil plans for a new 150,000-square-foot, four-pad ice and multi-sport facility.

Andreychuk, who won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004, is one of several special guests expected to attend the unveiling for media and members of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce. A public groundbreaking is expected to take place in August.

The facility will be located just off Cypress Ridge Boulevard in Wesley Chapel, and will be developed by Z Mitch LLC, a company run by Gordie Zimmermann.

Among the dignitaries joining Andreychuk and Zimmermann to launch the project will be retired NBA shooting guard Anthony Parker, as well as retired Tampa Bay Rowdies star Jack Shannon.

The event also will include county commissioners Jack Mariano, Kathryn Starkey, Pat Mulieri, Ted Schrader and Henry Wilson; state Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby; Wesley Chapel chamber president Jeff Novotny; and hockey team representatives from the University of South Florida, Mitchell High School and Wiregrass Ranch High School.

The facility, tentatively called Ice I-75, is expected to be a boon to the growing area just off Interstate 75, not far from where an outlet mall is scheduled to start construction.

Its development team includes Deborah Tamargo from ROI Commercial Property Brokerage Inc., Skinner Brothers Realty Co., Keith Appenzeller from King Engineering, Michael Slater from Triad Consultants, Mark Jonnatti from Jonnatti Architecture, Jeff Novotny from American Consulting, John Hagen and John Walsh from Pasco County Economic Development Council Inc., and the Pasco Tourism Council.