School may have just started at Paul R. Wharton and Freedom high schools, but preparation for the fall athletic season began in earnest in July for the New Tampa area’s prep teams. What lies ahead for the locals?
Wharton — At Wharton, the only fall team not facing many questions may be the girls cross country team, which should be the best team in our coverage area.
The Wildcat girls are coming off their best season since 2004, when it finished as the state runner-up in Class 3A.
Behind Alisha Deschenes — who finished 21st overall in the state with a time of 19 minutes, 46 seconds and was the top Wharton finisher at the Class 4A State meet — the Wildcats finished third behind state champion Winter Park in 2015.
Deschenes, who will be a junior, returns, along with every other Wharton finisher that scored at state, including seniors Rania Samhouri, Mari James and Bryanna Rivers, and junior Rachel Lettiero.
And, all five scoring finishers for Wharton finished in the top 50 at state.
The boys also were young last season, with Noah Damjanovic, now a junior, leading the team and returning.
The Wharton volleyball team graduated a strong core of players — setter Tyler Sroufe, middle blocker Lindsey Schaible and libero Chanelle Hargreaves all signed to play in college last November — so star outside hitter Kathyrn Attar will be called upon to carry the Wildcats this season.
Attar, who has orally committed to Yale University in New Haven, CT, had 358 kills last year, one of the top totals in the state, and passed the 1,000-kill mark for her career. She’s one of the biggest hitters in the Tampa Bay area, and worth the price of admission.
And, the Wildcat football team embarks on a season without a proven signal caller under center, but until a quarterback develops, look for running back Shannen King to carry the ball a lot as Wharton tries to compete with District 7A-8 powers like Plant and Sickles.
Feel free to go ahead and circle Sept. 23 on your football calendar — that’s when Wharton hosts arch-rival Freedom this year in football. The Wildcats won last year’s battle 44-20, and haven’t lost to the Patriots since 2009.
Freedom — Freedom also has questions at quarterback and a promising rushing attack, as well as a new head coach in Floyd Graham, who was able to build solid programs at Newsome and Steinbrenner from scratch. He’ll have more to work with at Freedom, but the 
task will be just as tall.
Football isn’t the only sport with a new head coach at Freedom, as volleyball coach Damian Goderich takes over for Brittany Castelamare after last year’s 9-9 season. The Patriots showed some improvement last year down the stretch, winning three straight games before a close defeat against Wharton to end the season, and despite a few key losses to graduation, last year’s leader in kills (Cameron Young), digs (Jazmine Boga) and blocks (Lauren Crum) all return.
The Freedom cross country teams expect to be more competitive, as most of the top runners, like boys Alejandro Michel and Baily Easterling and girls Morgan Kugel, Dana Elkalazani and Schuyler Rutherford, return from last season.
Here are the football and volleyball schedules for both high schools:
WHARTON FOOTBALL
August 26 at King
Sept. 2 Robinson
Sept. 9 at TBT
Sept. 16 at Gaither
Sept. 23 Freedom
Sept. 30 at Plant
Oct. 7 Wiregrass Ranch
Oct. 14 at Sickles
Oct. 21 Leto
Nov. 4 Chamberlain
WHARTON VOLLEYBALL
August 23 Newsome
August 25 Strawberry Crest
August 29 at Bloomingdale
Sept. 1 Plant
Sept. 6 Robinson
Sept. 9 at AHN Invitational
Sept. 13 at Wiregrass Ranch
Sept. 15 at Sickles
Sept. 20 Steinbrenner
Sept. 22 Freedom
Sept. 28 Gaither
Oct. 13 at Riverview
FREEDOM FOOTBALL
August 26 at East Bay
Sept. 9 at Alonso
Sept. 16 Spoto
Sept. 23 at Wharton
Sept. 30 at Wiregrass Ranch
Oct. 7 Gaither
Oct. 14 at Leto
Oct. 21 Plant
Oct. 28 Sickles
Nov. 4 Plant CIty
FREEDOM VOLLEYBALL
August 23 at Bloomingdale
August 25 at Robinson
August 29 at Alonso
Sept. 1 Gaither
Sept. 7 Durant
Sept. 13 Plant
Sept. 15 Steinbrenner
Sept. 22 at Wharton
Sept. 29 Wiregrass Ranch
Oct. 5 at Sickles
Oct. 6 Jefferson
Oct. 13 Hillsborough
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