New Tampa tennis pro Allegra Campos wins national title

allegraHunter’s Green head tennis professional Allegra Campos was a two-time All-American at the University of Miami, and played professionally for a few seasons as well.

Helping win a United State Tennis Association (USTA) 40&over 4.5 adult league championship this past weekend at California’s Indian Wells Tennis Garden, however, will go down as one of her biggest career thrills.

Campos was one of the key players for Harbour Island — husband Jose, a former USF standout, is the head pro there — as it swept through the regular season, state sectionals and national championships with an unblemished record of 15-0, capping its run by defeating a team from Hawaii 3-2 in the final Sunday afternoon.

allegra2Campos, who earned her pro certification at Saddlebrook Resort and has been the head pro at Hunter’s Green since 2008, teamed up with Lisa Balsera to win 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 doubles in the final against Hawaii, earning a vital point. Teams compete against each other in two lines of singles and three lines of doubles, in a best-of-five line competition.

Campos also posted a three-set win with Balsera in the final match of flight play against a Northern California team, and Harbour Island also defeated teams from Illinois, Colorado and Mississippi (in the semifinals) at Indian Wells.

 

 

 

Pollo Tropical on the way?

PolloTropicalPasco County’s planning staff is scheduled to meet next week with project engineers looking into building a Pollo Tropical restaurant at the Cypress Creek Town Center Development of Regional Impact (DRI, across from the new Tampa Premium Outlets mall) at the Northeast corner of State Road 56 and Wesley Chapel Boulevard.

The permit pre-submittal meeting is scheduled for Nov. 2. “Right now, it is just conceptual,” said project engineer Zach Thornton.

The permit proposal is looking at a 3,600-square-foot restaurant and a drive-through lane”. A pre-application conference was already held Feb. 18 regarding the site plan but, according to the meeting request form, changes have been made since that meeting.

The Pollo Tropical chain was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Kendall in Miami-Dade County, and is best known for its flame-grilled chicken.  It has more than 180 locations and more than 3,000 employees mostly across the southern United States.

Wesley Chapel man killed in crash

fhp-150x1501Robert Michael Rudman, 33, of Wesley Chapel was killed early Friday morning  when his 2006 Honda Civic collided head-on with a semitrailer truck on SR-50 (Cortezx Blvd.) west of Richloam Clay Sink Road in Hernando County.

Rudman was traveling westbound shortly after midnight when, for unknown reasons, he crossed into the wrong lane and into the path of 50-year-old Jose Antonio Moux Rivera of Orlando. The two vehicles collided into each other, proving fatal for Rudman who died at the scene of the crash. Rivera suffered serious injuries and was transported to Dade City Hospital..

 

Still time to sign up for Making Strides Against Cancer 5K walk at Wiregrass Mall

StridesWEBOctober is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and, as always, there are several local events that help raise money that goes toward the research for a cure for the disease that has killed millions and has affected virtually everyone in some way. One of the biggest of these events across the nation each year is the American Cancer Society (ACS)’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” 5K walk, which will again be held locally on Saturday, October 24, at the Shops at Wiregrass mall.

“We are thrilled to be back at the Shops at Wiregrass,” says Making Strides spokesperson Cindi Crisci. “(The mall is) a wonderful partner. Our participants love this venue.”

Roughly 800 people on over 150 teams are already on board for the Wiregrass “Strides,” and has raised more than $51,000 for the cause from both individuals and companies, including “Clerks For A Cure,” the office of Pasco County comptroller and clerk of court Paula O’Neil (who is a survivor of breast cancer herself), Walmart, Florida Cancer Affiliates and the American Health Institute.

“It’s not too late to form a team and join us,” Crisci says, adding that the event once again will feature a “sponsor row,” with entertainment provided by Finest DeeJays. Ann Kelly from WDUV-FM (105.5) will be this year’s emcee and Cantina Laredo (also located in the Shops at Wiregrass) will be hosting the annual Survivor Breakfast. Crisci says that she is pleased to announce that the law firm of Kemp, Ruge and Green is the event’s Pink Premier Presenting Sponsor.

This year, local pink-bra-wearing participants will march a 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) course that will take them from the mall out to and around Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC) twice and back to the mall (there also is a 3K, or 1.8-mile course available). The Wiregrass event is just one of about 300 ‘Making Strides’ events that raise more than $60 million across the U.S. each year and last year, the event raised more than $195,000. Organizers hope to raise even more year.

To participate. visit MakingStrides.ACSevents.org and enter your zip code.

 

Great Weather, Fun At The 2015 Wesley Chapel Fall Festival!

FAllFestWEB1With amazing weather that featured an ongoing cool breeze and low humidity despite high temperatures all weekend, the seventh annual Wesley Chapel Fall Festival, sponsored by the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) may or may not have set its two-day attendance record, but it was still an amazing opportunity to check out some great entertainment (Wesley Chapel Nissan sponsored the main stage of entertainment, which featured outstanding performances by a number of local artists), enjoy some awesome activities for kids and even enjoy delicious fair-style food from a unique assortment of food trucks. There also were plenty of business and crafts vendors on hand, too.

FALLFESTWEB19A major highlight of the weekend was once again was the Little Miss & Mr. Pumpkin Patch Contest, which was again put on by the Wesley Chapel Noon Rotary Club & sponsored this year by Ierna’s Heating & Cooling. Although I was unable to attend the Festival on Saturday, I was on hand all day Sunday and was stunned to see how many dogs were adopted by the various pet (there were also cats available) adoption agencies the previous day. The word from WCCC CEO Hope Allen was that virtually all of the puppies that were brought out for adoption on Saturday went home with new owners.

“We had another great weekend of fun at the 2015 Fall Festival,” Allen said afterward. “We can’t wait until next year!”