For years, whatever it was that was ailing Courtney Krysa befuddled doctors.
Fatigue and horrible joint pain had transformed her life into a difficult struggle. Even when she was able to play soccer for Freedom High, Courtney would sometimes pass out. She developed a heart arrhythmia, several neurological deficits and debilitating arthritis.
That finally led to a definitive diagnosis — Courtney had Advanced Neurological Lyme disease, likely the result of a tick bite she was treated for in 2008.
Although she wasn’t diagnosed with Lyme disease at the time of the bite — never developing the bulls-eye rash that is often the first symptom of the disease — she has suffered with the consequences and a series of setbacks ever since.
While there is no actual cure for the disease, and very few effective treatments, after years of searching, Katie Krysa thinks…hopes…she has found the answer.
But mostly, for the first time in a while, Katie says she has found hope.
On Saturday, June 23, at noon, at the Hunter’s Green Country Club Sports Club, friends of Katie will host “A Twist of Lyme” tennis social to raise money for Courtney’s continued treatment.
Katie, a Tampa Palms resident who plays league tennis with teams based out of West Meadows, is not surprised the New Tampa tennis community is stepping forward to help cover the costs of Courtney’s treatments. Katie says she already has exhausted her bank account by spending $20,000 for six weeks of the treatment; another 18-24 weeks is likely needed.
“I’ve relied on many of my tennis friends during this entire process,” she says. “They have been so great.”
A minimum $30 donation is requested to be part of the social, which also will have silent auctions and raffles.
The first 50 people to sign up will receive a tennis towel, and everyone who plays gets lunch, two margaritas and an afternoon of tennis and music, provided by D.J. Robby Rob.
Once a vibrant, energetic teenager, her mother says Lyme disease has ravaged Courtney’s body, penetrating her nervous system and damaging her kidneys. Courtney missed most of her senior year at Freedom, and couldn’t attend graduation ceremonies.
Katie says she has spent over $100,000 visiting clinics in Cleveland and Nashville, as well as visiting dozens of specialists, with every potential solution, most of them not covered by insurance, leading to a dead end.
Ready to give up, Katie says she discovered David Minkoff, M.D., an alternative medicine specialist, at the LifeWorks Wellness Center in Clearwater.
LifeWorks specializes in treating chronic illnesses, and Katie says she has been encouraged by the early results.
Courtney, who has spent much of the past few years bed-ridden and in a wheelchair, can today walk 25 feet without assistance, and has displayed cognitive improvements.
“I didn’t know where to go anymore before I found this treatment,” Katie says. “I didn’t have a lot of hope. I just thought I was going to have to watch her slowly get worse.”
After years of disappointment, Katie is optimistic her last hope can help restore to Courtney some of the quality of life she once enjoyed.
To read more about Courtney’s story and register for the A Twist of Lyme tennis social, visit HopeRisingInc.org. The HGCC Sports Club is located at 18050 Hunter’s Oak Ct.
Spring football wrapped up for the area’s high schools two weeks ago, bringing an official end to the 2017-18 sports season for Wiregrass Ranch, Wesley Chapel and first-year Cypress Creek Middle High.
Here’s how the teams fared:
Wiregrass Ranch (WRH)
The Bulls were the only area team to come out with a win in their spring game, as rising senior Grant Sessums threw for three touchdowns and rising junior Dylan Ridolph had a sack and a fumble recovery in a 36-17 victory over Tampa Catholic.
3 Things About Their Spring Big Boys Come Up Big: Head coach Mark Kantor is excited about how his offensive line is developing. He sees them as being an essential element if his Bulls are going to advance to the playoffs for the third-straight year.
That starting group — Josh Hood (G), Daniel Thompson (G), Barit Dhungana (C), Robert Gibb (T), and Connor Lenczden (T) — had a great spring.
Photo courtesy of PascoCountyFB.com.
“The offensive line played fantastic on Friday (against TC),” Kantor said. “They are young, but we’re excited to see how they are going to develop over the summer.”
Lenczden is a towering figure, standing 6’-5” tall and weighing in at 285 pounds. Gibb, a rising junior tackle on the opposite side, isn’t a huge guy (220 pounds) but stands 6’-2”, making for a couple of good-sized bookends.
Sessums Ready For Primetime: He will be entering his senior season with 21 games and nearly 250 passes thrown under his belt. Last year, he threw for 1,483 yards and eight touchdowns, and after throwing for three touchdowns against a very good Tampa Catholic team, the thinking is this will be a marquee year for S
essums.
“Sessums is a seasoned veteran now,” Kantor said. “We’re excited for him and for what is surrounding him.”
New Names, Not No-Names: Kantor is pretty excited what’s surrounding Sessums, and his enthusiasm isn’t lessened at all by all the talent lost from last year’s roster, like Penn State signee Jordan Miner.
Cypress Creek transfer Keith Walker has explosive speed and versatility, rising junior wide receiver/defensive back Julian Gonzalez played sparingly as a sophomore but scored on a long touchdown reception in the spring game and ran down a Tampa Catholic wide receiver on what looked like a sure touchdown. In the backfield, running backs Mason Buie and Jamar Hicks throw a nice 1-2 punch.
“We’re fortunate to have a lot of multi-dimensional kids,” Kantor said. “We can put them in different places, and it gives us an advantage.”
The Bulls host Clearwater Central Catholic on Aug. 17 in their preseason classic.
Wesley Chapel (WCH)
The Wildcats, coming off a two-year revival, were unimpressive in their spring game loss to visiting Mitchell High. After falling behind 9-0 at the half, they still could not quite muster a scoring drive in the second half before falling 15-0.
3 Things About Their Spring Making The Grade:The Wildcats lost starting running backs Dexter Leverett and Malik Melvin to graduation, and didn’t have anyone to play running back in the spring. Head coach Tony Egan and company are hoping that rising senior Kris Chandler breaks through to meet grade eligibility requirements for the fall.
Chandler came to the Wildcats as a freshman transfer from New Tampa’s Wharton High. He impressed coaches in practice his sophomore and junior years, but could not get his grades up to speed before this spring.
“He’s probably going to be a two-way starter for us,” Egan said. “He’s a strong, fast, heck of a running back and he might be our best player on defense.”
Rising sophomore Zion Flavien will most likely be the starting quarterback for the Wildcats this fall. Flavien started every game on JV last season, and is 6’-2”, 225. He is eligible, but his parents have held him out of spring football so he can focus on his academics. Tyler Wittish, who played quarterback in the spring game, and Cornez McCrary also are options.
All In The Family:Wittish will make an impact. His older brother Austen, led the county in tackles last season. Tyler has gone through an interesting transition. He was a chunky 230 lbs. as a sophomore offensive lineman. In 2017, his junior year, he slimmed down to 190 and played receiver and quarterback.
This season, he’s back up around 230, but a muscular 230. He benches 300 and squats 450. Egan likes him at defensive end and tight end, but with Wittish’s cross-training, he’s able to play virtually any position.
Blockade: This is the biggest question mark for the Wildcats for the 2018 season. Three of the Wildcats’ guards quit or were kicked off the team leading up to the spring game. In fact, WCH only dressed five offensive lineman for that game. Egan said that his team actually ran a play in the second half with just four on the O-line.
“It ended up being one of our biggest gains of the night,” Egan said. “One of our five guys got injured and the refs should have flagged it, but somehow, we were able to get (the play) off.”
The Wildcats will have rising seniors Seth Petty and Joey DiMarco, but Egan would prefer to use them both full time at defensive tackle.
The Wildcats travel to Land O’ Lakes on August 17 for their pre season classic.
Cypress Creek (CCMH)
The Coyotes were beaten 48-7 by Zephyrhills Christian Academy (ZCA) in their spring game. However, they were missing one of their best all-around players in Jalen Warren, who had a cast for a broken finger removed the day after the spring game. The Coyotes fared much better in the second half against ZCA after falling behind 40-0 in the first, getting two explosive plays from wide receivers Devin Santana and Tim Ford-Brown.
3 Things About Their Spring QB, Or Not QB: Jalen’s brother, rising junior Jelani Warren, took most of the snaps at QB last season, but head coach Mike Johnson is open to moving him to another skill position to take advantage of his speed and athleticism.
The taller frame of rising senior Trevor Maxwell would make a good substitute at QB. Maxwell played sparingly under center last season, but played the entire second half of the spring game.
“Maxwell only had two weeks of spring practice while playing baseball, but he picked things up quickly,” Thompson said. “With Jelani, it’s two different dynamics at QB. It will be a fun competition over the summer during the 7-on-7 games.”
Black Magic: Rising senior Devin Santana might just be the biggest threat on the offensive side of the football for the Coyotes. He led the team with 10 catches and 134 yards last season, and has the size, speed and hands every coach dreams of at the high school level. Santana had a sparkling play in the spring game against ZCA, scooping up a ball thrown at his feet on a five-yard slant and then turning it upfield for an 80-yard touchdown. If the Coyotes can figure out a way to get the ball in his hands, look out.
You Got Players: When Johnson started the program a year ago, he had a grand total of three players. Obviously, this past spring game was the program’s first, as 36 players dressed against ZCA.
“I’m extremely proud,” Johnson said. “We had 20 days to get the guys ready (for ZCA) and we showed flashes of what we can accomplish.” The Coyotes are still in search of an opponent for the preseason.
Ian Flores led Wiregrass Ranch High with 20 assists last season.
Certainly it was Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) senior Ian Flores’ prowess on the soccer pitch that made him such a highly sought-after recruit, but his character and knack for web design and self-promotion helped make him the most recruited soccer player to come out of the school…ever.
“Ian is the most highly recruited soccer player that has ever played at Wiregrass Ranch,” athletic director and head boys soccer coach David Wilson says. “We have had 14 players accept offers from colleges in the past five years, and all of them combined had fewer offers than Ian.”
In late March, he signed with Division III Oglethorpe University in Atlanta.
Flores’ resume is impressive.
He led the Bulls with 20 assists his senior year, which was second in all of Florida’s Class 5A. He was nominated to the All-State team both his junior and senior years, becoming the first Wiregrass athlete in 11 years to be nominated as a junior.
He was nominated as an All-American four times, and for the first team All-Conference by the Florida Coaches Association twice.
Flores was invited and tried out for the professional Major League Soccer club DC United, and also has participated in the U.S. Olympic Development Program (ODP). He had 20 scholarship offers and has been in talks with 60 different colleges over the course of his high school career.
Flores says he picked up some invaluable techniques working with DC United and the ODP.
“The competition level there is way high,” Flores says. “You learn a lot of small details like not just making passes but where to make a pass, like passing to the correct foot so the other person can make a better touch.”
Already drawing attention with his athletic exploits, Flores, after his sophomore year, took his recruiting endeavors to the world wide web. During the summer of 2016, he launched his recruiting website, IanFlores.com. He got some help putting it together from his proud father, Carlos, who owns and operates an online full-service creative agency called Milorian Studios, but Ian has since taken over control.
“He (dad) still helps with issues like posting videos from different platforms,” Flores says. “But I do all of the editing, creating content and posting articles that come out.”
The website is impressive. It has links to highlight videos he’s edited and stories written about him in different media outlets. He even publishes his own blog.
“It’s a first-class website,” says Eric Sims, who has coached Flores on the club team he plays for, Tampa Bay United. “Ian also has first-class communication with coaches. He does everything the right way and gives things all he’s got. It’s really opened doors for him.”
To top it all off, Flores is a consummate team player.
“You can play with teammates that are not necessarily your friends but when your teammates are your friends, there’s a big difference,” he says.
Flores says that was mentality was a big factor in choosing Oglethorpe over schools like Rutgers and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Flores felt welcomed and accepted not just by the coaching staff at Oglethorpe, but even more so by the players.
“I got a great vibe from the other players and from students at the school,” he says. “I felt like these people really wanted me to excel in what I do.”
Flores also picked Oglethorpe because of its proximity to one of the largest metropolitan areas in the southeastern U.S.
He plans to major in business and Atlanta seemed like a great place to start.
“Ian is an outstanding human being and a great kid,” Sims says. “He has set himself up for success, regardless of what he ends up choosing to do, because he’s such a well-rounded individual.”
When it comes to dynasties, the Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) boys tennis team has all the characteristics.
The Bulls rarely lose, collecting more than a dozen conference and district championships.
They make it to the State championships on a regular basis, including winning State titles in 2014 and 2015 and a runner-up finish last year.
The Bulls never rebuild; they simply seem to reload year after year.
“We’ve had a good run,’’ says coach and school athletic director Dave Wilson.
Good? Try great.
On the way to another District title this season, and a pair of Regional playoff wins over Lakeland and Strawberry Crest, the Bulls again ended their season in Orlando at the Class 4A State championships, falling in the quarterfinals to Olympia High.
And The Streak remained alive. Since losing a match to Land O’Lakes in 2010, the Bulls have now run off 125 consecutive regular season wins.
“It’s a good feeling, because you’re always playing for something,’’ says junior captain Destiny Okungbowa, who plays No. 1 and 2 singles for the Bulls. “But, the streak is always in the back of our minds. It’s like a chip on our shoulder because everyone is gunning to be the team to end that streak. So, it kind of keeps you focused and locked in on the moment.”
Kinishkh Ramesh (Photo: John C. Cotey)
Wilson does not stress keeping the streak alive to his team, but he doesn’t have to. Three of his current players — Okungbowa, sophomore Kinishkh Ramesh and Josh Abrams — all had brothers on the team who are more than willing to remind their younger siblings of the legacy.
“I’m competitive with my brothers,” says Destiny, the younger sibling of Courage, who played for a State title in 2012, and Foresight, who was on the 2014 and 2015 State champions and, Destiny says, “is always bragging about it. So yeah, I want to keep the streak.’’
In their season finale, the Bulls edged Tampa powerhouse Jesuit 4-3 (teams play five singles and two doubles lines in a match) at the Sports Club at Hunter’s Green Country Club. Ramesh and Okungbowa won at No. 1 and 2 singles, respectively, and teamed up at No. 1 doubles for a 7-5, 6-3 win. The fourth line was won by Abrams, who has never lost a high school singles match, with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 5.
Jesuit was missing its top player, or The Streak might now be over.
“I thought this year when we played Jesuit, they probably would have beat us if they brought everybody,” Wilson says. “In some ways, it would be nice to be done with it so we wouldn’t have to worry about it.”
Because he has to worry about it, though, Wilson must remember to bring enough of his better players to every match to ensure a win. Otherwise, he would be able to get additional playing time for some of his reserves.
“They all know we have the streak and they don’t want to be — and now, they are not going to be — the team that lost the streak,” Wilson says. “That’s why it’s a big deal to them, more than anything else.”
There may be no end in sight, either.
Ramesh, who was 14-0 in singles and 8-0 in doubles this year, and Okungbowa (14-1 and 11-0) are the two best players, and both return next season. Adam Mansour is a 6-foot-3 freshman who was 11-1 at line 3 singles, and is only getting better, and Abrams (16-0 at singles) is coming back as well.
“Based on what is coming back,’ says Wilson, “I expect us to make another run (at a State championship) next year.”
Top left: Flag football is not exactly no-contact, as Wharton’s Lauryn Thompson gets face-palmed after coming down with a catch. (Photos by Andy Warrener)
When Tina and Mike Roberts took over the Wharton High flag football team six years ago, they had just 22 girls try out, and very few fans attended their games.
“In years past, no one came to the games, not even the home games,” Mike Roberts says.
Fast forward to the 2018 preseason, and the Wildcats had 50 girls try out for this year’s team. Wharton maintains a 16-girl varsity squad and a 19-player JV team, and while currently unranked has spent most of the season ranked in the Class 2A Top 20 poll, according to FloridaHighSchoolFootball.com.
At last week’s game at Leto, the Wildcats showed off their firepower by throttling the Falcons 46-0. They also brought about two dozen fans along to stock the visitor stands, outnumbering those on the home side.
The victory improved Wharton’s record to 7-3 at the time, with the Class 2A District 7 playoffs looming. But getting out of districts is no easy task, as Plant showed Wharton two days after the Leto win.
Top Right: Wharton’s Parker Onderko leaps and makes the catch in the victory over Leto.
The Panthers, the defending Class 2A State champions, beat Wharton 26-0.
Currently ranked No. 3 in the state, Plant isn’t even ranked as the best team in the district — Alonso is ranked No. 1 in the state.
“If you can get through this district, you have a good chance to go far,” Mike Roberts said.
The Wildcats will need some upsets to get out of districts and into the State playoffs. Last year, they shocked Alonso in the District quarterfinals, before falling the following game to Plant in quadruple overtime.
The Roberts family has grown into coaching the sport of flag football. Tina says she came by it by pure accident. She was assigned the sport from the school administration seven years ago when it began. A year later, her husband Mike came on board. A year after that, their son Travis (23) also joined the coaching staff.
“Tina asked me to come on and help after an assistant left that first year and I fell in love with it,” Mike says.
Flag football runs the same way regular football’s 7-on-7 exercises do. Seven players line up in a passing formation. One defensive player is allowed to rush the quarterback and offenses can either pass or run with the ball. The offensive team must gain 20 yards to earn a first down.
There is no kicking in the game, so after each touchdown, the team has the option of running or passing for a one- or two-point conversion.
Girls flag football has grown from niche sport to one of the most popular offerings for female athletes. It only became an official Florida High School Athletic Association sport in 2003, but has more than doubled its participation numbers to more than 250 teams and 6,000 players competing since then.
“I loved just being a part of the team and having the opportunity to play and have fun,” says quarterback Marinique Reddin, one of the team’s top players.
Starting this school year, middle schools in Hillsborough County — including Benito, Turner-Bartels and Liberty — offer girls flag football. This is expected to help the high school game, which until now has basically had to rely on players competing in flag football for the first time. Tina says for years, most of her players had to be taught the game from scratch, which was a major disadvantage compared to other high school sports.
The Wharton High girls flag football team is 7-4 this season, and hopes to pull off a few upsets at the District tournament in a bid for the state playoffs.
“It’s going to make the sport that much better,” Mike Roberts says. “Next year, we’ll have eighth graders coming in that know the sport and you’ll see the payoffs.”
The Roberts’ dedication to the sport has helped build Wharton into one of the area’s better programs.
Reddin is tall and athletic and has the skill set to either pass the ball or tuck it and run, and scored four touchdowns in the win over Leto. Lauryn Thompson is another tall player with enough speed to score a touchdown any time she touches the football, which she did twice against Leto while adding an interception.
Both players are just juniors who have found their calling in the still relatively new sport.
“I love how competitive the game is and how the team has become so close, like one big family,” says Thompson. “If one of us needs help, we help each other out without downing each other. I look forward to practice every day.”
On defense, Ja’Nessa Ellis, Sade Seraaj and Mecca Bythewood had interceptions against Leto. Bythewood and Seraaj ran theirs back for touchdowns. Junior  Williams rushes the quarterback.
“It’s great to see what these girls can do with the football,” Mike Roberts said. “We put in plays and they execute them.” Look for updates at NTNeighborhoodNews.com.
For years, whatever it was that was ailing Courtney Krysa befuddled doctors.
