ON TARGET

Wharton High is home to two of riflery’s sharpest shooters, and both have Olympic aspirations.

When Matt Sanchez signed his college athletic scholarship papers with West Virginia University on Nov. 14, it didn’t make the nightly sports news, but it was a big deal.

It was as big as a high school football player signing a college scholarship to compete at Alabama or Ohio State. Or a basketball player signing with Kentucky or Duke.

It was history.

Sanchez and his Wharton teammate, Ben Salas, who signed with North Carolina State University in Raleigh, are believed to be the first high school kids in Tampa Bay to sign scholarships for rifle, a varsity college and Olympic sport.

While Salas is going to join a young, growing riflery program, Sanchez will be joining arguably the best shooting school in the country.

The Mountaineers have won 19 NCAA national team championships, producing 25 individual NCAA championships, 65 All-Americans and 13 Olympians.

Sanchez hopes to No. 14.

Sanchez has already made a name for himself in the world of Olympic-style shooting.

At just 17 years old, the Heritage Isles resident has spent the last year traveling the world to compete in World Cups and World Championship competitions as a member of the USA Shooting national team. Because of his age, Sanchez currently is part of the junior national team.

“Most recently, I competed in September in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the World Cup,” says Sanchez, “and I’ve also been to Germany and Austria four times each, and Switzerland, Korea and China.”

Sanchez participates in two types of competitions. One is smallbore, which is shooting a .22 caliber rifle in three positions — standing, kneeling and prone. 

The other is shooting an air rifle, which is a type of pellet gun, taking 60 shots while standing.

Jayme Shipley, who represented the U.S. in the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympic games, placing sixth in the 2000 Olympics in the women’s air rifle competition, is Sanchez’s coach. A resident of Naples, she coaches a handful of high school aged precision shooters throughout the state, and Sanchez is one of her best students.

In the smallbore event, he participated in the first round of Olympic Trials in October, where he finished in 11th place. However, a second round of competition will be held next spring “to make sure they don’t get someone who just has one good day,” Shipley says.

Only two men will make it onto the Olympic team in each event, but Shipley says Sanchez is currently in contention, and his chances are probably better to make the team in the air rifle event, where he often shoots scores that rank well among not just his teammates on the juniors, but also among the adult men.

Those trials begin December 6 at the Olympic Training Center in  Colorado Springs, CO, with a second portion of competition happening in February.

Shooting has been an event in the Olympics since the first modern games in 1896. In fact, the first medal given out at every Olympics is in shooting.

“When I first started working with Matt almost 5 years ago, we looked at the 2024 Olympics as a goal,” says Shipley. “But, he’s excelled so fast that he has a really good chance with this one.”

* * *

Incredibly, when Sanchez attends the Olympic Trials for air rifle, he won’t be the only Wharton High senior to compete.

Salas, a 17-year-old Live Oak Preserve resident, will compete as well.

While Salas hasn’t made the national team and didn’t compete in the Olympic trials for smallbore, he also trains with Shipley and also has his eyes on an Olympic prize someday.

Salas has only been shooting precision rifle since last October, but has progressed quickly enough to earn the opportunity to compete in the Olympic trials for air rifle. 

Ben Salas (left) and Matt Sanchez

A relative newcomer, Salas’ growth as a shooter has been accelerated in part due to working alongside Sanchez, a veteran of the sport.

Sanchez began shooting with his dad when he was only 10 years old. The family lived in Orlando and went to a rifle club on weekends, just for fun. Sanchez entered a few competitions at the club, noticing that others showed up in some “weird” gear. He says he started to realize there were things he could improve on and excel at, so he started getting his own gear and working on his technique.

“I started to win little competitions, which led to state championships,” he says. “Being able to win stuff really piqued my interest.”

At 13, Sanchez began to take the sport seriously. In 2017, his dad’s job change brought him to Wharton for the beginning of his sophomore year.

“When I got here, I saw they had a rifle team in NJROTC,” says Sanchez, referring to the high school’s Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program. “It gave me more time to shoot during school and made things a lot easier, training-wise.”

His presence has transformed the school’s program.

“Matt has been a mentor to our whole team,” says Chief Wayne Boknevitz, a Naval sciences instructor who also coaches the school’s rifle teams. “He got our whole precision team up and running and has elevated the entire marksmanship team.”

Boknevitz says the school previously had “sporter” level rifle teams, but not “precision” level. Sanchez worked with Boknevitz to get a team together, recruiting other students to invest in the expensive gear, while Boknevitz borrowed guns from another school.

“Matt took time from his own practice to help everyone else with form and micro-adjustments to the guns,” explains Boknevitz. “The knowledge he shared allowed us to go to Navy nationals last year.”

* * *

Unlike Sanchez, Salas was first an NJROTC cadet, interested in pursuing a military career. He joined the school’s rifle team for fun. On the sporter team, Salas set a school record, and Boknevitz encouraged him to join the school’s new precision team.

At first Salas was reluctant – he says his parents weren’t sure they wanted to spend the money on gear – but Sanchez encouraged him, explaining that precision shooting is a sport that can actually lead to a scholarship at a university. Salas says at that point, his parents were in.

“I was hoping to get into a Division II school, but my personal records kept going up very fast in a very short period of time,” says Salas.

He says it was earlier this year when he saw how well he was placing around peers who have been shooting much longer than him and wanted to take it a step further.

“I realized I could probably make the Olympics if I practice hard enough,” he says. “I’m really shooting for 2024.”

Salas is happy to give a lot of the credit to Sanchez.

“Before he came to our school there was no precision team, so if he had gone to another school, I would have stayed on the sporter team and all of this never would have happened,” Salas says. 

For the past year, the pair have trained together before and after school at Wharton using paper targets, and at home using highly sensitive Olympic-style electronic targets. 

They travel once or twice a month to a specialized range – of which there are very few in the state and none locally – typically going to one in south Hollywood in South Florida, where they spend seven or eight hours a day practicing their sport with Shipley.

“The two of them together are great friends and they are great training partners,” says Shipley. “They push each other. Plus, they’re both a joy to be around, just the funniest kids ever.”

* * *

While their eyes may be temporarily set on the Olympic prize as the Trials draw near, both boys say their more immediate goal has been getting a prized college scholarship.

“Most guys who make the (Olympic) team are in their 20s and some top shooters are in their mid-30s, so you can do it for a long time and have a long career,” explains Shipley. “When they’re so young, my goal as a coach is to get them into school with a scholarship, because school is expensive, and the sport is expensive.”

Both Wildcats hit the bullseye when it came to receiving scholarships.

Sanchez can play a hand in restoring WVU to the top of the college ranks. The Mountaineers 19 titles is No. 1 all-time, but they haven’t won one since capturing their fifth straight title 2017.

Salas will follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, who played football at NC State. He will be a big part of getting the Wolfpack on the college rifle map.

“At first, the program was just a club,” Ben says. “But, they just got a new coach and she’s really stepping up and making the program bigger and proving that NC State is a good shooting school. I’m really happy to go there and help them.”

There are only 30 universities that give scholarships in shooting, but none in Florida, although Shipley says USF used to have one of the best shooting teams in the country, with three Olympians.

Boknevitz says that to his knowledge, it’s the first time in Hillsborough County that any student has been signed to an NCAA shooting team and participated in signing day, taking pride that Wharton had not one, but two, students sign.

One way or another, both Wildcats have bright futures.

“I’m really excited for the Olympic trials, because I’ve seen what scores I can put up if I shoot my best,” Salas says. “But I’m more excited for college because I know that’s a guarantee.”

Tim Light Named Cypress Creek Middle School’s First Principal

New principal Tim Light will be in charge of the state-of-the-art Cypress Creek Middle School campus when it opens on Old Pasco Rd. next August. (Photo: @CypressMiddle) ï»ż

Cypress Creek Middle School has its first principal, and he is a familiar face to many of the students who will help him open the school next fall.

Tim Light was most recently an assistant principal at the combined Cypress Creek Middle High School. His office will continue to be on that campus.

Light’s appointment was approved at the Pasco School Board meeting on Oct. 1 and became official on Oct. 2. 

Tim Light

“I was here when the school opened and am really thrilled to have the opportunity to take what we started here and branch into another building,” says Light.

Light has been an assistant principal with the Pasco County School District since January 2011, serving for many years with principal Carin Hetzler-Nettles at both Cypress Creek and Wesley Chapel High. Prior to that, he taught in both Pasco and Broward counties. He holds an Educational Specialist (Ed.S.) degree in Curriculum Instruction Management and Administration, a Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Educational Leadership, and a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Secondary Education Social Studies.

“I think it’s amazing,” says Hetzler-Nettles of Light’s new job. “He helped me open this school. He really took part in the creation and building a foundation of Cypress Creek. In my mind, it’s truly a perfect fit.”

While she’s excited for the school’s growth, Hetzler-Nettles says she’ll miss the students, faculty and staff who are moving to the middle school adjacent to the high school campus.

“It’s bittersweet,” she says. “It’s like losing an appendage. I really do feel that way.”

The combined school currently has nearly 1,000 middle school students and 1,250 high school students. Rezoning to ease crowding at other local schools (see story on pg. 6) is expected to add about 600 students at each school. When the middle school opens in fall 2020, it should have somewhere around 1,600 students.

Light says the combined school’s assistant principals who are designated as middle school assistants will make the move with him, along with about 45 or so teachers.

“I’m ecstatic to have this opportunity,” says Light, “continuing what we started here and taking it to another level over there, where we can focus solely on middle school.”

The middle school campus is being built to host a fine arts program with a black box theatre. Students who enroll in the fine arts program at the middle school are expected to have a seamless transition into the fine arts program at Cypress Creek High, including the opportunity to take dual enrollment performance classes through Pasco Hernando State College, which is building its Instructional Performing Arts Center (IPAC) on a nearby piece of property that is adjacent to both the middle and high school.

Light says another exciting feature of the middle school allows students to take industry certification courses. For example, students in the digital media and multimedia academy will learn Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign and, at the completion of eighth grade, will take the tests that will allow them to be certified in these programs.

“Adults pay hundreds of dollars for these certifications,” says Light, “but these kids take them for free as a 14-year-olds.”

He says the new campus will feel very much like an extension of the high school campus. The colors and mascot of Cypress Creek Middle High will be used at both the middle and high schools next year.

The transition should be seamless for Light as well, despite the fact that the last time he held a middle school job title was back in Broward County in 2007.

“Even though my job (history) has been as a high school assistant principal,” says Light, “having a combined campus, we never looked at our staff and kids as two different levels. They are all our kids.”

District officials are confident in Light’s abilities, too. 

“He is a proven leader in the area with his past experiences at Wesley Chapel High School (as assistant principal) and Wiregrass Ranch High School, as teacher, coach and leader,” says Marcy Hetzler-Nettles, assistant superintendent for middle schools.

“The vision he laid out for the future of the middle school was crystal clear, with multiple strategies to engage and ensure student success,” she continues. “Mr. Light’s enthusiasm and actions embody and elevate all aspects of our district vision and mission to prepare students for success in college, career and life.”

Less Contentious Debate Over New School Zones

Chris Williams wasn’t quite sure what to expect on Oct. 7 at the public workshop for Pasco County’s new school boundaries expected to go into effect for the 2020-21 school year.

The director of planning services for the Pasco County School Board said that in the three weeks prior to the meeting, there had surprisingly been only 35 online inquiries about the new boundaries, so he wondered if parents were waiting to address their concerns in person.

Would the same large crowds from the contentious, lawsuit-laden 2016 rezoning meetings come streaming through the doors of the Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) gymnasium? Would an angry mob be on hand to confront county planners who were there to answer questions? Would they be carrying pitchforks?

The answers? No, no and no.

It was, in fact, a surprisingly muted showing of roughly 50 parents over three hours, the energy muzzled by the emptiness of the high school’s large gymnasium.

“Based on some feedback, I expected more,” Williams said. “But, I didn’t expect this.”

There were 12 tables set up, with District staff manning many of them to answer questions about the new school zones, which will have the greatest effect on students living in Seven Oaks. 

While current WRH juniors and John Long Middle School seventh graders will be allowed to stay next year to finish at the schools where they started, most everyone else in Seven Oaks is headed to Cypress Creek High and Cypress Creek Middle, if the boundaries are approved, as expected.

When Mica and David Rice decided to relocate from Orange County in New York to Tampa Bay, they say that the right school for their son, an incoming freshman, played the biggest role.

In the summer of 2018, after strongly considering Steinbrenner High in Lutz, the Rices made what they thought was the right decision — they chose WRH, and bought a home in Seven Oaks.

Two weeks after closing on their new home, Mica found out her son’s stay at WRH was likely to be a short one, as the Seven Oaks community would in the crosshairs of rezoning in 2019.

“I saw it on Facebook, and I was shocked,” Mica says. “We did a year’s worth of research before deciding to move here, and did not know.”

The Rices were clearly disappointed that their son will not only have to attend a new school, but one further away from home. Mika says her 7-minute ride to school will now be a 20-minute ride.

“We don’t want to leave (Wiregrass Ranch),” she says.

 However, there is little choice. Most of the parents who visited the public workshop seemed disappointed but resigned to the fact their children — whether at WRH or Long — would be attending Cypress Creek High and/or the new Cypress Creek Middle School, which is currently under construction, next year.

“I’m getting pushback, but not a lot of it,” Williams said. “The impression is that certainly people are not happy, but they are kind of resigned to the fact. Most knew this day was coming.”

To drive that point home, Williams came armed with a newspaper article from 2016, where Pasco School Superintendent Kurt Browning specifically told the Seven Oaks community that while they were spared in the 2016 rezoning, they likely would be moving the next time around.

Cypress Creek High principal Caryn Hetzler-Nettle and new Cypress Creek Middle School principal Timothy Light (see story, pg. 30) had a table at the public forum with the hopes of assuaging any of the concerns of parents whose kids would be attending their schools next year.

Hetzler-Nettles said the process — which eliminated committees arguing over where to draw the boundaries and let the county planners handle it this time around — also seemed to do away with most of the tension from the 2016 process. 

Also, the fear of the unknown has been eliminated. In 2016, students were rezoned for schools that didn’t yet exist.

“It’s night and day,” Hetzler-Nettles said. “Now that we’re established and have a brand and a vibe out there, it’s been much easier.”

According to 2018-19 data, Wiregrass Ranch High was at 136 percent of its capacity. 

By shrinking the zone and reassigning students who live in Seven Oaks, roughly 27 percent of the student body (or 600 or so students) will head off to Cypress Creek High, which today is at only 50 percent of its capacity of 2,090 students.

Long was at 116 percent of its capacity in 2018-19, but with nearly 450 students being rezoned for Cypress Creek Middle School, it could be at 90 percent next school year. 

Williams said county-wide, Pasco is only at 90-percent capacity in all of its schools, but Wesley Chapel’s schools are continuously over capacity, due to the burgeoning development. 

While rezoning Seven Oaks helped Williams meet his directive, he said the county also considered including Northwood in the rezoning, but instead chose to make some minor adjustments elsewhere.

Most of the concerns Williams heard at the public forum revolved around students being able to finish at the same school at which they had started, transportation and what to do about siblings.

Williams explained that siblings of any graduating seniors will have to attend their new school, but any students currently attending Wiregrass Ranch (or Long, since it’s considered the same campus) who are siblings of a junior can likely stay but will have to apply for choice.

However, once those WRH juniors graduate in 2021, their younger siblings will have to attend the school for which they are zoned.

Also, students in any academies only offered at Wiregrass Ranch (medical, hospitality) have to apply for choice but should get to stay. Those in the business academy, however, will have to go to Cypress Creek if zoned for it, because Cypress Creek also has a business academy.

The last opportunity for the public to have its say come son Tuesday, November 5, when the School Board will host a public hearing on the proposed boundaries. The final vote is scheduled for Tuesday, November 19.

Proposed Boundaries Offer Big Changes

The Seven Oaks community escaped being rezoned for different middle and high schools in 2016, but it doesn’t appear it will do so this time around.

Pasco County Schools staff is recommending that the entirety of Seven Oaks be rezoned to attend the new Cypress Creek Middle School, as well Cypress Creek High School, according to new school year 2020-21 maps posted on its website.

Wiregrass Ranch High will host a public workshop in its gymnasium on Monday, October 7, 5 p.m.-8 p.m., where the new maps will be displayed. District staff will be on hand to answer questions.

Almost every student living in Seven Oaks is currently zoned for John Long Middle School and Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH).

The rezoning is expected to help ease school overcrowding. JLM was at 110-percent capacity of its in 2018-19, but will have 400 fewer students with the new boundary, according to projections posted by the District staff, putting it at 80.5 percent capacity for 2020-21.

WRH was at 122.7-percent of its capacity in 2018-19, and will have roughly 540 fewer students with the new boundary, or 89.7 capacity.

Cypress Creek Middle and High schools also will have its boundaries extended north and draw students formerly zoned for Pasco Middle School and Pasco High in Dade City.

The new boundaries (above) also will be a change for students living in the Terrace Park, Timber Lake Estates and New River Ranchettes areas located just west of Morris Bridge Rd., between S.R.s 54 and south of 56, with roughly 100 or so students headed to Zephyrhills High School.

Quail Hollow Elementary’s boundary (above) is proposed to be extended north to the San Antonio area.

To view the new maps and the data, visit pasco.k12.fl.us/planning/page/rezoning. There also is an online form to file public comments.

Browning Hoping For Smoother Rezoning Process This Fall

Chris Williams (standing) looks over maps during a School Boundary Committee meetings in 2016 at Wesley Chapel High. There will be no such committees in 2019; Williams and his staff are in the process of drawing up new boundaries and will answer questions and concerns on Oct. 7 at Wiregrass Ranch High.

With Cypress Creek Middle School scheduled to open separately from the existing high school in August of 2020, Pasco County is about to tackle the difficult job of drawing new school attendance boundaries again. But, Pasco Schools superintendent Kurt Browning has his fingers crossed that things won’t be nearly as tough as they were in 2016.

They couldn’t be worse, right?

In Wesley Chapel, the process was contentious and exhausting, as families argued over various options and how best to alleviate the overcrowding at the area’s existing schools while filling the classrooms at Cypress Creek Middle/High, which was opening the following year.

On the west side of the county, it was even worse, as the boundaries for Mitchell and Anclote high schools ended up in court.

Browning says this time around, things will be different.

In 2016, a School Boundary Committee (SBC) made up of parents, district staff and school administrators was formed to help define the new boundaries. But this fall, the plans will be the sole responsibility of the District staff. “I’ve done away with that committee, and now it’s a District-driven process,” Browning says.

Gone are the community workshops from the last rezoning, which resulted in a packed gymnasium, or two, of angry parents. Instead, Browning says Chapter 120 of the Florida Statutes will be followed. 

“The irony is that under Chapter 120, there are no opportunities early on for community involvement in this process,” Browning says. “We got dinged because we were not following Chapter 120, so what we did is we said ‘Fine, we’ll follow Chapter 120.’”

That process is more “sterile,” Browning says.

District staff, led by planning director Chris Williams, will come up with a new map of boundaries for high schools and middle schools, with data to support those maps.

Chapter 120 does still allow for public comment, however. And, on Monday, October 7, 5 p.m.-8 p.m., in the Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) gymnasium, area residents will have the opportunity to view the maps and ask questions of District staff. They also will be allowed to offer opinions, either at the meeting or online.

Browning says his staff will read every question and comment. Some could lead to changes or adjustments, and once finalized, there will be a public hearing before the Pasco School Board on Tuesday, November 5.

That will be the last time the public will have an opportunity to voice any opinions or concerns, as on Tuesday, November 19, the School Board will make its final decision.

A Little Contentious History

 In 2016, the SBC’s recommendation of Option 20, which rezoned the bulk of the students living in Seven Oaks to Cypress Creek, was rejected by Browning, setting off a long dispute.

As a result of Seven Oaks being spared back then, however, Browning says it is likely that the new maps, which will soon be revealed, will rezone much of Seven Oaks.

Kurt Browning

“I said last time there will come a day, sooner than later, that Seven Oaks will have to be looked at, and now is that time,” Browning says. “We have to look to get those numbers down at John Long Middle School and Wiregrass Ranch High, and the most logical place to do that is Seven Oaks.”

While the idea of sending their kids to different schools further away ruffled feathers last time, Browning doesn’t see the same discord this time around.

“I don’t think it will be as contentious as (2016),” he says. “You know, they were going into an unknown and even the students who got rezoned were going to a brand new high school that was coming up out of the ground,” Browning said. “There wasn’t any track record. Now we have two years under our belt at Cypress Creek Middle High and they’re doing wonderfully well. It’s a great administration, great kids, great teachers and the academics are solid. I think it will be easier from that perspective.”

Even after redrawing the boundaries to relieve overcrowding, it is likely that some schools will remain at or above capacity. Browning says the county doesn’t have enough money to build schools fast enough to accommodate the growth in Wesley Chapel.

Based on enrollment numbers that average the first 20 days of the current school year, 11 of the 14 Wesley Chapel schools are already over capacity.

“Even when we rezone kids out of Wiregrass Ranch and John Long Middle with this rezoning, those schools are still going to be at, or near, capacity,” he says.

 This year, Wiregrass Ranch High is at 139 percent of capacity, and John Long Middle School is at 119 percent.

Cypress Creek Middle High currently has 2,100 students, but nearly half of those will be moving to the new 1,600-seat middle school. 

The middle school will then be able to absorb roughly 600 additional students without exceeding capacity. And, according to Browning, Cypress Creek High, which has a capacity of 2,090 students, will be able to take 800 new students from other high schools and those graduating from local middle schools and still remain at or under capacity.

More help could be on the way, too. A new magnet high school is on the horizon for 2022 at the corner of Keifer Rd. and Curley Rd. north of WaterGrasss, which Browning says will draw students from Pasco, Zephyrhills, Wesley Chapel and Wiregrass Ranch high schools.

Until then, while the new middle school will provide some relief, overcrowding will continue to be a way of life in this bustling area.