Soccer Preview: New Coach, Keeper, Era For Wharton Girls

The 2018-19 Wharton Wildcats girls soccer team is facing some new challenges — long-time coach Dennis Vukorep, who won more than 100 games coaching the Wildcats, took a job with county powerhouse Newsome, while all-county keeper Caroline DeLisle, who set school records with 538 career saves and was 44-17 with 28 shutouts in her prep career, is now playing for the University of Central Florida in Orlando. The Wildcats’ top goal scorer from a year ago, Alisha Deschenes, also has graduated.

First-year head coach Jason Rohr takes over, and has some rebuilding to do. But, he also has some talent to work with.

Replacing DeLisle, who started 76 games the last four years, is a big hole that will be filled by Callisha Wrensford, a junior, and sophomore Paityn Arroyo, who played in five games last year, including a 4-2 win over King. Rohr is hoping what he calls “one of the best back lines in the region” will build a proverbial, and protective, wall around the new starting netminders.

Wharton’s last line of defense consists of sophomore Brooke Dekle on the left side, senior captain Callista Ferrin, who plays alongside senior Sierra Rohr at center back, and freshman Brooke Rohr splits time with newcomer Maude Castonguay on the right side.

“The center backs are the centerpieces of that back line,” Coach Rohr says.

Ferrin is 6-foot-1 and can venture into the offensive side to help on set pieces; she was first-team All-Western Conference last year. Sierra Rohr, a ball-hawking center back who’s not afraid to throw her body around, was a United Soccer Coaches High School All-American selection for Florida and second-team all-conference. What better way to protect your new keeper than to place two of your best players in front of her?

Brooke Rohr, Dekle and Castonguay have no problem covering both ends of the field and should coalesce as the season progresses. In a tough district with high-scoring teams, the Wharton defense is likely to face a tough test every night. How the D handles those tests could determine the fate of the Wildcats.

Wharton Girls
Head Coach: Jason Rohr
Last season: 15-4-1
Key Returners: Sierra Rohr (Sr., D), Ferrin (Sr., D), Sydney Hubbard (Sr., MF), Payton Jones (Jr., MF) and Vanessa Lopez (Jr., F).
Who’s New?: Maude Castonguay (Jr.), Haley Chambers (So., D), Brooke Dekle (So., D), Melanie Copeland (So., F), Izabella Avila (So., D).
Outlook: Hubbard is coming off of an all-conference season in which she scored 15 goals and had 15 assists, and is the Wildcats’ leader on offense. Jones and Lopez both had three goals in 2017-18, but should improve on those numbers. Avila, who had four goals and three assists as a freshman, already has two this season, as does Copeland. The Wildcats are 1-2, beating Berkeley Prep and losing to Newsome and Largo, though Newsome and Largo are a combined 10-1. The Wildcats will have to navigate a tough Class 5A, District 7 schedule, where favorite Palm Harbor University High made it to the State Class 5A final four and the six teams in the district were a combined 57-12-4 outside of 5A-7.

Freedom Girls
Head coach: Jennifer DeMik
Last season: 6-9
Key Returners: Grace Alexandro (Jr., GK),  Kelsey Skendziel (Sr., D), Bethany Green (Sr., D).
Who’s New?: A strong freshman class has landed at Freedom this season. There are nine freshmen on the team, and five of them start, including center-midfielder Camryn Bliss and striker Anna Gore.
Outlook: Alexandro makes the full-time transition to soccer this season, after splitting time between soccer and basketball in 2017-18. Skendziel and Green are the captains and anchor the back line for the Patriots. Freedom’s Class 4A, District 8 is not too deep, but getting around State runner-up Mitchell High is a tall order. With an experienced defense and some new firepower up top, it’s reasonable to think the Patriots, who beat King 4-1 and lost to Strawberry Crest 2-1 in the preseason, could sneak into the playoffs if they can overcome their 0-3 start “I was not expecting this incoming freshman class but I’m very excited about them,” Coach DeMik says. “I think this is the best team I’ve had since I’ve been here.”

Wharton Boys
Head coach: Scott Ware
Last season: 8-8-1
Key Returners: Andy Ilken (Sr., GK/F), Luke Rowe (Jr., D), Leo Silva SR., MF).
Who’s New?: After scoring only 17 goals in 17 games last season, the Wildcats are putting more emphasis on the attack this year. Newcomers Ore Deen and Roger Rodriguez add some much-needed speed on the outside.
Outlook: Ilken, Rowe and Silva are the team captains. Ilken, who also is the punter for the Wharton football team, is a four-year starter. Ware will try to maximize his talents as both a keeper and as a dangerous 6-foot-3 striker. Rowe is a three-year starter lining up at outside back and Silva, who scored a goal in a 2-1 preseason win over East Bay (with junior defender Zach Godbold assisting), holds down the center-mid position. Like the girls, Class 5A, District 7 is a tough district to navigate. Perennial powerhouses Wiregrass Ranch and Palm Harbor University High have won all of the 5A-7 District titles stretching back to 2015.

Freedom Boys
Head coach: KC van der Luit
Last season: 6-10-1
Key Returners: Caden McCoy (Sr., CB), Leo Batista (Jr., MF), Sungura Sadiki (So., F).
Who’s New?: Junior Matt Moore arrives to bolster the squad, but van der Luit has high hopes for senior Andres Ojeda, a seasoned club player and scorer playing high school soccer for the first time.
Outlook: McCoy moves back from the midfield because van der Luit wanted a bigger body to stop balls. Batista is the vocal leader of the team. Sadiki, a second-year player from Tanzania, will take on a much larger role up top this season. The Patriots have been a middle-of-the-road team for the last few years, going 59-84-11 since their State runner-up season in 2008-09. But, this could be the year that they break out, with the added punch up top. The Patriots toppled Strawberry Crest 6-1 in the preseason and are 1-0-1. Mitchell, just like on the girls’ side, is the team to beat in Class 4A, District 8, but that is where van der Luit has his sights set.

 

Freedom’s Gibson Cruising Through High School Competition

Freedom sophomore tennis standout Julianna Gibson has been playing the sport since she was five years old, and so far has been unbeatable during her high school career as the No. 1 player at Freedom High in Tampa Palms. (Photo: John C. Cotey)

Freedom High tennis player Julianna Gibson doesn’t race across the tennis court, she glides.

Her forehand and backhand aren’t harried, they are harmonious.

Her demeanor isn’t delirious, it is docile.

It all works together to make Gibson one of the top high school tennis players around.

Last year, as a freshman, she played line 1 (where typically the best players at each school line up) and went 14-0 in singles, winning District and Regional titles on her way to the State tournament.

She kicked off her sophomore season on Valentine’s Day by winning 8-0 against Gaither in singles, and teaming up with Zoe Rosen for another 8-0 win at doubles. She is 4-0 so far this season.

“I think it’s gone pretty smoothly,” Julianna says of her brief high school career. “A few of the matches were pretty competitive, but I have gotten through most of them pretty easily.”

Gibson has been playing tennis since she was 5. Her parents, Mike and Carri-Ann, say Julianna tried a number of sports, like soccer and volleyball and even earned a black belt in Tae Kwan Do.

“I coached her Little League softball team, and she was a really good hitter and threw really well,” Carri-Ann says. “I thought, “We might have a softball player here.’

But, Julianna gravitated to tennis. Carri-Ann and Mike remember Julianna running around and chasing balls to hit as a toddler while her parents played.

Despite having physical gifts — Julianna is 5-feet, 9-inches tall with a long reach — that lend themselves to almost any sport, none had the amount of action to keep his daughter’s attention like tennis, according to Mike.

“She took to tennis like a fish to water,” he says. “It was a sport she seemed she could really get into. I remember she said in tennis, the ball comes right back to you and you get another chance. It’s a constant engagement. You have to be constantly engaged when you’re playing tennis.”

As an only child, Julianna said she enjoys the individual aspect of playing singles. She started out in playing in the USTA’s Junior Team Tennis leagues, but most USTA junior tournaments focus on singles.

The competition can range from friendly to fierce. Many of the opponents Julianna has faced in her junior career are training 5-6 hours a day at expensive and prestigious academies away from their families.

The Gibsons prefer a more balanced approach. Julianna has hopes for playing in college, and does train with personal coaches, but she says her obsession for being a professional tennis star takes a back seat to enjoying her high school years.

And so far, she says she has been enjoying them.

“It’s nice playing on a team with other girls, and cheering them on,” Julianna says. “I like that part of it.”

Her height and long frame give Julianna an advantage over most opponents when it comes to serving and her forehand, her two strengths.

Still More To Accomplish

That helped catapult her to her unbeaten season last year, and the Patriots advanced to the Class 3A Regionals as the District runner-up.

Gibson won her singles match at Regionals against Largo, with her opponent remarking that she couldn’t believe Julianna was only a freshman.

At States, Julianna lost her first match 7-5, 6-2 to Fort Myers’ sophomore lefty Shani Idlette, still the only blemish on Julianna’s high school record.

“It was a lot more competitive there,” says Julianna, who says she was sick the week of the match. “I lost, but it was pretty competitive.”

Her main goal for this season is to make it back to States, but she doesn’t plan on going alone.

“I want the whole team to go,” says Julianna. “The one thing I thought when I was there last year was that this would be more fun as a team.”

Freedom Winter Sports Preview: Will The Wrestling Team Produce A State Champ?

The Freedom wrestling team rewrote the school record book last season, but may not be done making history, says coach Derrick McCoy. (Photo: Andy Warrener)

The most successful winter sports program at Freedom High in Tampa Palms this season might very well be the school’s wrestling team.

No, really.

Not historically strong, the Patriots had a breakout season in 2016-17, and are primed for even better things this winter.

Head coach Derrick McCoy has been at the helm for five years now. He remembers when he took over the program in 2012 and had just six wrestlers. Prior to the Thanksgiving Break, McCoy had 29 certified wrestlers with four more in the process, bumping his total squad number up to 33.

“This will be the first year all of the weight classes are filled, and all but the 106-lb. class have more than one guy in them,” McCoy says.

Last season, the Patriots were the Class 3A, District 7 runners-up, scoring 152.5 points, just behind champion Steinbrenner, which had 155.5. They were fourth at the Hillsborough County Championships, had nine regional qualifiers, three state qualifiers and senior Alex Kiester placed fifth at the Class 3A state meet.

All were program firsts.

Last season also was the first that McCoy had the services of an assistant coach. Mike Neuman, a collegiate wrestler for the University of Iowa, was a full-time assistant to McCoy last year, and the extra coach is just what the budding Patriots team needed.

“Before, it would be just me and like 20 kids,” McCoy says. “Now we’re able to break up into groups, so the extra help is great.”

Keeping pace with program firsts, Kiester, Freedom’s top wrestler, has become the first Patriots wrestler to commit to a college program — Queens University in Charlotte, NC.

“I think if he really pushes it, he could be a finalist at State this year,” McCoy said. “He’ll have to focus on the State champ from last year (Brevin Balmeceda of Miami South Dade).”

Kiester is set to move up from 145 pounds to 152 this year, and while much of his competition from last year also will move up, the second, third and fourth-place finishers at 145 pounds from 2016-17 have graduated.

Senior Jerry Miller will slot into Kiester’s old weight class at 145, and the pair are training partners. Miller got knocked out in what is known as the “blood round” at Regionals (the elimination round in wrestlebacks that determines whether you advance to states or not) last season, but McCoy expects Miller to qualify this year.

Senior Dawson Baker at 170 lbs. is another wrestler McCoy expects to make States. Baker suffered a season-ending injury at Districts, but McCoy cites him as one of the hardest workers in the room. Sophomore Blake Schroyer at 120 is another solid State prospect; he was a Regional qualifier as a freshman but drew State runner-up Michael Bush of Sarasota in the second round and was sent to wrestlebacks.

Senior 132-pounder Zion Factora was a backup to senior State qualifier Tommy Barker last season, but could break through to States himself this year, and 220-pound junior Andres Procel has grown into his body for his junior year.

Wrestling in the 195-pound class but weighing just 190 last season, Procel is up to 219 with just 12% body fat heading into 2017-18.

McCoy is hoping to advance four wrestlers to States this year and has put together a solid schedule to battle test them. The Patriots will actually host two 6-way duals this season, and the 3A-7 District tournament. The Patriots also will host cross-town rival Wharton on Dec. 13, where Freedom will be heavy favorite.

HOOPS, THERE IT IS:

After a nice three-year run in which Freedom averaged 20 wins and advanced to the playoffs twice, the Patriots were hit hard by graduation and stumbled to a 9-12 record last year.

The Freedom boys basketball team hopes to bounce back from a disappointing 2016-17 campaign. (Photo: Andy Warrener)

Much of the drop-off was attributed to the tough competition in Class 8A, District 8, where the Patriots posted a 7-8 record.

However, head coach Cedric Smith thinks his boys are due to have a much better season in 2017-18. It starts with returning four-year starter and 6-foot-9 center Alek Rojas.

“Alek is the one guy who has played since his freshman year,” Smith says. “We’re fortunate to have that big guy that allows us to play like a traditional basketball team. It creates matchup problems when teams try to play zone (defense).”

The starting point guard from last season, junior Nick Butler, returns as well.

“Nick got an unbelievable education from the previous point guards (Nasir Core and Keyshon Reddish) ahead of him,” Smith says. “You want your point guard to be an extension of the coach.”

Very little experience returns otherwise for the Pats. Junior scoring guard Trevian Henson is back, but players like forwards Jeremiah Ashe and Dante Johnson are new and raw, and will be counted on to help get the Patriots claw back to the top.

“We got our butts kicked last year and the guys are more hungry to work and to listen this year,” Smith said. “This group reminds me of the first group that won the District in 2012-13. Their eyes are open, they’re listening, they want to get better.”

Freedom is 1-2, including a 65-52 loss to Wharton.

GIRLS HOOPS STARTING OVER

The Freedom girls basketball team had a great season a year ago, going 17-8, even if it was underlined by an early exit in the district playoffs.

Megan Clark led the team, averaging 23.3 points per game, but now laces up to play for Tennessee Tech University.

In fact, the Patriots girls graduated roughly 90 percent of their offense, but Coach Laurie Pacholke is getting solid production already from junior guard Emoni Thomas, who scored 29 points in  season-opening win over Hillsborough, and Regan Roger, a 6-1 wing who added 18 against the Terriers.

Roger is one of five Freedom players 5-10 or taller, so size isn’t a problem. But, finding the players to run the floor like Pacholke likes will be, at least in the early going.

SOPH COACHES SEEK SUCCESS

The Freedom girls soccer team had a pedestrian 6-6-2 season last year, but it was also head coach Jen DeMik’s first year at the helm.

The Patriots recovered from losing their first four games, going 6-2-2 the rest of the season. They started 2017-18 on the right foot, winning their first games as Allie Freihofer led the way. The freshman put three goals in the net in the first two games of the season, and she is one of seven Patriots to already score, though the Patriots fell to 2-2 heading into this week.

Boys second-year coach Cornelis Van Der Luit brought the Patriots up from the cellar last year, going 7-7-2 after a 3-12-2 mark the year before, but seven seniors from last year’s squad have graduated. The Patriots are 2-4-1, and are coming off  6-0 win over East Bay.

Wharton & Freedom Cross Country Teams Running Towards Bigger Things In 2018

Although the high school cross country season doesn’t begin in earnest until the end of the month, the local squads at Wharton and Freedom High have been logging big mileage numbers all summer in preparation for the 2017 season. Here’s how the Wildcats and Patriots stack up.

Freedom cross country coach Chris Biernacki (left) with the Patriots top runner Alejandro Michel, who set two school records in track last season. (Photo: Courtesy of Chris Biernacki)

FREEDOM BOYS

Head Coach: Chris Biernacki (3rd year)

2016 Results: 13th at county championships.

Key returning runners: Alejandro Michel (Sr.), Kevin Jefferis (Sr.), Samuel Burson (Sr.), Cole Rodgers (Sr.).

This year: The boys squad has a bit more depth than the Freedom girls and a bonafide No. 1 runner in Michel. Michel’s school record in the 5k (16:36) and 3200m (10:06) are accolades he could build on in 2017.

Michel will go up to Tallahassee to run at the FSU Pre State meet in early October.

Senior Evan Castro is a welcome addition, coming over from the soccer team. Biernacki predicts he’ll slot into the number two or three spot early.

Key meets: Sept. 23 Don Bishop Invitational (Brandon), Oct. 6-7 Disney Cross Country Classic

FREEDOM GIRLS

Head Coach: Christopher Biernacki (3rd year)

2016 Results: 13th at county championships.

Key returning runners: Morgan Kugel (Jr.), Lessi Millington (Jr.), Miranda Berlin (Sr.), Lauren Blair (Jr.)

This year: The Patriots do not have a ton of depth and they will have to deal with the absence of Mercedes Mendoza after the team’s top 2016 runner graduated. However, both Kugel and Millington are in their third year on the team. Last year, Kugel finished seventh in the county in the freshman/sophomore division, and along with Millington, the Patriots have some experience to bring along newcomers like sophomore Lauren Batcho.

Batcho is a softball player who batted .282 last season with 11 RBI as a freshman, and Biernacki thinks she’ll compete for one of the top three spots on the team.

Senior Schuyler Rutherford returns after a one-year hiatus, but Biernacki also expects her to be one of his top five runners.

Key meets: Sept. 23 Don Bishop Invitational (Brandon), Oct. 6-7 Disney Cross Country Classic

WHARTON GIRLS

Head Coach: Anthony Triana (6th year)

2016 Finishes: 3rd in county,

  3rd in Class 4A, District 6

Key returning runner: Rachel Lettiero (Sr.).

This Year: Triana insists 2017 is a re-loading and not a re-building year, but losing six of your top seven runners — including your top two in Rania Samhouri (USF) and Bryanna Rivers (University of Massachusetts) — will punch the reset button on the odometer.

That being said, the sheer numbers and the work ethic of this year’s team has Triana excited.

“We’ve had no less than 16 girls at every practice this season,” Triana says. “This year might not have the talent of years past but this is the hardest working group I’ve had in years.”

Varsity newcomers Amanda Brake (Jr.) and Nicolina Otero (Jr.) have shown a lot of promise in early season workouts and will form a core around Lettiero for the Wildcats to rally around.

Key Meets: Sept. 2 Wiregrass Ranch Run with the Bulls, Sept. 23 North Port XC Invitational, Oct. 6-7 FSU Invitational (Pre State).

Nehemiah Rivers

WHARTON BOYS

Head Coach: Kyle LoJacono (4th year)

2016 Finishes: 3rd in county, 9th in state,

   runner-up in Class 4A, District 6

Key returning runners: Nehemiah “Tre” Rivers (Jr.), Sahil Deschenes (Sr.), Frankie Godbold (Sr.)

This Year: Long in the shadow of the girls team, 2017 could be the year that the Wharton boys break out. The Wildcats were within eight points of county champ Steinbrenner last season, posting their best finish ever at States, and aim to climb the state ladder.

Rivers leads the way for the Wildcats after winning a district title, finishing fourth at the county championships and taking ninth overall at States. He ran a personal best of 16:16 last season, within striking distance of the school record of 15:56.

Deschenes and Godbold add some veteran leadership for the Wharton boys.

Fellow senior Eric Jurgensmeyer is new to cross country, but has track experience. LoJacono is impressed with Jurgensmeyer’s early ability to handle the 5k distance.

Finding that fifth runner to step up will be instrumental to the 2017 team’s success, although LoJacono claims that his growing team and its hungry mentality are changing the culture for Wharton boys cross country. It will be tough sledding as the Wildcats compete in a very tough district with the likes of Steinbrenner, Plant, Wiregrass Ranch and Sickles.

Both the Wharton boys and girls cross country squads are still getting help from former coach and distance guru, Wes Newton.

Key Meets: Aug. 26 Jim Ryun Invitational (Lakeland), Sept. 23 UF Mountain Dew Invitational, Oct. 6-7 FSU Invitational (Pre State)

Terry Tan Turns Vision Into Valedictorian

Freedom High’s 2016-17 Valedictorian Terry Tan is an “old soul,” because sometimes that’s what it takes. Despite being the youngest of two sisters, she has the mature vision and work ethic of someone successfully balancing the pressure of academics with the richness of life.

In addition to being Freedom’s Valedictorian, Terry also volunteers at other schools, works a part-time job, plays sports and yet, still finds time to relax.

“I don’t like to focus too much on one, specific thing in life,” Terry says. “My goal is to be a well-rounded person.”

The daughter of second generation Chinese immigrants, Terry has discovered balance in her life, in which academics has played a huge role.

She is a member of the National Honor Society (NHS), the Science National Honor Society (SNHS), Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), and Mu Alpha Theta, a math honor society.

Terry walked across the stage on May 23 at the Florida Expo Hall with a weighted GPA of 7.27 and unweighted 3.98.

She says that Valedictorian wasn’t even a goal until somewhere in her sophomore year, when she says she first paid attention to it.

“It was something exciting I could pursue,” Terry says. “I knew that if I set my mind to it, I could become Valedictorian.”

It hardly became an obsession, however. Terry went on about her life, and only found out she’d earned Valedictorian honors sometime in January, when some of her friends congratulated her in the hallway at school. She initially asked why they were congratulating her.

“I definitely could not believe it,” she says. “I was very happy. With  all that hard work, it felt really good.”

Terry spent the spring term in the closest thing to a college setting outside of an actual college setting. She took three dual enrollment classes that gave her college-like responsibility. She’ll enter the University of Florida in Gainesville next fall with 31 college credit hours already under her belt.

“Dual enrollment is completely on your own, it’s all based on if you can motivate yourself,” Terry says. “Even with AP classes, you still have your teacher there.”

That setup suited Terry just fine. She says she enjoyed the flexibility and freedom and was able to balance her nine college credit hours, her job (and own personal workouts six days a week) at LA Fitness, track season and volunteering at Chiles Elementary in Tampa Palms and at St. Mark The Evangelical Catholic Church on Cross Creek Blvd.

She ran cross country for the Patriots for three years, as well as the 800 and 1,600 meters and the 4×800 relay on the school’s spring track team.

“You will go insane if you focus on only one aspect, if all your focus is on academics,” Terry says. “What about the other aspects of life that you could be missing out on?”

She strives for perfection in everything that she does. The one “B” she got in high school, a sophomore year pre-calculus class, still gnaws at her.

“I’m also the type of person that when something’s almost perfect but not quite perfect, it becomes a pet peeve,” Terry says.

It turns out that the “B” in pre-calc was the only one she would receive in her high entire high school career. In fact, it was the only one from elementary school on up. However, Terry’s old soul quality she uses for balance keeps her from obsessing over it.

“I feel like the children, my generation of my family, are all more mature and have old souls,” Terry says. “Whereas my mom and dad are really young at heart — they make jokes, they poke fun at me in a sweet way — they’re just goofy and like to have fun.”

They also keep Terry grounded.

“I hope that my, ‘kid at heart’ attitude will continue to remind her ‘old soul’ to slow down and celebrate her hard work,” Terry’s mother Sylvia said.

Terry’s older sister Tammy also attended UF, and is similarly motivated with her own big-picture mentality. Tammy thinks Terry has just scraped the surface of what lies ahead.

“I don’t think Terry realizes her accomplishments are a reflection of how much potential she has in doing even greater things in the future,” Tammy says. “I am thrilled for this new chapter that is coming for her because I want her to finally see her potential come to life.”

Tammy has been a constant source of motivation for Terry, who says her older sister has inspired her and made her mature faster.

Tammy will graduate from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine on the same day Terry graduates from Freedom.

Terry isn’t sure whether or not she’ll follow her sister’s path into a medical profession, as she says she is considering a couple of different fields. She took a microeconomics class her first semester of her senior year and a macroeconomics class at Hillsborough Community College this past semester.

“After those classes, I thought about maybe looking into finance,” Terry says.

On the other hand, she adds, she really enjoyed working with children at the local church and elementary school. Terry says she likes how the field of orthodontics opens up the opportunity to work with children.

“If I do pursue orthodontics, it will be in pediatrics,” she says. “I really love working with kids.”

Whatever field Terry does decide to pursue, you can bet she’ll pursue it with vigor and passion, while always finding time to stop and smell the roses. She says she is grateful to her entire family, including her grandfather — whom she says was a major source of inspiration — for providing the support necessary to accomplish some of the things she has already accomplished to date.

She says they have taught her to, “be yourself, that’s all that really matters.”

What doesn’t matter? That darn “B” from sophomore pre-calculus.

“Ummm, that, B?,” she says. “That’s in the past.”