Wharton Volleyball Team Already Finding Its Groove At Midseason

This season’s Wharton volleyball team may not have the one standout player who can take over and dominate a match like it has had in the past — most recently embodied by 2017 graduate and current Yale University standout Kathryn Attar — but that isn’t stopping the Wildcats from enjoying early success so far this season.

A theme of “we, not me” was implemented by head coach Eric Barber in the preseason and with that principle, Wharton has flourished through the first month of the 2018 season.

The Wildcats have posted a 14-2 record through their first 16 matches, including capturing the title at the Academy of the Holy Names (AHN) Tournament Sept. 21-22.

“We do a lot of out-of-the-gym-type practices where we talk about what we want to be, not just in volleyball, but as human beings, because it is important for us our whole lives to understand how relying on the people around you is the best way to achieve success,” Barber says. “Discussions like that easily integrate back to athletics, especially in a game like volleyball, where it is vital that everyone is a part of it, that everyone is dialed in.”

Jeanette Henderson

But a “we” mentality doesn’t mean the Wildcats are without players who can dominate. It would just be more appropriate to say that the breadth of the team’s depth has spurred on the early success.

“We love each other like a family, so we play together,” says junior outside hitter Jamie Koopman. “We do it in a way where we try to make sure everyone else has the best match they can. If I’m off, it’s as simple as, ‘You know, maybe you don’t set me here, set the middle instead.’”

It’s been a perfect formula.

Wharton attacked the AHN tournament impressively. The Wildcats won all five of their best-of-three set matches without dropping a single set — including avenging a regular season loss to Wiregrass Ranch High in Wesley Chapel by beating them twice by 25-21, 25-12, and 25-19, 25-20 scores.

The Wildcats kept it going the week following the tournament, winning their next two matches 3-0 over Durant and Gaither.

That stretched the squad’s winning streak to nine games, including a 16-0 edge in sets won over the last seven matches.

Juniors Jeanette Henderson and Koopman lead the attack with 120 and 117 kills, respectively, but not far behind is the trio of senior Amara Eziakonwa (91 kills), junior Lexi Morse (76) and senior Devyn Kettner (74).

Setting up the attack is senior setter and co-captain Gracie Viloria (who shares that role with Henderson and Kettner). Viloria leads the Wildcats with 192 assists, with junior Jackye Kelley adding 188 of her own.

Jamie Koopman

Defensively for the ‘Cats, senior Alanis Ortega (186 digs) and Henderson (116 digs) have led the way.
“In the past, we’ve had that one really strong player, like Kathryn Attar, and she was really good and just in the right spot most of the time,” Viloria says. “But sometimes, we really were forcing plays in her direction. But this group really seems to know each other … everyone on this team has a team mentality, and as a setter I’m always comfortable with putting the ball where the play is leading, because I feel like it can really go to anybody right now.”

And that is the goal.

“Whenever you can get a team that achieves true balance, meaning whatever rotation you’re in it can go up to three hitters and you are confident in them,” Barber said, “that is an incredible advantage to have.”

After dropping Class 8A, District 8 matches to Plant and Wiregrass Ranch, the Wildcats have settled into second place in the district. Wharton is 5-2 in 8A-8 as it heads into the upcoming district tournament hosted by Freedom the week of Oct. 15.

Plant, which started the season 15-0 and is one of the top-ranked teams in the state, has been a big obstacle for Wharton for a number of years.

Head coach Eric Barber

Plant has ended the Wildcats’ season four of the last five postseasons, including two Regional semifinal defeats in the last three years.

The two are likely to meet in the District 8A-8 finals and Regional playoffs again.

The Wildcats hope to change that trend this season; however, the “we, not me” philosophy means much more to these players and their volleyball “family.”

“When I came on the team as a freshman, the team was primarily seniors, and a lot of them were committed to a college already,” Viloria said. “But that never kept them from relating to me and bringing me in, showing me what I can bring to the future of this program.”

Koopman, a junior, agreed that the success this current Wildcats team is enjoying owes itself in part to the players from the past.

“This team has always been so welcoming, I was lucky as a freshman that the team needed my position so I had a chance to play (on varsity),” Koopman said. “At first, I was so scared, but the (upperclassmen) were so immediately welcoming, helping you get better … now, as a junior, that has continued and now it’s the turn of the older players to make the new players feel that, feel welcomed like that and I really love that part of this team.”

Wharton Turns To A Familiar Face By Hiring New Principal Mike Rowan

A change in leadership at New Tampa’s Wharton High is bringing in a familiar face back to the school.

Mike Rowan (photo), who currently is the principal at King High on N. 56th St., will take over as principal at Wharton on July 1.
While he’ll have some headaches to deal with, as he tries to repair Wharton’s reputation in the community, one thing will be much easier for him — the commute.
Rowan lives in Pebble Creek, just across Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. from the school. His daughter, Delaney, graduates from Wharton this spring.

Not only is Rowan a community member and parent, he also is a former teacher and administrator at Wharton. He was a social studies teacher and soccer coach when the school opened in 1997. Then, in 2006, he was named assistant principal for administration (APA) at Wharton. He served in that capacity for five years before being named the principal at King.

“I’m excited,” says Rowan, who acknowledges he will be facing some challenges at the school, including a negative perception about Wharton. However, he says, “there are a lot of community members — parents, kids and faculty — who want to get rid of that perception. The biggest asset that Wharton has going for it is that all of the people involved – parents, kids, teachers and the community — want (the school) to be successful.”

He says he is looking forward to using his experiences as a Wharton parent, community member, teacher and administrator to make sure, “we are all on the same page, going in the same direction.”

Rowan replaces current Wharton principal Brad Woods, who has been in that role since 2008. Woods announced his resignation to school families on April 12, effective at the end of the current school year. He will move to a position in the human resources department at Hillsborough County Public Schools, as the manager of services and support.

The appointments were made official at the Hillsborough Public Schools School Board meeting on May 1.

Nearly 500 New Tampa Students To Lose ‘Courtesy Busing’ Next School Year

Starting next school year, Alex Evison, center, and the other kids in his Cross Creek neighborhood will no longer have a bus to ride to school. His mom, Lisa, says most of these kids’ parents can’t drive their kids to school because the hours fall within the work day and the walk isn’t safe.

In December, the Hillsborough County School Board voted to end what they call “courtesy busing” for middle and high school students who live within two miles of their respective schools.

In New Tampa, this will affect nearly 500 students, mostly at Louis Benito Middle School and Paul R. Wharton High School, where more than 400 students will no longer have bus transportation provided (see chart). At other New Tampa schools combined, including Freedom High, Liberty Middle, and Tuner/Bartels K-8, another 50 students are affected.

According to records made available by the School Board, Benito currently provides bus transportation to 629 of the 1,058 students who attend school there. Of those students, 265 will not have bus transportation starting with the 2017-18 school year, because they live within two miles of the school.

“Courtesy busing was not supposed to be a permanent thing,” explains school district spokesperson Tanya Arja. “It was designed for temporary uses, such as road hazards during construction, and there should have been a process to remove it when those factors were gone.”

She explains that the majority of students throughout Hillsborough County are responsible for their own transportation to and from school, saying that of 214,000 students countywide, only 90,000 are bused.

Arja also says the decision was made in December to give parents plenty of time to plan for next school year, such as by arranging carpools or their work schedules.

For some local parents, the decision is upsetting. Lisa Evison, who lives in Cross Creek, is trying to rally parents to object to the decision, as other communities — such as Lutz and FishHawk Ranch in south Hillsborough County — have done.

Evison says with the never ending traffic, potential child predators and other dangers, she doesn’t feel that it’s safe for her seventh grade son, Alex, to walk to Benito from her neighborhood in Cross Creek, nearly two miles away. “The Tampa Bay area as a whole has a horrendous — and deserved — reputation for pedestrian fatalities,” she says. “How many kids have to die walking to school before we say it’s enough?”

Statistics compiled by the Tampa Bay Times show that in 2016, there were 39 pedestrian fatalities in Hillsborough County, and another 12 bicycle fatalities. This is down from a record year in 2015, where there were a combined 59 fatalities.

In 2012, Evison says she was riding a bike in front of Benito and a car made a right turn on red and hit her.

“I’m an adult, I have a light on my bike, and he drove over me and didn’t see me. People are distracted, in a rush, and not paying attention. I see it all the time! I don’t know why I would expose my children to that — never mind the long walk with his 22-pound backpack.”

The principals at both Benito and Wharton say it remains to be seen exactly what the impact on schools will be.

“We already have families who have busing available to them who don’t take advantage of it because they would rather drop their kid off at 7:00 than have them catch the bus at 6:30,” says Wharton principal Brad Woods. He says he’s in close contact with the county transportation department to closely monitor the construction on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., as the road is being expanded from four to six lanes.

“If Bruce B. Downs meets the state statutes for hazardous road conditions, they would have to put the transportation back,” he says.

Meanwhile, Benito principal John Sanders says the school is preparing for an increase in the number of students walking and biking to school.

“My primary concern is the intersection of Kinnan St. and Cross Creek Blvd.,” says Sanders. “We’ll do everything we can to make that intersection safer for our families. We’ve requested a crossing guard, we will ask our school resource officer to be at that intersection and we will educate our kids to cross the road safely.”

Affected students recently received a letter from the school board explaining the cuts and providing a “Parent/Guardian Hazardous Walking Concern Review Request” for any parent who feels that the walking path for their child is unsafe.

Arja says community meetings will be planned to help connect parents to resources for carpooling and safe walking and biking, including HART, TBARTA, Safe Routes to School, and St. Joseph’s Hospital. Woods says one such meeting is expected to be held at Wharton, but no date had been set at our press time.

Evison also has a child at Hunter’s Green Elementary and is concerned about the future, as the School Board is expected to cut courtesy busing to elementary schools for the following school year, 2018-19.

Evison says parents who want to ask the Board to reconsider their decision should join a Facebook group started by FishHawk-area parents called “Safe Bus For Us.” Evison was part of a group of parents who attended the last school board meeting to express their concerns about ending the program.

Additional information from Hillsborough County Public Schools can be found online at SDHC.k12.fl.us/doc/1787/courtesybusinformation.

Wharton's Tate Commits To FSU

Wharton High Wildcats senior wide receiver/tight end Auden Tate committed to Florida State University during a press conference at the school on August 5.
Wharton High Wildcats senior wide receiver/tight end Auden Tate does “The Tomahawk,” after committing to Florida State University during a press conference at the school on August 5.

Wharton High’s Auden Tate has made his decision: he will attend Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee on a football scholarship, following his graduation after this upcoming school year.Continue reading