Garden Provides Serenity For Wharton

Members of the Wharton High “Beautification Club” hope to raise funds to add some green to this serenity garden, which serves as both a memorial and a place of peace and quiet on the school’s campus.

Several years ago, students in Wharton High’s Key Club created a place on campus to remember students and faculty members who had passed away. But, the quiet corner it’s tucked into doesn’t have sprinklers, so grass won’t grow, and plants planted in the “serenity garden” wither.

Over the years, it fell into disrepair. In fact, says Jennifer Bell, an English teacher at the school, “It became a weed-choked barren thing with a picnic table — not the kind of memorial garden we wanted.”

So Wharton’s “Beautification Club,” which Bell co-sponsors with fellow English teacher Lindsey Glenn, went to work.

Back in September, with the help of the school’s head custodian, Junior Cintron, club members completely overhauled the area, adding raised plant beds with drought-friendly plants.

Now it’s much improved, but members of the club think it still has a way to go. While other solutions have been tried, such as mulch (which washed away in heavy rain), it was decided that the best way to improve the space would be with artificial turf, since no water is available to keep grass alive.

The turf is expensive, so the club hopes members of the community might help to make this project happen. The turf is estimated to cost about $1,200.

“We know there are people in our community who have been touched by those who were lost,” says Bell.

She emphasizes that the area is not only a memorial, which is why it was named the serenity garden.

“We want to make it a place that is uplifting and beautiful, as a place of reflection,” she explains. “So, if you need to go and re-center yourself, it’s off the beaten path a little, so you can take a quiet moment to yourself if you’re having a rough day.”

She says that is already happening. “We’ve heard there are definitely students who have noticed the improvement and have been sitting out there if they are upset and need to take a moment to themselves.”

Bell says that the serenity garden isn’t the only project the Beautification Club has undertaken since its inception last year.

“One thing that’s striking at Wharton is that everything at the school is gray,” she says. “We felt like the lack of color and beauty was hurting morale at Wharton.”

She explains that while the club hopes to overcome the gray with some color, it’s about more than that.

“We want to boost morale and improve the overall climate around the school,” she says, explaining that the club takes on a couple of large and a couple of small projects each year. “We’ve placed anonymous Post-It notes to encourage students, we’ve made sensory bottles — also called calm-down bottles — to help autistic students, and painted murals at our on-campus preschool playground.”

To support the Wharton Beautification Club’s efforts to install artificial turf in the school’s serenity garden, contact the club’s sponsors via the school: (813) 631-4710. Checks, made out to “Wharton High School” and designated for the Beautification Club, can be dropped off at the school.

Former Wildcats Litton, Tate Declare For NFL Draft

Auden Tate catches a touchdown pass for Wharton in a 2014 game against King. Tate and former Wharton quarterback Chase Litton have both declared that they will be entering the 2018 NFL Draft. (Photo: Andy Warrener)

In 2013, the last year Wharton High’s football team went to the playoff, Wildcats’ quarterback Chase Litton was throwing passes to wide receiver Auden Tate.

Next year, they may both be on NFL rosters.

Tate, a starter for Florida State at wide receiver last season, and Litton, the starting quarterback at Marshall University in Huntington, WV, have both declared for the 2017 NFL draft, scheduled for April 27-29 in Philadelphia.

The former Wildcats just completed their junior years in college, passing on their final years of eligibility.

If they ended up drafted, as expected, that would make three members of the 2012 Wharton football team, including Tampa Bay Buccaneer Vernon Hargreaves, on NFL rosters.

Tate will forego his senior season at FSU after catching 40 passes for 548 yards and a team-leading 10 touchdowns in 2018. At 6-5, 225, he has all the measurables NFL scouts want these days in a wide receiver. He has very good speed and hands, exceptional height and a physical style that gives him an edge against smaller defensive backs in the red zone.

Auden Tate

Shoulder and foot injuries limited his playing time at FSU in his first two seasons. However, a solid junior campaign and the changing of the coaching staff at FSU nudged him to go pro.

CBS Sports ranks Tate as the No. 7 wide receiver in the upcoming draft. A mock draft at DraftUtopia.com has Tate going 10th overall in the first round to the Los Angeles Rams, while other mock draft “experts” have him being selected in the first three rounds.

USA Today ranked Tate as the 39th best prospect in the draft.

One mock draft, WalterFootball.com, has Tate going 77th overall to Cincinnati, with Washington taking Litton a pick later.

At 6-6, 235-pounds, Litton also has many of the tools NFL scouts drool over, including a lively arm to go with his height.

Chase Litton

Litton graduated from Wharton a year earlier than Tate, and was a three-star recruit (Rivals.com, 247Sports) who initially committed to hometown USF and reportedly had offers from LSU and Western Kentucky, but settled in on Marshall, where he was a three-year starter.

He became one of only two quarterbacks in school history to complete at least 60 percent of their passes in three straight seasons.

Litton’s draft prognosis, however, is not as rosy as Tate’s, as he is coming out in a quarterback-heavy year and with some scouts feeling he could benefit from an additional year of college.

Although both former Wildcats were very good basketball players in high school, it looks like football has turned out to be the right choice for both of them.

Wharton Winter Sports Preview: Girls Soccer & Boys Hoops Poised For Big Things

The Wharton girls soccer team has the tools to put together its best season yet. (Photo: Andy Warrener)

The Wharton girls soccer team may be ready for a breakthrough.

The Wildcats are off to a 7-2 start (heading into Friday’s game against Steinbrenner), with the only losses coming to Class 3A State runner-up Land O’Lakes and undefeated Palm Barhor University. Experience will be a strong suit for this year’s Wharton grads.

“We lost six seniors from last year’s (12-6-3) team, four of which went on to play in college,” head coach Denis Vukorep said. “Last year, we were still finding our identity. We had just one senior and she was injured most of the year. This year, we return all 11 starters.”

Two of those seniors are already making a charge at the school record books.

Keeper Caroline DeLisle, who recently signed with the University of Central Florida in Orlando, made 150 saves and posted six clean sheets in 2016-17. She is on pace to break the school record for career shutouts.

“The psychology of having one of the top keepers in the state back there helps us,” Vukorep said. “Teams come into the game like we’re up 1-0 already.”

Senior forward Alisha Deschenes already has the school record for goals in a season, after scoring 23 last season. Deschenes is getting some attention from smaller schools to play at the next level, and Vukorep says she’s perfectly capable of playing at the Division I-A level.

Junior midfielder Sydney Hubbard (tied for team high with eight goals to go with seven assists) pairs well with Deschenes, who has eight goals and eight assist.

“Sydney is a center-mid that’s responsible for defense who can also be creative in the attack,” Vukorep said. “She has a way of putting herself in good positions.”

Vukorep is confident Hubbard will find a D-1 school to play for at some point. At center back, towering junior Callista Ferrin pushes the six-foot stratosphere.

“She’s an intimidating figure in the back,” Vukorep said.

The Wildcats’ biggest hurdle will once again be their schedule. Their district, Class 5A, District 7, is one of the toughest in the state and every team finished with a winning record last year.

What’s changed this season? Not much — heading into Thanksgiving break, the combined record of 5A-7’s six teams was an astounding 38-6-4, and most of those losses are against each other. 

The strength down the middle is the strength of the Wildcats this season; Deschenes, Hubbard, Ferrin (and DeLisle protecting  the goal) form a backbone of a team looking to win its first District title since the 2010-11 season.

“This year is probably our best chance,” Vukorep said.

SHOOTING FOR ANOTHER 20

No one has been more consistent than Tommy Tonelli’s Wharton boys basketball program over the past decade or so. Last year, the Wildcats finished 20-6, the ninth straight season under Tonelli dating back to 2006-07 that they have won 20 or more games.

The starting lineup for the 2017-18 Wharton boys basketball team includes: (back row, l.-r.): Nate Barnes, DJ Henderson & Ryan Anders; (front row, l.-r.) Darin Green Jr. & Carr Thiam

If Wharton is going to make it 10 straight, and make the playoffs again, the ‘Cats will have to do it with a brand new starting five.

Junior guard and captain Darin Green Jr. already has several Division 1 scholarship offers and, according to Tonelli, “is one of the top shooters in the state.”

Senior captain DJ Henderson is the projected starting point guard for the Wildcats. The third guard is sophomore Carr Thiam; Tonelli says that Thiam did a great job on JV last season and developed well over the summer.

Senior captain Ryan Anders and senior Nate Barnes are the two forwards. Barnes enters his fourth year with the program and third on varsity. Tonelli gives high marks to Anders’ strong off-season work.

The Wildcats will host the Class 8A-8 District playoffs, which may give them a needed edge.

“Seeding is going to be crucial for this year’s District tournament,” Tonelli says. “It’s definitely an advantage to be hosting it.”

Last season, Sickles hosted the tourney and cruised all the way to the State championship, handing Wharton three of its six losses last season. Former Wharton junior varsity coach Mike Weaving takes over as head coach at Sickles.

“To me, Sickles is still the team to beat,” Tonelli says. “They have three starters returning, experience, a good squad and a good coach.”

But Friday night, Wharton upset the Gryphons 44-38.

The Tampa Bay Basketball Coaches Association (TBBCA) hosts a summer tournament every year and this past summer, Plant defeated Tampa Catholic in the finals.

The Wildcats won all 10 of their summer league games and made the semifinals in the tournament.

“That summer league is a pretty good gauge of where you’re going to be in the winter season,” Tonelli said. 

The Wildcats are off to a 4-1 start.

STRONG DOWN THE MIDDLE:

The Wharton boys soccer team battled to a respectable 9-7-2 record last season, but will have to make do this season without its leading scorer.

Wharton will likely rely heavily on senior Jamal Farhoud, who had eight goals last season, and junior keeper Andy Ilken, who had five shutouts and a 2.24 goals-against-average as a sophomore.

Not too dissimilar to the girls squad, the Wharton boys have strength down the middle. It starts in the back with Ilken, who had 98 saves a year ago. In front of Ilken, center back Matthew Hartnell returns and senior midfielder Matthew Dookie lines up in front of Hartnell, while Farhoud returns at forward.

YOUTH TAKING CHARGE:

Head coach Chad Reed comes into his 10th year at the helm of the Wharton girls basketball team. The ‘Cats are searching for their first .500 season since 2013-14, and their first winning season since 21-5 in 2009-10.

To improve on their 6-19 mark from last season, the Wharton boys will have to overcome losing almost 50 percent of their offense to graduation. Senior guard Parker Onderko, who averaged 5 ppg last year, is expected to be a more significant factor.

The Wildcats were 3-3 heading into Friday’s game against Steinbrenner.

REBUILDING ON THE MAT:

It’s a rebuilding year for head coach David Mitchell in the wrestling room. According to Mitchell, the 2017-18 squad is the smallest group he’s ever had at the school, with eight or nine wrestlers from last season who didn’t return.

“It’s hard to get started after taking time off,” Mitchell said. “Wrestling is a year-round sport. You find you can beat a guy one year and then he’ll beat you the next year, because he didn’t take any time off.” Seniors Jonathan Gomez (195 lbs) and Gabriel Schroeder (160) will be two of the notable Wildcat grapplers this season.

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)

Ehrhard Wins Saladino As County’s Top Senior

Drew Ehrhard
Saladino Award winner Drew Ehrhard (with trophy), is joined by ((l. to r.) Wharton assistant coach Joe Fernandez, his mom Shannon, his brother Zack, dad Rodney, Wharton head coach Scott Hoffman, Tony Saladino and Wharton assistant coach Wade Boggs.

Rodney Ehrhard was supposed to talk about how proud he was of his son. How it had been great teaching young Drew how to play the game of baseball. How terrific his son’s senior season had been, and about how special it was to see him chosen as Hillsborough County’s best baseball player.

But he couldn’t. Not yet.

Overcome with emotion, Rodney could only stick a napkin in his eyes and walk outside to compose himself.

It was an emotional ceremony in the living room of Tony Saladino, the patriarch of one of Hillsborough County’s most prominent baseball families and the namesake of a popular spring break baseball tournament, as the 80-year-old host awarded Wharton High’s Drew Ehrhard the 47th Saladino Award, presented each year to the top high school senior baseball player in the county.

Drew led the Wildcats in hits (35), average (.422), RBI (24), doubles (9) and homeruns (4) this season, helping Wharton to a Class 8A, District 4 district title, two thrilling come-from-behind playoff wins and a spot in the Regional championship, where his team lost 2-0 to the eventual state champions from Tallahassee Lincoln High.

He became the first player in Wharton’s 20-year existence to ever win the prestigious award, which is voted on by the county’s coaches, and said he was shocked to win it.

“I didn’t think I would win it, to be honest,’’ Drew said. “I had always hoped I would, but I knew there was some good competition.”

He joins an impressive list of past winners of the award, including past major leaguers like Mike Heath (Hillsborough, 1973), Dave Magadan (Jesuit, 1980), Tino Martinez (Jefferson, 1985), Gary Sheffield (Hillsborough, 1986), as well as current Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers (Jesuit, 2012) and Chicago White Sox pitcher Tyler Danish (Durant, 2013).

“I’ve looked at the list, and it’s unbelievable to be a part of that crowd,’’ Drew said. “I have no words for it.”

Some Hall Of Fame Help

One major leaguer who played in Hillsborough County but never won the award, former Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Devil Rays third baseman and Hall of Famer Wade Boggs, played a big hand in helping Drew win it this year.

An assistant baseball coach at Wharton the past 17 years, Boggs — who teased Saladino about getting passed over for the award in favor of Brandon’s Sammy Spence in 1976 — said he remembers hitting ground ball after ground ball to Drew his freshman year as the youngster was converting from second base to shortstop.

Drew Ehrhard
Drew Ehrhard

Despite being undersized and having to adapt to making a longer throw to first base, Drew made the transition seamlessly and ended up, rather remarkably, playing every inning of every game in his high school career.

“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog,’’ Boggs said, proudly.

Boggs, along with head coach Scott Hoffman, also helped get Drew to the Saladino home in Brandon while keeping the award a surprise.

“He told me some story about how there were some reporters down from Boston for coach Boggs, and we had to go to dinner to meet them,’’ Drew said.

The coaches managed to get Drew into Saladino’s home, even though he had to step over a Saladino Tournament doormat to enter — “I didn’t even see it,’’ Drew laughed — before it finally dawned on him that he, and not Boggs, was the evening’s actual guest of honor.

“I was kind of confused when I got inside,’’ Drew said. “I had always heard stories about being in Coach Saladino’s house and seeing all the memorabilia on the wall…I was like, ‘whose house am I in?” Then I realized, oh, this makes sense now.”

Drew found a large crowd waiting for him, including his brother Zack, who will be a freshman at Wharton next year, his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and baseball coaches.

While Boggs compared Drew to current Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, others see a more apt comparison to Rodney, who was a high school standout as an outfielder at Plant City High who was drafted as a catcher and went on to play in the New York Yankees minor league system, making it as far as Double-A.

At Plant City, many considered Rodney Ehrhard the best player on a team that included future major league pitcher Kenny Rogers. Rodney went on to star at the University of Tampa, and was inducted into the Spartan Hall of Fame last year.

When it came to playing ball, Drew also chose the Spartans. Like father, like son.

“I hear his family make that comparison a lot,’’ said Shannon, Drew’s mother.

“Both of them hit well, they always started and they always worked hard,’’ said Rodney’s father, George. “I followed Rodney around when he was at Tampa, and I’ve got some more following around to do now with Drew.”

His napkin gripped tightly in his right hand, Rodney finally spoke proudly of Drew, who was given a stuffed baseball and bat when he was only three years old. He never put them down, his parents say. Soft stuffing gave way to cowhide and aluminum, but Drew’s grip, his father said, never wavered. He watched his son grow into the player he is today, relying more on hard work and determination than on God-given ability, as the two spent countless hours sharing their passion.

“He’s always been smaller than everybody, but he’s always been really good,’’ Rodney said. “But, he made up for that in hard work. He never stopped trying to get better.”