Pasco County:

Brandon High standout Eric Grajales has been eliminated from the United States Olympic Wrestling Trials in Las Vegas.

Grajales fell in a consolation match in the 60 kilogram Greco-Roman division, losing to Willie Madison 2-4, 5-0, 4-1. It was Grajales’ second loss of the day; he dropped his opening match 4-2, 5-0 to Jeremiah Davis.

Meanwhile, former Pasco High standout Nate Engel stayed alive with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Roger Stewart in a consolation bout in the 55 kilogram Greco-Roman division. Engel’s next opponent will be Josh Habeck.

Stay with TBO.com for more updates.

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Former Pasco High wrestling standout Nate Engel lost his quarterfinal match Friday in the 55 kilogram Greco-Roman division at the United States Olympic Trials in Las Vegas.

Engel fell 5-0, 1-1 to Spenser Mango, this year’s U.S. Senior National champion in the weight class. Engel is still alive in the tournament and can finish as high as third, but his run toward a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team for the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing is over. Only the winner of each weight class at the Trials makes the U.S. Olympic squad.

Engel will face Roger Stewart in a consolation match later today.

Brandon High’s Eric Grajales, who lost his opening bout in the 60 kilogram Greco-Roman division, also will wrestle in the consolation bracket later today.

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Brandon High wrestling standout Eric Grajales lost his opening match Friday in the 60 kilogram Greco-Roman division at the United States Olympic Trials in Las Vegas.

Grajales fell 4-2, 5-0 to Jeremiah Davis, who placed fifth at 60 kilograms at the U.S. Senior Nationals. While Grajales still can finish as high as third place at the Trials, he can’t win the weight class, meaning he can’t secure a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team for the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. The winner of each weight class at the Trials earns a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team.

Meanwhile, former Pasco High standout Nate Engel posted a victory in his first match in the 55 kilogram Greco-Roman division to advance to the quarterfinals.

Engel defeated Miguel Pena 5-0, 1-1. Engel will face Spenser Mango, the 55 kilogram champion at the U.S. Senior Nationals, in the quarterfinals.

Stay with TBO.com for more updates throughout the day on Grajales and Engel at the Trials.

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Dr. James “Roger” Dearing will be appointed as the Florida High School Athletic Association’s new Executive Director, the state’s athletic organization announced today.

The FHSAA’s Board of Director voted Thursday morning to appoint Dearing, the current Superintendent of Manatee County Schools, to replace John A. Stewart, who is retiring in November.

Dearing was selected from a pool of three finalists. William “Sam” Ward, Principal of Fleming Island High School, and Clifton V. Norris, Superintendent of Levy County Schools, were the other finalists for the position. Each were interviewed by the Board of Directors in Atlantic Beach.

“I’m elated,” Dearing said in a statement. “This is the epitome of shaping young lives.”

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Saint Leo University catcher Braulio Pardo, who played at Gaither High, signed Monday with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and left for a minicamp in Arizona.

The 6-foot, 190-pound Pardo, a 12th-round draft choice and the 379th player selected overall, will play in the short-season rookie league in Orem, Utah. His manager will be Tom Kotchman, the scout who signed him. Pardo, who also played two seasons for USF, batted a team-leading .356 for the Lions as a junior this season. He was named first team All-Sunshine State Conference and second team Daktronics All-South Region. He tallied 42 hits, 35 runs scored, 21 RBI, six doubles, two triples, three homers, 15 walks, and nine stolen bases. He also had 13 multi-hit games and an 11-game hitting streak.

At Gaither, Braulio was named All-Western Conference in 2004 and 2005 and earned all-state honors in 2005. He also helped the Cowboys win the Saladino Tournament title in 2003 and 2005 and was named best defensive player at Gaither from 2003-2005.

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Saint Leo University Assistant Athletic Director for External Operations/Sports Information Eddie Kenny has been named athletic director at Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School.

Kenny replaces Mike Zelenka, who accepted an assistant principal position at Christ the King School in Tampa.

Kenny came to Saint Leo in 2006 from Nova Southeastern University where he served as Sports Information Coordinator for three years and was an intern for one year prior to that. While at NSU, Kenny helped the sports information department win numerous publication awards while also becoming the first school in the SSC to utilize Internet broadcasting.

Kenny holds a bachelor of science degree in communications from Florida International University and a master’s of sports management from Nova Southeastern. He and wife Wendy reside in Zephyrhills.

Zelenka, who also coached football, girls soccer and softball during his tenure, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Notre Dame in liberal studies, also completed the school’s two-year Alliance for Catholic Education program.

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Bradenton Preparatory, a small private school in Manatee County, has been fined $38,000 and placed on probation by the Florida High School Athletic Association for violating 19 FHSAA regulations, mainly recruiting violations in its football, boys’ tennis and basketball programs. The fine is the largest ever assessed by the FHSAA and is the largest number of allegations against one member school, FHSAA spokesperson Cristina Alvarez said.

According to a release issued by the FHSAA, the investigation began last November when the organization received information from several member schools, as well as a member of the FHSAA Board of Directors.

Alvarez said the school was initially fined over $60,000, but because the administration cooperated, the fines were decreased. Bradenton went as far as terminating two athletic directors, two basketball coaches and changing its admission form to appease the FHSAA.

“They are doing whatever it takes to get back under good standings,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez said the school can present its case before the Infractions Appeals Committee in July, but if Bradenton rejects the committee’s decision, it will have to wait until September to appeal its case to the Board of Directors.

Bradenton Prep was closed when reached for comment.

Here is a summary of the investigation:

• Seven student-athletes were improperly contacted by a parent, outside agents and/or college recruiters;
• Three student-athletes lived with a representative of the school’s athletic interest;
• Bradenton Prep violated FHSAA Policy 9 (the falsification of the FHSAA Financial Report Form for a Preseason Spring Classic Football Game);
• Three student-athletes violated FHSAA Bylaw 11.4.10 (transferring while under disciplinary sanctions at his/her former school); and
• Five student-athletes violated FHSAA Policy 38, Section 6.0 (financial assistance).

Bradenton Prep took the following proactive measures, including proposed consequences, for the violation of FHSAA regulations:
• Two Athletic Directors employed by the school are no longer employed;
• Two basketball coaches at the time of the incidents are no longer employed by the school;
• The school will hold a meeting with the entire coaching staff each semester to discuss the FHSAA rules including those related to recruiting;
• The school will require all students interested in financial assistance to complete all necessary TADS forms;
• The school will require all coaches to sign a contract stating that they understand and agree that they are prohibited from communicating with any recruiters, parents who may be acting a recruiter, or recruiting agencies in any manner;
• The school will change its application for admission form to specifically ask if the applicant has “ever been suspended, expelled or withdrawn from any school for any reason”; and
• The school will pay a fine deemed appropriate by the FHSAA.

Considering the cooperation and proactive measures taken by the school balanced with the significance of the violations, the following penalties were imposed in this case:

1. Reprimand.

2. Bradenton Prep’s basketball, football and boys’ tennis programs are placed on restrictive probation for a period of three years beginning with the 2008-09 school year and ending at the conclusion of the 2010-11 school year. For the three-year period, the following restrictions are imposed:
• The school cannot participate in the state series competition for the aforementioned sports;
• The school can only participate in regular contests. The school is not allowed to participate in any pre-season or post-season classics/jamborees;
• The school cannot participate against out-of-state teams, with the exception of participation against out-of-state teams during regular season tournaments; and
• The school cannot participate in home game broadcasts on television or radio.

3. The school is fined an accumulated $38,000.

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Over 58 football coaches and players from around the country will converge on the University of South Florida’s campus Sunday for a football clinic to also raise awareness for pediatric brain tumor research.

The clinic, held at 4202 E. Fowler Ave., is sponsored by Lauren’s First and Goal Foundation, is open to all football players entering grades 8 through 12 this fall. A minimum donation of $25 is required to register, which begins at 7:30 a.m. The camp will last from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Players will need to bring their own lunch.

Former Buccaneers quarterback and current Bucs personnel executive Doug Williams will be a guest speaker. Among some of the coaches expected and players expected to run drills will be USF offensive coordinator Greg Gregory, former Tampa Bay Storm quarterback and current Iona offensive coordinator John Kaleo, former Bucs players quarterback Jeff Carlson, defensive back David Gibson and defensive lineman Tyoka Jackson. Also, current Storm players quarterback Brett Dietz and fullback/linebacker Nyle Wiren will conduct clinics.

Various coaches from the Patriot League and the Ivy League will also coordinate clinics.

For information interested parties may call camp coordinator John Loose at (610) 330-5485. A registration form is available by clicking here.

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Land O’ Lakes track runner Emily Seda will sign a letter-of-intent to attend Coffeyville (Kansas) Community College June 16. Seda, a 400-meter sprinter for the Gators, has a two-year, full-ride scholarship offer from the school.

“I think it’s wonderful for her,” Land O’ Lakes girls track coach Rock Ridgeway said. “Emily is a really hard working girl and has been trying really hard to get something like this for the last few years. She worked all season to try and get there and it worked out for her.”

Seda, a three-time Class 3A state meet qualifier (400-meter run in 2007 and the 4x400 relay in 2006 and ‘07, also plays basketball, and was the team’s fourth-leading scorer.

Ridgeway believes Seda’s penchant for hard work will allow her to assimilate well to the challenge of college running.

“That’s the best part of Emily,” he said. “When she gets to practice, she’s there to practice hard and it’s the same thing academically. I think her work ethic is going to carry over to college, she’s going to work hard for this.”

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River Ridge athletic director Jack Homko named Donna Masterson his girls basketball coach Thursday. This will be the first high school head coaching job for Masterson, who is a substitute teacher at the school. She has previously coached on the youth league and AAU circuits.

“We kind of were dragging it out because we had several people apply for it and we didn’t have a teaching position available,” Homko said. “To try and match everything teaching-wise with a coaching supplement, that was a big thing. We wanted somebody within the school or who had been working with the school.”

Masterson will replace Al Sorrentino, who coached the team for the past nine seasons. In his last two campaigns, the Royal Knights collected a 3-18 record in each of those seasons.

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A new independent athletic league will include one Pasco-area team when the footballs season commences in September. The Sunshine State Athletic Conference, was originally a 10-team league that included Bishop McLaughlin and Academy at the Lakes, but AATL dropped from 11-man to 7-man football.

The league will feature its own championship game and a series of postseason bowl games for those who don’t play in the championship game, which will pit the winner of the North Division against the South Division winner.

Teams that finish No. 2 or lower, will face its counterpart in the opposite division in a bowl game to be played at the home field of the teams in the South Division.

Here are the teams in each division:

North Division
Mount Dora Bible School
Winter Garden Foundation Academy
Leesburg First Academy
Hernando Christian Academy
Ocala St. John’s Lutheran

South Division
Canterbury
Bradenton St. Stephens
Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School
***Academy at the Lakes (Land O Lakes)
Carollwood Day School

***Now a 7-man football team

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UPDATE: Wesley Chapel athletic director Steve Mumaw confirmed that Wildcats girls basketball coach Warren Jones has resigned to accept a position with the Saint Leo women’s basketball team. Mumaw said this was a tremendous opportunity for Jones and that the Wildcats wished him nothing but the best.

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A vacancy has been posted on the Pasco County School Board’s Web site for the Wesley Chapel girls basketball coach’s position and that would mean Warren Jones is no longer the coach.

Attempts to reach Jones and Wildcats athletic director Steve Mumaw have not been successful so far so there has not been official confirmation that Jones is indeed no longer the coach. There have been incorrect posts on the job board before.

If it’s true, that would be a huge loss for the program. Jones was hired as Wesley Chapel’s coach three days before the start of preseason practice back in 2004 and under him the Wildcats have only had winning seasons. This season, without former standout Sthefany Thomas, he guided Wesley Chapel to its first-ever region final appearance. The Tribune also just awarded him the Pasco County Girls Basketball Coach and Girls Sports Coach of the Year at the Parade of Athletes banquet last week.

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Sunlake coaches Pennye and Billy Garcia have resigned their posts as head cheerleading and baseball coaches, respectively.

Pennye Garcia said Tuesday that both her and her husband’s resignations were for personal reasons and that they would continue to teach at Sunlake but could not elaborate further.

Billy Garcia coached the Seahawks baseball team to a 9-16 in their inaugural season. Pennye Garcia coached the Sunlake cheerleading team to the state meet where the Seahawks finished seventh out of 10 teams in the small varsity division.

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River Ridge kicker Eric Karcinski has accepted a preferred walk on position with the Florida International University football team in Miami, turning down an offer from Fordham University, according to his father Bill Karcinski.

Eric Karcinski made each of his five field goal attempts, including a long of 47 yards during the 2007 season. He was also 22-of-23 on point after attempts and collected 19 touchbacks on his 30 kickoffs for the Royal Knights.

Karcinski will walk on to a Golden Panthers squad coming off of a 1-12 2007 season and will compete with returning kicker Chris Abed. FIU will open the season in a newly expanded stadium with a capacity of 45,000 in September.

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Former Plant City High standouts Chad Ballantyne and Daniel Ruel and former Tribune Pasco county Player of the Year Darin Green all qualified for the Florida State Amateur Championship after Monday’s qualifier at the Sara Bay Country Club in Sarasota.

Ruel, who graduated in 2006, was tied with three others for the low-score of the event, a 73. Ballantyne, who graduated a year later, was a shot further back on his own in fifth place. Green, who played for Land O’ Lakes, graduated in 1998 and is now an FSGA official, finished with a score of 75 to secure his spot.

The 91st Florida State Amateur Championship begins on June 19th at the Jupiter Hills Golf Club in Tequesta.

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