Local Gymnasts Well Represented

By NICHOLAS J.E. MURRAY The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 10, 2008

Three gyms from the Bay area will send 20 local gymnasts to compete this weekend at the USA Gymnastics Level 9 Eastern Championships in Kettering, Ohio. Leading the way is LaFleur's Largo, with 10 gymnasts, and right behind them is the squad from the Tampa Bay Turners, which has eight athletes traveling to the top competition in Level 9 gymnastics.

The Turners squad of Maria Broughton, Alexia Perry, Christina Pheil, Destiny Ezell, Erin Pluchino, Jeanna Cube, Mackenzie Lin and Sarah Caoili advanced from the regional competition in Huntsville, Ala., three weeks ago.

"They're such a tight-knit group of kids," Turners coach Heather Breasbois said. "If one of them hadn't made it, it would have been heartbreaking for all of them. They would have been happy for the kids that made it, but would have been heartbroken for the one that had to stay home, so we were really excited when all of them made it."

In addition to representing the Turners at the championships, three of the Turners' athletes, Broughton, Ezell and Pheil, also will represent Region 8 in the team competition. The Region 8 squads are made up of the top six gymnasts in each of the eight flights of competition, and compete against the other region teams as part of the competition.

Both of the LaFleur's Tampa gymnasts who advanced to the championships are also on the Region 8 squads in their respective flights. Brittany Garcia and Natasha Jufko both finished second all-around in their respective flights at the regional championships.

"It's really exciting," said team manager Amanda Stroud of LaFleur's Tampa. "Natasha did it last year. They get a special leotard and the region really appreciates them and knows who they are."

LaFleur's Largo has two regional all-around champions, Taylor Sides and Dalila Lemezan, leading its squad.

Joining Sides and Lemezan are Kaitlin Green, Amanda Condreay, Taylor Short, Taylor King, Cayla Collins, Kaley LaFleur, Caitlin Wright and Danielle Kazakos.

Plant Crew Increasing Workouts For Regionals

After advancing five boats to the U.S. Rowing Scholastic National Championships with their performances at the state championships, Plant High's crew has been working hard ahead of the Southeast District Youth Championships that begin today at the Tampa Bypass Canal.

"We've been working very hard," Plant men's coach Matt Abel said. "With our qualification to nationals two weeks, it gave us a month to prepare for nationals as best we could. We're probably not as rested as we could be coming into regionals, but that's only because we're trying to focus on regionals and nationals at the same time, which means we've been working pretty hard."

That hard work has meant longer workout distances in training, as the team tries to build up its fitness. One thing working in the Panthers' favor in that regard is the race distance for regionals of 1,850 meters. Both state and national are raced over 1,500 meters, and Abel thinks the races this weekend will fit in with the work the Panthers have been doing.

"With regionals being a little bit longer distance, it fits in very well with what we're trying to do as far as becoming more physically fit," Abel said. "We've been rowing longer pieces pursuing that, which also makes us ready for nationals."

The Panthers advanced their men's and women's varsity and freshman 8s, as well as their women's junior varsity 8 to Scholastic Nationals, which are going to be held in Oak Ridge, Tenn., on May 23-24. Abel is hoping his team will have a good showing this weekend as they work toward that regatta.

"We want to try and beat the people we've already beaten and close the gaps on the boats that are ahead of us," Abel said. "Then it's very much an opportunity to put into practice in the best circumstances possible all the things we've been working on in the last two weeks."

TBBO Adds New Division Entering Its 4th Season

Entering its fourth season, the Tampa Bay Basketball Organization is expanding again. After running a high school and middle school league last season, the TBBO is beginning an elementary school division for fourth- and fifth-graders in its efforts to give Hillsborough County players a summer league to play in to continue their development.

"You have the AAU traveling teams that do their stuff February through May," Citrus Park coach Nick Terlizzi said. "And many of us coaches participate in that, but during the summer there's quite a void. You can go to local rec centers or the YMCA, but there's really nothing at a high competitive level, and that's the whole idea with the league."

The elementary level is being introduced so coaches can begin teaching fundamentals at an earlier age. Terlizzi, whose Hoya teams have reached the middle school finals two seasons in a row, points out that players coming from the league have found success upon reaching high school.

"You look at the co-MVPs from the middle school division last year, they were [high school] freshmen this year," Terlizzi said. "They both made their high school's varsity teams as freshmen, which is quite an accomplishment."

Temple Terrace Hoosiers coach Kahlil Daley is excited for his team to get back on the court to defend its high school title.

"It's exciting but at the same time we've got a target on our back, so we'll have to play even harder this time," Daley said.

Nicholas J.E. Murray can be reached at (813) 259-8243 or nmurray@tampatrib.com. Keyword: Youth Sports for more news, notes and live game coverage.