By Gary Curreri

Grace Parnas had a stellar effort at the recent United States Lifeguard Association Southern Regional event at Lake Worth.

The 14-year-old Pompano Beach resident won six of the nine events she was in and placed second in another for the Pompano Beach Junior Lifeguards in the Girls A Division. Parnas, who will be a sophomore at Calvary Christian Academy in the fall, took first in the run-swim-run, paddleboard race, beach flags, rescue race, iron guard and the swim relay. She got silver in the run relay.

“I’ve been competing for four years and been doing the camp for six years,” Parnas said. “It’s so fun. Most of the people say it is so hard, but I get to see my friends and then compete with them.”

She gets lost in the adrenaline rush. 

“You honestly don’t remember a lot of the race,” Parnas said. “You have the adrenaline rush and you are going as fast as you can because you just want to win.”

“I never expected to be at nationals or regionals,” said Parnas, who has also fared well at the national event.

She won beach flags two years ago and placed third last year in the event and is the two-time defending paddleboard national champion. 

“It is incredible,” she continued. “I never thought I would win nationals. I don’t feel any (outside) pressure. It is more self-put pressure because I want to win a national championship again.”

Teammate Julia Freshour, 13, also of Pompano, turned in a solid performance as well. She won the Girls B Division surf rescue, paddleboard, run-swim-run, rescue relay, and moved up in both the Girls A swim relay and the U19 swim relay. She was second in the iron guard.

“I really love ocean swimming so it is probably that,” said Freshour, who is a Pompano Middle School eighth-grader and has competed since she was 7. “I like to race. The competitions are really important. I would skip anything that day to come to this.”

She also loves the adrenaline rush when she competes.

“I kind of tune everything out, and I get into this zone where I kind of go into autopilot and just go,” she said. “I don’t think about anything. I don’t feel anything. I can just go all out.

It is very important to win.”

Pompano Beach’s Victoria Scarpinito took second in the U19 Girls beach flags event. She’s competed for the past five years.

“I love the team spirit and team enthusiasm. I like the challenge and how you can push yourself,” said Scarpinito, 17, who will be a senior at Cardinal Gibbons in the fall. She is also a member of the school’s dance team and on the Pro-Am competition dance team.

“It is an amazing feeling once you are out there,” she said. “It is not the most important thing to win, but it is a good feeling when you do.”

Summer Schulte took first in the U19 girls Surf race (distance swim), paddleboard and iron guard, while Oliver Nagy was the top boys finisher for the Pompano program as he won three events in the Boys A Division. He won the surf swim, paddleboard and iron guard.

Rich Tammany, who heads up the host Lake Worth Junior Lifeguard program, said the event attracted about 200 junior lifeguards from as far south as Hollywood all the way north to Flagler Beach.

Among the other cities represented were Ft. Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Delray Beach and host Lake Worth.

“We were very excited,” Tammany said. “I have been doing Junior Lifeguards for 23 years and this is only the second time we have had it here. The other time we had it here was 2006. The kids are excited. The weather was good…water was good. It was a great day.”

By Gary Curreri

When the Pompano Beach High School baseball team kicked off the season, coach Joe Giummule believed his team was good enough to return to the Class 3A regional championship.

The team was ousted 9-3 by Monsignor Pace last year in the Regional championship game, and Giummuli is hoping that history doesn’t repeat itself. With an 8-4 win over Cardinal Gibbons in the Region 4-5A semifinal game on Tuesday, Pompano and Pace are on a collision course set for Tuesday in Miami.

“They are really a talented team,” said Pompano Beach coach Joe Giummule, who is chasing his first regional title in four tries. This is his second attempt at Pompano. He was an assistant at Deerfield Beach (2002) and Taravella (2001) when those squads reached the regional finals.

 Starting pitcher Trevor Kniskern got the win for the Tornadoes against Cardinal Gibbons as he went six innings and gave up just one walk and two hits while fanning 10 Chiefs’ batters.

The right-handed junior also helped his own cause with a two-out double and scored on a Chase Costello single. Costello, who ended the day 2 for 3 with three RBIs, came around to score on an Austin Carney base hit.

 Pompano Beach added a pair of runs in the third, fourth and sixth. Costello, Mike Schuler and Chris Ajello had two hits each. Ajello also scored three times.

“We just wanted to put the pressure on their defense,” said head coach Joe Giummuli, in his third year at Pompano. “We wanted to get things moving.”

Now, his team sets its sights on its second straight regional final game, against host Miami Pace next Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Pompano Beach (26-3) has outscored the opposition 193-69 this season and takes on a Spartans (26-5-1) team equally as dangerous as they have outscored its opponents 314-116. Pace knocked Highlands Christian out of the regional finals last season.

Highlands Christian falls

Daniel Malay led Highlands Christian Academy with a two-run home run in the Region 4-3A final contest, while going 1-2 at the plate for the Knights in a 6-5 loss to Archbishop Carroll.

The Knights, which led 5-0 in the game, allowed six runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings, ended the season at 10-13. Archbishop Carroll improved to 26-2 with the won.

PBMGA seeks members

Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association welcomes new members of all playing levels to their Wednesday tournaments. Dues are $35 per year. Wednesday tournament greens fees are discounted. They alternate playing the Pines and Palms Courses.  There is a prize pool fee of $5 when you participate in the weekly tournament.  Additional information may be found on the website at http://www.pbmga.com.

By Gary Curreri

Lighthouse Point’s Taylor Anderson is showing Michigan State University that they made a good choice in offering her a full gymnastics scholarship.

The problem is that the Spartans still have to wait two years for her services. Anderson, a Level 10 gymnast at American Twisters in Coconut Creek, had a good showing in three of her four events at the Region 8 Level 10 championships where she finished first in the All-Around (37.275).

The 16-year-old was first in the bars (9.600), tied for first in the beam (9.400) and tied for third in the floor (9.350) at the Regional competition at the Kidsport Gymnastics Academy in Burlington, North Carolina that featured 495 gymnasts in both Level 9 and Level 10.

Anderson also tied for 18th in the vault (8.925). Her efforts on bars and beam tied her personal bests for the events.

“Gymnastics means a lot to me because I do it so much and I have done it my whole life,” said Anderson, a sophomore at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale.

“I love doing all of the flips and having fun…just being able to do what gymnastics is,” Anderson added. “It is just a crazy feeling knowing what to do and how do it.”

Anderson, who gave her verbal commitment to Michigan State University, earlier in the school year, also had a strong showing at the prestigious Tim Rand Invitational competition at the Greater Ft. Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center. The meet attracted 1,300 competitors.

In placing second in the all-around (37.525), Anderson won the bars (9.675); placed second in the beam (9.400); tied for fifth on the floor (9.300) and was seventh in the vault (9.150).

Admittedly, it is like a job with a 6-day, 30+ hours a week commitment.

“It is really tough, but it pays off,” Anderson said. “You have to think about the outcome of it and what is going to happen in the future.”

“Taylor comes in the gym everyday and works really hard for her goals and their aspirations,” said American Twisters coach Christina Ramirez.

Highlands advances 11 to state track meet

Highlands Christian Academy Sydney Blackburn won the shot put (35-08) and placed second in the discus with a throw of 120-08.00 at the Region 4-1A competition at Westminster Academy last week.

Freshman Ciara Huntley was second in the triple jump (30-07.50) and junior Sasha Graham placed third in the 400-meter dash (1:02.25) to qualify for the girls state championships. Highlands Academy was sixth in the meet with 48.25 points.

After placing fourth in the 1,600-meter run (4:44.16), junior Ryan Szklany battled back to win the boys 3,200-meter run (10:09.64).

Highlands Christian senior Josiah Ritzer was second in the boys discus (121-11), and third in the shot put (42-10.25) and senior Jake Peterson was third in the boys 110-meter hurdles (16.47). Senior Herman Robinson was fourth in the shot put (41-07.75) and freshman Alex Villas was fourth in the triple jump (38-10.50).

The Knights qualified three athletes in the pole vault taking second, third and fourth: Sophomores Chanz Miller (12-00), Kyle Coulson (11-06.25) and junior Scott Bush (10-11.75). The boys were fourth in the meet with 67 points.

The state championships are this weekend at IMG Academy Stadium in Bradenton.

By Bryan Hursh

The Cardinal Gibbons Chiefs got redemption Friday night as they beat the Deerfield Beach Bucks, 23-21, in a clutch defensive fashion, after the Bucks defeated them on their own Senior Night last year. This came as a major upset, being the first time the Chiefs had ever beaten the Bucks.

Deerfield Senior quarterback Nick Holm suited up for the game, but did not play due to a sore right (throwing) shoulder, giving senior quarterback Alec Brown the opportunity to start.

Brown started the night by marching the Bucks downfield, tossing an eight-yard touchdown to senior tailback Taletrius Bradley.

Gibbons answered back later in the 1st quarter with Sophomore quarterback Nik Scalzo scrambling and finding Junior wide receiver Lavonte Decius on a 30-yard TD.

The Chiefs would go on to capture the lead, 10-7, with a 45-yard field goal from junior kicker Griffin Cerra with 11:05 remaining in the half.

Brown and the Bucks offense put together a 9-minute drive down the field resulting in a 5-yard screen pass to junior wide receiver Cornelius McCoy for a touchdown, and regained the lead, 14-10, with 1:37 remaining in the 1st half.

Gibbons marched down the field and Cerra drained a 27-yard field goal as time expired, bringing the game to 14-13 Bucks up going into halftime.

During halftime, the Bucks honored 31 senior football players, members of the band and cheerleading team as they walked to midfield, escorted by parents, family members and friends.

The Bucks started the second half kicking off to the Chiefs, who elected to sit Scalzo for senior backup Austin Boyle, with next week’s District 16-5A runner-up playoff game looming.

Gibbons was stopped on 3rd down and punted the ball back to Deerfield. The Chiefs defense held the Bucks, forcing them to punt the ball back to them. Behind good blocking, Junior Tavontae Decius returned the punt 43 yards down to the Bucks 5-yardline, while Sophomore running back Grantis Poole pounded it in for the score, taking a 20-14 lead with 10:01 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

Brown answered right back, tossing a 55 yard touchdown to senior wide receiver and Alabama commit, Jerry Jeudy, with 7:25 left in the 3rd quarter … recapturing the lead 21-20.

The Bucks and Chiefs punted the ball back and forth, as neither could establish a strong run game.

It wasn’t until late in the 4th quarter that the Chiefs would regain the lead. With 4:38 left in the 4th quarter, Boyle tossed a 21-yard pass to Senior wide receiver Daniel Larose, who hauled it in at the 7-yardline. The Bucks defense held the Chiefs and backed them up 4-yards to the 11-yardline. Cerra hit another 27-yard field goal to take the lead, 23-21, barely making it through the uprights.

With under 3:20 remaining in the game, Brown had to march the Bucks 50 yards down the field to the 25-yardline to get within field goal range. Brown found Jeudy on a 10-and-out route where Jeudy was able to break it outside for a 35-yard gain. The Bucks pounded the ball on the ground, getting 20 yards and two first downs to make it to the 30-yardline. In questionable play calling from Bucks Head Coach Jevon Glenn, Brown tried to thread the ball to senior wide receiver Leroy Henley in the end zone but got picked off by Chiefs junior cornerback Ron Hardge III.

The Chiefs wound the clock down to 18 seconds, giving Deerfield one last play to win the game. Brown rolled out to his left and was sacked by the Chiefs defense, sealing the win.

Brown finished the night with 216 passing yards and two touchdowns while throwing three interceptions. Scalzo finished 10 for 17 with 104 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and Boyle 6 for 11 for 83 yards and one interception.

Holm will be back next week as Deerfield will take on Western High School in the first round of the playoffs while Cardinal Gibbons will travel to Riviera Beach to take off Suncoast High School.