By Gary Curreri

Deerfield Beach Little League President Jason Siracusa always believed his Senior All-Star team could advance to the state tournament. And they did not disappoint. The Deerfield Beach Little League Senior All-Stars defeated both Coral Springs and defending state champion North Springs to win the District 10 tournament and advance to Florida State Championship tournament. 

The Little League District 10 Seniors All-Star tournament at the Deerfield Beach Middle School Athletic Complex with North Springs topped Coral Springs, 8-1. Deerfield Beach then withstood numerous distractions lasting four hours, including a lightning delay to pull out a 10-inning, 7-6 win.

With Coral Springs and North Springs squaring off in the loser’s bracket game, Coral Springs got off to a strong start and pulled out a 12-3 win to advance to the final against Deerfield Beach.

After giving up one run in the top of the first inning, Deerfield Beach came out swinging and never looked back. Deerfield Beach put up 12 runs on 13 hits and handily won the game 12-5 sending the very talented squad to the Florida State Senior Division Little League championship in Lakewood Ranch from July 5-7. 

The majority of the Deerfield team played together in the Juniors Division last season where they went 13-1, winning their district championship and finishing second overall in the state of Florida.

At this year’s state tournament, Deerfield Beach overcame a rain delay and defeated St. Cloud, 4-1. The local squad then dropped its next two contests to finish pool play, 1-2.

Deerfield Beach lost to Hancock American, 14-2 and then fell to Land O’Lakes, 3-1. Land O’Lakes went on to win the state title with an 11-3 win over previously unbeaten San Mateo. Against Hancock American, Deerfield fell behind early and couldn’t recover. When Hancock defeated St. Cloud, it finished 2-1 in pool play and ended Deerfield Beach’s hopes of advancing to the championship round.

Deerfield Beach still turned in a solid performance in defeat against the eventual state champion. Deerfield Beach pitcher Brock Buerosse tossed a complete game and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits, but it wasn’t enough as Deerfield’s bats were virtually silent scoring 1 run on just 3 hits.

“This is the second year in a row Deerfield has sent a team to the state tournament,” Siracusa said. “We have made some improvements over last year’s (team) but left our core intact.

“But the competition at the state level is pretty fierce,” he added. “As one of the younger teams in the tournament, Deerfield held up against teams that were comprised of 16-year-old high school varsity players. Our team was made up of 16 players. Everyone had a role and when called upon they performed the way we expected. I’m proud of every single one of them.”

By Gary Curreri

Pompano Beach’s Shannon Snell is doing quite well down underafter competing in the 2018 Queensland Surf Life Saving Senior State Championships in Maroochydore, Australia.

The 20-year-old Snell, a 2016 graduate of Cardinal Gibbons High School, recently placed fifth in the Open Women Beach Flags Final and seventh in the Open Women Beach Sprint despite a tight quad muscle. She was representing the Kurrawa Surf Life Saving Club.

Snell, who represented the U.S.A. Open Team in the DHL International Surf Rescue Challenge in New Zealand that was held from Nov. 30-Dec. 4, extended her stay in Australia to become even more proficient in her lifesaving skills.

“I’m currently in Australia training in the surf-lifesaving sport,” said Snell, who placed second in the sprint and fourth in the surf ski events during the DHL in Mount Monguani, New Zealand.

“Since they are 50 years ahead of the U.S.A., there are actually clubs to train with that you can get the proper technique and training sessions to excel when racing internationally and for the U.S.A. (United States Lifesaving Association) Nationals. I was beyond thrilled to be selected for the U.S.A. team.”

The DHL challenge has been held since 1999 and attracted seven countries from around the world to compete head-to-head in New Zealand for the title of International Surf Rescue Champions. Snell helped the United States finish third in the competition.

Snell has been pleased with her progress so far. In January, she also took second in the Open Beach Sprint Final at Ocean 6 Series and ninth place in Open Women Beach Flags Final in North Cronulla Beach.

“To be able to race with the top athletes in the U.S.A. is always a very humbling feeling and knowing that the work you put in doesn’t go without being noticed,” she said. “I was very pleased too to place as well as I did with coming out of our winter training into everyone’s else’s summer since the seasons are different.

“The goal for Australia is to learn as much knowledge as I can in this sport and take that home with me and become a better athlete,” Snell continued, “and to help the next generation in the states and in Florida to be able to see the sport continue to grow.”

Snell has been an Ocean lifeguard since 2016 on both the east and west coast of the United States, and, prior to that, was a Pompano Beach Junior lifeguard since the age of 9. During that time, she was selected to represent the United States Youth National Team in France in 2014. She also travelled to Japan and Australia the following two years.

Snell earned her fourth invitation to represent her country based on her performance at the United States Lifesaving Association Nationals in Daytona Beach this past summer.

By Gary Curreri

Blanche Ely senior cheerleader Makya Harvard couldn’t have been happier with her team’s performance this season as they reached the FHSAA Class 2A state semifinals.

Harvard, 17, of Pompano Beach, finished her fourth year on varsity and third year on the competition team. Even though the team doesn’t have captains, Harvard is one of the leaders on the squad.

“I have to make sure everyone is okay physically and emotionally,” said Harvard, who has been a cheerleader since age 4. “I also make sure everyone is on time and able to do what they are supposed to do. The best part for me? When I hit the mat and do what I do.”

More than 50 teams and 800 athletes from Broward, Palm and Miami-Dade counties competed in the Region 4 competition at Coral Springs High School. The top two teams in each division with a raw score of 70 or better earned an automatic entry into the state finals. A qualifying score of 60 or better earned the team a spot in the state semifinals at the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on the campus of the University of Florida.

The Tigers finished ninth in the Large Non-Tumbling division and qualified for the state semifinals. They finished fourth at the state competition during those semifinals and failed to reach the finals at state.

“There is an excitement knowing what I am doing, that people want to participate and I am making others happy…” Harvard said. “That’s what cheerleading is about, cheering people up.”

She said the hardest part about the sport is getting fans excited when a team is losing. She said the football season was very difficult.

“That happened a lot this year; but, being a leader, you can’t let your emotions get the best of you,” she said. “I have to show my teammates and cheer everyone else up.”

How will that help down the road?

“I think knowing that I can put my emotions aside in things that are important to me, and being a leader and taking charge, will help me when I get out in the real world and [with] a real job,” she said. “When I first came in my freshman year, we weren’t too good, and each and every year, we have progressed … We have unity and we go out together now. We have become one big family.”

Harvard said she was relieved that the team qualified for state this season.

“It just shows that all of those long nights paid off,” she said. “Even though there were times when our fliers had injuries, we just pushed through.”

Deerfield Beach placed 10th at the regional competition in the Small Non-Tumbling Division and Pompano Beach finished ninth in the Medium Non-Tumbling Division as both squads failed to advance to state.

By Gary Curreri

Lighthouse Point’s Ryan Szklany is making the most of his senior cross country season.

The Highlands Christian Academy 17-year-old won a major invitational for the third time this season as he captured the Pine Crest Cross Country Invitational at Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek last week.

Szklany ran a 17:08.70 on the 5K layout to win the boys varsity race by 11 seconds over runner-up Robert Pedroza, a sophomore from Key West High School, who ran a 17:19.52. They were the only two runners to run faster than 18-minutes in the boys race.

Szklany also won the individual championship in the Boys High School Select Division at the FSU Pre-State Invitational at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, as well as the 35th annual Spanish River Invitational at South County Park in Boca Raton.

When he won the Pre-State meet, Szklany started out in sixth place at the mile mark as he went out in 5:00.7, but by the second mile he had moved up to first. With a strong finishing burst, he held off Lakewood Ranch’s Jonathan Reid to clock 16:21.3. Reid was second with a time of 16:25.1.

“The first mile we went out far and, after that, there was a group of a two or three guys that were about 20 meters ahead that I wanted to catch before they broke away,” said Szklany, who was third at last year’s Class 1A state cross country championships. “I was able to stay with them and pushed ahead.”

“This is good for confidence, knowing that I could hold down a strategy,” Szklany added. “I was a little disappointed because I didn’t get a PR, but I was able to get my second fastest time of the season and I am happy with that.”

Szklany said he is starting to return to the form he was at two years ago when he ran his personal best time of 16:13.00.

“I just think the development is starting to pay off,” Szklany said. “I think the training is starting to catch up a little bit. I am starting to transition back into it.

“I know what the course is now and I am a little more used to where I should go a little harder or maybe lay back a little bit,” Szklany said of the 5K layout at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee. “I have that aspect of it and also being able to compete against the guys I am going to be racing against to kind of get to know their strategies and race against them.”

Trevor Foley, who transferred from Nature Coast Tech (Class 2A) to Citrus Park Christian (1A) before last year’s track season, is going to be Szklany’s main rival. Foley’s best time is 15:20, so Szklany will have his work cut out for him as his best time this season is a 16:16.40 and his personal best is a 16:13.0, which he ran in the Foot Locker South event in Nov. 2015.

In their lone head-to-head meeting, Foley won the Flrunners.com Invitational 18 Race of Champions Boys Division at Holloway Park in Lakeland on Sept. 30. Foley won the event with a 15:54.64 clocking, while Szklany covered the distance in 16:23.15. Szklany was third in the Jim Ryun Invitational by Fellowship of Christian Athletes (16:35.80).

Szklany has his sights set on competing in college at Emory Riddle.

“I haven’t committed anywhere yet,” Szklany said. “It is giving me a little more drive to keep working hard and training hard to make sure I am there at the end of the season.”

By Gary Curreri

Lighthouse Point’s Kevin Mendez is looking for a repeat performance at state.

After sitting out the beginning of this season with an injury, it appears that the eighth-grader at Pine Crest School in Ft. Lauderdale is prepared to defend his Class 1A state diving championship.

Mendez, 14, recently showed he is going to be a state contender after winning the boys 1-meter diving title at the 54th annual Woodson Invitational at the Pine Crest School pool with a total score of 497.95 after sitting the first six weeks of the season with a broken thumb.

“This helps a lot confidence-wise because I had the broken thumb and just came back (from the injury,” said Mendez, who had three top 8 finishes, including second in the 1-meter diving event at the national championships this summer, despite a fractured finger. I have only been diving four days, so to do this well was unexpected. It will boost my confidence a lot. I was pretty happy.”

His efforts helped Pine Crest take second in the team race with 229 points at the meet. Perennial Class 1A state champion Jacksonville Bolles, winners of 26 consecutive state titles, won both the boys’ and girls’ titles.

Mendez is hopeful of retaining his gold medal at the state meet at the Sailfish Splash Waterpark, Aquatic Athletics Center in Stuart on Nov. 4.

“There is zero pressure on me to win a state title because it is unexpected being young,” Mendez said. “Nobody expects you to win, so you just go in there and do your thing. I am used to it.

“I have won a couple of national championships so I am used to the pressure,” Mendez continued. “I would say my favorite board (event) is the 1-meter.”

He got his start in diving when he was taking swimming lessons, spotted the diving board and asked if he could give it a whirl. It was 10 years ago, and Mendez said he has loved diving ever since.

“You just adapt to it,” Mendez said. “It is kind of scary at first. Like anything, the more you do it, the more you get used to it.”

Since he won the high school title last year, he knows what to expect.

 “I think I have a chance of winning states again,” Mendez said. “I am going to try my best and do my best. I think I have a good shot.”

Bucks cruise past Taravella

Deerfield Beach High School’s football team grounded out an easy 50-6 victory over visiting Taravella last week. 

The Bucks totaled 507 yards rushing, with three players running for more than 125 yards each – Jakari Norwood (141 yards and two TDs), Jerome Neal (140 yards, TD) and Jaylan Knighton (125 yards). The Bucks (3-1) travel to St. Thomas Aquinas this Friday for a huge non-district game.

Tigers tamed in defeat

Auburn commit Shaun Shivers rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns, all in the first half, to lead Chaminade-Madonna to a 44-0 win over Blanche Ely in a non-district game, Monday at Blanche Ely.

Shivers scored on two of his five carries for the game with scoring runs of 79 and 55 yards. Quarterback Daelen Menard also accounted for a pair of scores, finishing 4 of 6 for 123 yards. The Lions (3-2) scored on their first three possessions, with their first two scoring drives taking just one play each.

Blanche Ely slipped to 2-3 with the loss.

By Gary Curreri

All season long, Blanche Ely boys basketball coach Melvin Randall thought he had a special team.

He was right. The Tigers won the Class 7A state title with a 72-60 victory over Kissimmee Osceola in the Class 7A state championship at The Lakeland Center on Saturday and continued to make history.

Ely (28-0), ranked No. 5 in the nation by USA Today, won its fifth state title overall and third in the past four seasons. It is the school’s fourth title since 2007.

“I can’t say they are one of the top (teams at the school),” said Blanche Ely coach Melvin Randall. “They are the top!”

Blanche Ely is ranked the highest it ever has been in school history and became the first by a Broward County public school and second in county history following Sagemont’s undefeated run last season. It is the first time the Tigers finished the year undefeated.

“It wasn’t a pushover schedule that we had,” said Randall, who also won state titles in 1997 with Deerfield (Class 5A) ,and his win in 1999 (Class 6A) came at the expense of his current school Ely, 77-69. After moving over to Ely, Randall won state titles in 2007 (Class 6A), 2012 (Class 7A) and 2013 (Class 7A).

“We played some teams that really pushed us,” added Randall, whose previous high national ranking was 12th in the country in 2013. “The way this team played is surprising because when you are ranked that high in the country, you are looking to have maybe four or five Division 1 players or Top-100 players on the team, which we don’t have. These kids played with a lot of heart and played together. They enjoyed playing with one another and that is what makes it good. For the most part, they listen.”

The Tigers are now tied with Ft. Lauderdale Dillard for the most state titles by a Broward County school.

Blanche Ely opened the game on a 7-0 run and led 13-2 at one point. The team stretched the lead to 13 before Osceola (26-6) clawed its way back to grab a 39-38 advantage with 4:25 left in the third quarter.

Senior Therrell Gosier Jr., who was a part of Ely’s two state championship teams as a freshman and sophomore, helped the Tigers erase that brief deficit and closed the game out with 20 of his 27 points in the second half. He also had eight rebounds.

Senior Laquincy Rideau had another balanced effort with 10 points, six assists, six rebounds and five steals, while senior guard Javon Heastie scored 19 of his 21 points in the first half. Randall said he is hopeful of a bid to the Dick’s Sporting Goods National Invitational in April in New York.

Randall said the “formula” to being successful was a simple one.

“I take it as a blessing,” Randall said. “I learned from the best – Greg Samuels, Butch Ingram, John Keister, Wade Edmonds, and I have a little bit of them in me, and I really studied them and took notes. I want to win with class and that is what is taught here. You can win, but we teach our kids the right way; they win with class.”

Randall said there is another thing on his bucket list that he would like to accomplish.

“I never met Louise Crocco from Cardinal Gibbons and I know it is another sport, but she has won championships and I wanted to know what she is doing,” Randall said referring to the volleyball coaching legend, which amassed 1,132 victories and 18 state championships in a stellar 40-year career. “I never had a chance to meet her, but I will.”

By Gary Curreri

Gwen Bencie made the most out of her first year in the Deerfield Beach Ocean Rescue Junior Lifeguard program.

Bencie, 11, of Deerfield Beach, had spent her previous two years as a junior lifeguard with the Ft. Lauderdale program before moving to her hometown program.

She won the Girls C Division beach flags title, as well as the paddleboard championship, and placed third in the surf swim division in the second annual Florida State Junior Lifeguard Championships in Ft. Lauderdale recently.

“It is the first time I actually won beach flags,” said Bencie, who will be a Deerfield Beach Middle School sixth grader in the fall. “I was actually surprised, but really excited too. I never won beach flags before and the girls were really fast. I like junior life guarding because it is actually a lot of fun.”

Bencie said paddleboard is her favorite event. She’s captured nationals, regionals and states.

“Junior Life guarding has made me a stronger paddler and stronger in beach flags,” Bencie said. “It has also helped me learn about the water. They teach you how to rescue people.

Mike Brown, who heads the Deerfield Beach program, said the junior lifeguards get to see the other lifeguards from the other beaches and they may know them from school.

“We are proud to represent Deerfield and there is a lot of camaraderie there,” said Brown, who has been with the city for 15 years and headed up the program as its coach for the past six years. “A lot of kids, especially the ones who have never been a part of a team, accomplished something.”

Pompano Beach won the team competition with 1,240 points, while Ft. Lauderdale was second with 810 points. Hollywood and Deerfield Beach were third and fourth with 455 and 360 points, respectively, in the competition that featured nearly 150 competitors recently.

Other local double winners included Pompano Beach’s Sloan Sizemore (Run-Swim- Run, surf swim, Girls B Division); Pompano Beach’s Shane Shulte (Paddleboard, Run-Swim-Run, Boys C Division); Pompano Beach’s Kelly Shulte (Paddleboard, Surf-Swim, Boys B Division).

Individual winners included Pompano Beach’s Julia Schulte (beach flags, A Division); Glenis Carlson (beach flags, B Division); Pompano Beach’s Konnor Katzmark (Paddleboard, Boys A Division); Pompano Beach’s Race Wilhate (Run- Swim-Run, Boys B Division); Pompano Beach’s Clayton Adkins (Run-Swim- Run, Boys A Division).

From the Governor’s Press Office