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Plant Sailor Has National Goal

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By NICHOLAS J.E. MURRAY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 27, 2007

Plant High sailor Ian Heausler is confident about his chances entering the Interscholastic Sailing Association's Laser Radial National Singlehanded Championships at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Seattle this weekend.

After beating 63 other sailors at the South Atlantic District Championships in Clearwater, he certainly has a right to be.

'I think I can finish in the top three at nationals,' Heausler said. 'The Florida region is regarded as one of the toughest in the country.'

While Plant's team has had success in the past - most notably earlier this season when it finished third in the National Team Racing Championship - Heausler is the first sailor from the team to reach the single-handed nationals. He did so by performing consistently at the district championships in Clearwater, winning three of his 12 races and finishing no lower than 7{+t}{+h} otherwise. His 34 points put him 14 clear of Mateo Vargas of Lakewood, and 22 clear of third place Nick Voss of Miami La Salle, the other two qualifiers for the national championships.

Emily Billing of Clearwater finished sixth with 67 points, while Sam Blouin of Jesuit finished 10{+t}{+h} with 102. Michael Zonnenberg was the next-best Panther at the regatta in 21{+s}{+t} place.

Racing single-handed brings different challenges than racing as part of a two-sailor team, and Heausler said it can at times be easier because you don't have to communicate with a teammate. That is counterbalanced by the need to do everything yourself to succeed.

If Heausler was to win the Cressy Trophy, he would be the third Bay area sailor in the past five years to win the laser radial title. Paige Railey of Clearwater won titles in 2004 and 2005, while Mitch Hall of Seminole won the title in 2006.

Meanwhile, Blouin and his Jesuit sailing teammates Paul Perry and Mike Popp finished second at the South Atlantic Great Oaks Qualifying Regatta with 56 points. The Tigers edged the Naples Community school by one point in the event for new sailing schools, and qualified for the Great Oaks Invitational in New Orleans next month.

Newsome Blue Stays Undefeated

Newsome Blue remained undefeated in the Hillsborough High School Hockey League with a 5-1 win against Newsome White as Mike Semago had two goals and two assists.

Newsome Blue (6-0) leads the league with 42 goals, with Semago leading the team individually with 10. Jared Chinn added a pair of goals, while Zach Vandelaagemat scored his third of the season. Jim Wheatley found the net for Newsome White (2-4) for his third goal of the season.

The Tigers jumped over an idle Freedom into second in the standings with a 5-0 win against Bloomingdale. The Tigers (4-1-1) rebounded from a shootout loss to Riverview/Durant to take advantage of Bloomingdale's 10 penalties. Connor Ellis scored his first two goals of the season, with Shane Hurley, Pete Lowery and Kyle Kortum also finding the net.

Nick Johnson recorded his second shutout of the season for the Tigers, as Bloomingdale (3-3) remained in the middle of the standings.

Riverview/Durant came back from a 5-0 deficit to score six unanswered goals in the third period in a wild 9-7 win against Wesley Chapel. Cody O'Conner and Joey Heyer each had hat tricks for the combined team. Wesley Chapel's Matt Sarginger had three goals and three assists.

Steelers Continue Impressive Run

Despite returning only four players from an undefeated season in 2006, the Brandon Steelers varsity squad is on the verge of another undefeated season. Going into the final game of the West Coast Youth Football Conference regular season today against the Brandon Bears, the Steelers are 9-0.

'We haven't lost in 20-something games,' Steelers coach Tracy Lineberger said. 'I challenged them about who was going to be on the team that ended the streak. They all really bought into that, because you don't want to be on the team that ends the streak.'

The Steelers last lost in the 2005 WCYFC playoffs. This season, they have been led by a group of running backs.

'I have an overabundance of running backs this year,' Lineberger said. 'I'm lucky this year. I have two running backs that came from last year's team, I have a running back that played JV for Spoto last year, and I've got the starting tailback from our JV team from last year. I thought we were going to be a passing team; I've got three receivers on my team who are 6-foot-2. But with all of these running backs, we've been running the ball 80 percent of the time.'

The Steelers running game has also been helped by five new starters on the offensive line, including some who moved up from the JV squad.

'The big thing I've enjoyed about it is the new kids have wanted to learn,' Lineberger said. 'The offensive line are all first-year varsity players, and a couple of them had never played football before. They've been eager to learn, so it's been one of my most enjoyable years coaching.'

Meanwhile, the holdovers from last year's team have given the younger players some perspective.

'The older guys are telling the younger guys, 'We've never lost, you guys have got to keep up your end,' and the younger guys are taking that challenge,' Lineberger said. 'I've been excited all year, and it's been something within our organization that all the little guys look up to the varsity guys, so I want to try and keep this going every year.'

Reporter Nicholas J.E. Murray can be reached at (813) 259-8243 or nmurray@tampatrib.com.

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