Boy's Lacrosse State Championship Game

I spent last night working at the Inaugural Florida High School Athletics Association Lacrosse Finals at West Orange High School in Winter Garden, Fla. Local favorite Lake Brantley High School came up short in its bid for a state championship, losing to perennial lacrosse power St. Andrew's High School.

You can read my complete story here.

While I was covering the event I noticed two things. Plenty of fans were complaining that St. Andrews has an advantage because it's a private school that can recruit and that private schools should be lumped into their own state championship. That's a fairly interesting point, and imagine the impact it could have on other sports like football, basketball and track.

Also, the crowd for the game was amazing. I didn't have an opportunity to include it in my story because I didn't get a concrete number before deadline. But at halftime the paid attendance at the game was over 1,300. I never realized what a revenue generator lacrosse is, and if promoted the right way it could become the football of the spring for Florida high schools.

What do you think? Should private schools get their own athletic classification? Did you know high school lacrosse was such a big deal in high school?

Class 2A Region II Track Meet

Yesterday I was dispatched by the Orlando Sentinel to cover a track meet. Luckily it was close to home, at Lake Highland Prep, which is also one of my favorite places to watch a meet. It was a little different than usual as reporters were there from Lakeland, Citrus County and The Villages. This meant I spent most of the night writing my story from a crouch similar to that of a catcher, with my laptop balanced on a CD player/sound system in front of me. Thank God for all those innings I spent catching in my slow pitch softball league.

You can read my complete story here.

There were a lot of interesting story lines to play of off, but I decided since Lake Highland won the meet I would focus the story on them.

There was one minor hiccup regarding the agate. The sports desk told me that they'd be receiving it directly from the timing company, so I didn't have to do it. Unfortunately, at 10:15 (30 minutes before deadline) the desk called and told me the didn't have it. Of course everyone was already gone from the meet and the Lake Highland coach told me he'd have the guy send it in less than 20 minutes. Not sure if it made it in the first edition or not, since I haven't seen the paper today.

Either way I've got a busy next couple of days, state lacrosse is tomorrow, then it's the Magic-Raptors on Sunday, followed by five days of the state tennis tournament. Not to mention I've got a few more articles to write for the next edition of the Chronicle. Either way, it should be a fun next week or so.

Bishop Moore beats Osceola on Senior Night

Last night I covered a baseball game between two local powers, Bishop Moore and Osceola, for the Orlando Sentinel. The Hornets came out on top, despite playing the game without one of the team's best players, pitcher Jimmy Haughney. Haughney missed the game because of a death in the family and it was clear the Bishop Moore players used it as motivation.

You can read the complete article here.

The Hornets were the 2007 Class 4A State Champions. Here's a post victory photo from last year's state championship game.

Tonight I will be heading out to cover a track meet for the Sentinel. I'll post the link tomorrow.

Lake Howell Softball

For today's issue of the Seminole Chronicle I wrote an article profiling the rise of the softball program at Lake Howell High School. The Silver Hawks softball team won just six games during the 2005 season, but have won two consecutive district titles and go for their third Friday night. It's always nice to see teams have a dramatic turnaround, especially in a case like this where there are two seniors that have been there for the good times and the bad.

You can read the complete article here.

Winter Springs Baseball

In today's edition of the Seminole Chronicle you can find my article about the Winter Springs Bears baseball team. The Bears have eight players that have already committed to play in college, including five for the University of Central Florida. The article focused more on the team's success this season, rather than the players that are moving on. I may revisit some of the players going to play at the next level in a later article.

You can read the complete article here.

Ready to go: Above, the Winter Springs baseball team warm up before its home game against Orangewood Christian on Tuesday night. Photo by Andy Jacobsohn, Seminole Chronicle.

More work coming

I guess I spoke too soon about this being a light week. It looks like I'm going to have to miss the Magic game tomorrow night in favor a local baseball game.

I'll be writing for the Sentinel, covering a game between local powers Bishop Moore (20-3) and Osceola (21-2). Osceola has also won 11 straight games.

It should be good game and hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Another note regarding Florida baseball. I interviewed Winter Springs coach Jeff Perez yesterday, and he told me that he wishes Florida teams could play more than the 25 games they're allowed. He said teams in other states often play more than 25 games, and with the nice weather in Florida he's not sure why they're so limited.

What do you think? Does Florida play enough high school games? Should the limit of 25 regular season games be extended?

State Lacrosse Championships

It looks like I'll be heading out to cover the 2008 FHSAA State Lacrosse Championships this weekend at West Orange High School in Winter Garden, Fla. I'll be doing my primary coverage for the Orlando Sentinel.

I don't know who will be playing yet because the tournament is still in progress, but it looks like at least one Central Florida team is guaranteed to make it to the boy's final. That means I'll be writing one story about the boys and if a local girls team reaches the final I'll also be writing about them.

Even though this week is pretty busy, I may still try to pick up some out-of-town work for papers that may have teams from their area in the competition as well.

If you have a team in tournament and would like coverage, e-mail me at wommackw1@bellsouth.net

Stories I'm working on the for the week of April 13-20

This week is going to be moderately busy for me because I'm wrapping up my last semester as an undergraduate and I have a few assignments due at school.

While none of the stories I write for my classes will probably see the light of day, here's what I should have published this week.

I'm writing two stories for the Seminole Chronicle, one about Lake Howell High School's softball team and another about Winter Springs High School's baseball team. Both teams have had impressive seasons, especially the Bears who are nationally ranked. The articles will be in the paper and online Thursday April 17.

As of today I only have one story that will be published in the Orlando Sentinel this week. I'll be covering the Class 2A Region II Track & Field Meet at Lake Highland Prep in Orlando on Thursday night. As long as the weather cooperates, you can find the article in Friday's Sports section of the Sentinel.

On Wednesday night I'm scheduled to go to the Washington Wizards vs. Orlando Magic game at Amway Arena. This will be the last home regular season game for the Magic and could help determine who the team plays in the first round of the playoffs. I'll be writing for Inside Hoops, and perhaps post something on Bleacher Report from the game. If you have any specific questions for any of the players, submit them via comment and I'll try to ask your question.

Winter Springs Softball

For the April 10 issue of the Seminole Chronicle I wrote an article about the Winter Springs Bears girl's softball team. It was an interesting article to write, especially since the Bears have had an up and down season.

You can read the complete story here. (Photo by Michelle Yoffee-Beard, Seminole Chronicle)

Oviedo Water Polo

For the second consecutive week I wrote an article about the aquatics community in Oviedo, Fla. Last week I focused on the youth swimming programs at the Oviedo Aquatic Center. This week I spoke with Oviedo High School Water Polo Coach Charlie Rose about his team's progress this season.

You can read the full story here. (Photo by Ed Ruping, Seminole Chronicle).


What I found interesting about this article, is that the turnout for the program wasn't that great. I know the sports climate is different in Florida than it is in Oregon, where I grew up, but it seems to me a school with over 2,000 students shouldn't have a problem with participation numbers for any sport.

I don't think the problem lies with Rose or his staff, but perhaps high school kids just aren't as into sports as they used to be. There's plenty of other activities that keep young people busy, so maybe sports are taking the back burner.

What do you think?

The Manatees Are Back

It's been a light week for me in terms of published work, but I did have a pretty long article in the Orlando Sentinel last Thursday.

In case you didn't know Florida Manatees are on the move again, migrating from their warm water winter homes back out into the open waters of Florida's rivers and oceans.


My article is about the precautions the state is taking to protect manatees and boaters. You can find the complete story here. (Photo by Barbara V. Perez, Orlando Sentinel)

This article was interesting to write, and it was sort of a throwback to my newswriting days. I interviewed almost 10 sources, but I wasn't able to get quotes from everyone into the story. Either way, I think it turned out well.

My next outdoors assignment for the Sentinel will be published April 24, and will be about the upcoming wakeboarding championships.