Land O' Lakes Gators Look To Take A Bite Out Of Pasco County

The Land O' Lakes High School track and field teams are in mid-season form. We recently caught up with them at The Gator Invitational on March 8 to find out how the season is going and what the hopes are for the year.

The Boys Team:

The boys are lead by Kris Keppel in his second year as head coach. Coach Keppel has been the Cross Country coach for the last 17 years and is in his sixth year with the track team. Keppel is a former high school tennis player and University of South Florida graduate.

Assistant Coach Brian Babij is a Land O' Lakes and USF graduate. He teaches English at the school and is the JV basketball coach. He is in his first year with track and works primarily with the throwers.

Richard Matthews is the pole vault specialist at Land O' Lakes High. He was a state champion with the 1966 state record height of 14 feet, 1 3/4 inches. He is a graduate of Plant High School in Hillsborough County.

Brad Carlton is the long and triple jump specialist.

The Gators are a much stronger distance team that a sprinting team.

Recent graduate, Matt Schwartz, made states last year in 3200m (2 mile) and 1600m (1 mile). Senior Hendrix Lafontant not only provides some veteran leadership for the team, he is one of their best 1600m runners. Freshman Travis Nichols is also a solid runner at 1600m and Travis’ 10:20 time in 3200m gives him a great chance to make regionals and beyond.

“If someone could make states on the boys’ side, it’s Travis,” said Coach Keppel.

Juniors Chris Wilkinson and Darin Patmon will compete at 800m and hurdles respectively.

Sophomore Clayton Ward is the best short-distance runner on the team at 400m.

The Girls Team:

The girls squad is helmed by Rock Ridgeway in his 15th year as head coach. He is in his 19^th year at the school where he is assistant coach on the football team. Ridgeway served as Athletic Director of River Hills Christian prior to taking over at Land O' Lakes. He played basketball, football and track in high school.

Ridgeway has a much more experienced squad and has some ringers that warrant mention.

Senior Nicole Woodard is a three-sport athlete at Land O' Lakes. She is on the basketball team, the volleyball team and is a leader on the track. Last year she qualified for states in the high jump and long jump. Her personal best of 5-foot-6-inches in high jump is nothing to sneeze at. She easily cleared 5 feet at The Gator Invitational and finished in first place. Nicole also runs the 400m and 100m. She anchors the 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams.

“Our 4x100m team has a chance at regionals,” said Ridgeway. “She(Nicole) could be a heptathlete in college.”

Senior Samantha Austin runs the 400m, 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay. She was part of the Land O' Lakes 4x100m team that made regionals last year.

“She made it last year, she’s a little faster this year,” said Ridgeway.

Samantha came in second in the 100m at The Gator Invitational with a 13:19 time. She also helped the girls relay team give the boys a run for their money.

Freshman Hallie Grimes is a rising star on the team. She leads off the girls relay teams and ran a 61 second 400m at The Gator Invitational. She also won the 100m with a 13:03 time.

Senior Julia Dellapeena is a thrower. She specializes in discus and plays on the basketball and volleyball team. She came in second in disc at The Gator Invitational but her personal best of 110 feet is something that could get her into regionals and beyond.

Both boys and girls teams will attend the Steinbrenner Invitational on March 19 at USF. They will also have several more meets before the 3A District 7 Track Meet on April 21.

Check out the full schedule at: http://www.c2cschools.com/?section=public&page=view&sub=team&sport=13&gender=Female&school=8921&team=67693