PHOTO COURTESY ARTS4ALL FLORIDA STUDENT OF THE MONTH — Arts4All Florida has announced that 13-year-old Isaac Vazquez Cruz is one of their September 2021 Students of the Month. Isaac was nominated by Jillian Larriviere, the visual-arts teacher at Taylor Middle-High School in Pierson. Here, Isaac poses with his bearded dragon, the inspiration for his artwork. The Arts4All Florida Student of the Month Program is designed to increase public awareness and recognize the impact arts make on students with disabilities. Isaac has autism and a language impairment.

Homecoming is just around the corner for DeLand High School. A big part of the celebration will be the Homecoming football game at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5, in Spec Martin Memorial Stadium in DeLand. The Bulldogs will be hosting the Pine Ridge Panthers. Be sure to check with the DeLand High website as to events and activities that will be taking place during that week. Homecoming Dance tickets are currently on sale for $25 each, with the sale closing Saturday, Oct. 30.

Report cards for the first grading period were issued to Volusia County students Oct. 25, which is the same date they were posted on the Parent Portal.

Teacher of the Year nominees

Several West Volusia schools have announced their nominees for Teacher of the Year. These include Amanda Whited representing Galaxy Middle School in Deltona, Brittany LaCorte of DeBary Elementary, Tracy Kruszeski of Freedom Elementary in DeLand, and Michelle Kelley of Friendship Elementary in Deltona.

PHOTO COURTESY LUTHER COLLEGE
STETSON PROFESSOR RECEIVES AWARD FROM LUTHER COLLEGE — Timothy Peter has been selected as the 2021 recipient of the Weston Noble Award at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Peter, a 1986 graduate of Luther College, is now a professor of music and director of choral activities at Stetson University. Weston Noble served on the music faculty at Luther College 1948-2005. During that time, the college grew in numbers and in national reputation, and Noble became a leader in training trailblazers in the field of music education. Established in 2004, the Weston Noble Award recognizes music educators who honor and continue Noble’s legacy. Before teaching at Stetson University, Peter was a professor of music at Luther College and a member of the choral faculty, and served as the head of the music department.

West Volusia high-school football

Deltona won the Battle of the Boulevard over Pine Ridge of Deltona, 39-0, Oct. 15, while Deltona Trinity Christian picked up its second win of the season over Winter Park Trinity Prep, 41-21. Spruce Creek handed Orange City University its first loss of the season, 35-0, and Crescent City topped Pierson Taylor, 47-21.

On Friday, Oct. 29, DeLand travels to Sanford; Deltona greets Bishop Moore; Pine Ridge of Deltona travels to Melbourne to face Holy Trinity; Orange City University is at home against Lake Howell; and Pierson Taylor journeys to St. Joseph. All games are at 7 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 5, is the last football night for regular-season games; only those teams making the playoffs will play after that date. On Nov. 5, DeLand plays host to Pine Ridge of Deltona, Deltona is at Lake Mary, and Orange City University is at Kissimmee Osceola, and Pierson Taylor goes to Jordan Christian Academy.

Freedom Elementary School

The Book Fair at Freedom Elementary School in DeLand will end Saturday, Oct. 30.

Volusia County Middle-School Cross-Country

On Saturday, Oct. 16, middle-school cross-country teams in Volusia County competed to achieve victory in the Volusia County Middle-School Cross-Country Championships. The DeLand Middle School girls took first place, and the Ormond Beach Middle School boys claimed that title.

PHOTO BY TONY TUSSING
Connor York, representing Ivy Hawn Charter School in Lake Helen, claimed the 2021 individual title for the Volusia County Middle-School Cross-Country Championships at DeLand Middle School Oct. 16. He covered the 2.1-mile course in 12:45.76, eight seconds ahead of teammate Brandon Robinson, who took second.

Connor York won the boys’ individual title, covering the 2.1-mile course in 12:45.76, while Kailee Blinn won the girls’ title 30 seconds ahead of second place, with a clocking of 15:31.77. Both runners represented Ivy Hawn Charter School in Lake Helen.

DeLand Middle girls took first, while Ormond Beach was second, followed by Ivy Hawn, Galaxy of Deltona, River Springs of Orange City, New Smyrna Beach, Creekside, Heritage of Deltona, Silver Sands and Holly Hill. Southwestern of DeLand Middle and Deltona Middle had runners, but not a complete team.

The other top female runners from West Volusia middle schools were Bella Schwartz, in third with a 15:51.77 time, representing DeLand Middle; Memphis Derby representing Galaxy at 16:14.48; Hyla Daughenbaugh of River Springs at 16:42.17; Dayanara Suarez from Deltona Middle at 17:12.50; Lilah Fusco of Heritage at 17:16.38; and Southwestern’s Alexis Martinez at 18:27.63.

The Ormond Beach boys took first place, with Ivy Hawn in second, and River Springs in third, followed by Galaxy, New Smyrna Beach, Hinson, Southwestern, Creekside, Holly Hill, Silver Sands and Heritage. DeLand did not have a full squad.

The other top boy runners besides York were Brandon Robinson, in second for Ivy Hawn at 12:53.54; followed by Lowell Cummings in third for Galaxy at 12:54.93; Erick Mosqueda of DeLand at 13:50.57, Ethan Brooks of River Springs at 13:59.17; Kelvin Saucedo of Southwestern at 14:16.25; and Nehemiah Peraza of Heritage at 16:00.17.

DeLand High School athletics

The DeLand High School Bulldog football team made up the game with Oviedo, in which the DeLand squad came out on top, 28-22.

The DeLand High bowlers were stopped by Seabreeze, 7-0, for both the boys and girls.

The DeLand High swimmers claimed first place for the boys and second place for the girls in the Five Star Conference Swimming Championships. The boys won by more than 100 points, with New Smyrna Beach taking second, while the girls trailed Flagler Palm Coast by 15 points for its second-place finish.

The DeLand boys’ golf team placed sixth in the Volusia/Flagler Championships, while Orange City was fifth and Deltona was ninth. DeLand’s Jackson Schrier placed seventh individually with a 77 for the 18-hole tournament.

The Lady Bulldog golfers defeated University, 193-226, with Sydney Fosnow carding a 44 for DeLand. McKenzie Coody toured the nine holes for University with a 39.

The DeLand High volleyball team picked up another 3-0 win over Deltona.

On Friday, Oct. 29, the DeLand High cross-country team will host the FHSAA District meet at Sperling Sports Complex, while the DeLand Bulldog swimmers go to Lake Brantley for its FHSAA District meet.

On Friday, Nov. 5, those Bulldog swimmers who qualified to move on to regionals will compete, while on Saturday, Nov. 6, the cross-country runners who made it out of district will compete in the regional meet in Gainesville.

Stetson University Athletics

The Stetson University Hatter football team went down to defeat against St. Thomas of Minnesota, 38-7. The Stetson squad travels to Presbyterian in South Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 30, for a 1 p.m. game, and then returns to Spec Martin Memorial Stadium in DeLand for Homecoming Saturday, Nov. 6, against Dayton at 1 p.m. At this game, the Class of 2021 Hall of Fame members will be announced.

The Stetson volleyball team topped Liberty, 3-2.

The Stetson men’s soccer team defeated Central Arkansas, 2-1, with Nelson Pereira scoring both goals, while they also downed Florida Atlantic, 1-0, with Lewis Scattergood getting the lone goal.

The cross-country program found Madison Niederriter being named the ASUN Runner of the Week, while at the same time, Cheyenne Durda was named the ASUN Freshman Runner of the Week.

The Hatter men went to Tallahassee to compete in the Pre-National Meet held by Florida State University. The Stetson men took 14th out of 31 teams competing, while Hatter’s Tristen Montalvo finished 23rd out of 256 runners with a 24:48.6 time for the 8K course.

On Friday, Oct. 29, the volleyball team welcomes Jacksonville at 6 p.m. Then on Saturday, Oct. 30, the team greets North Florida at 6 p.m.

On Saturday, Oct. 30, the cross-country squads will compete in the ASUN Conference Championships held at the Lake Buena Vista course.

Basketball is just around the corner for Stetson. The Hatter men have their first game of the 2021-22 season hosting Florida Memorial University in the Edmunds Center at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 9.

Also on the basketball scene, Lady Hatter Yazz Wazeerud-Din has been named by the ASUN to its Preseason All-Conference Team. The Lady Hatters were picked to finish fifth in the preseason coaches’ poll and sixth in the preseason media poll.

College honors

Thaddaeus Schrickel, of DeLand, graduated with a Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic’s Florida Campus in Port Orange on Sept. 24. Lizette Bloodworth and Erika Martin, both of Deltona, were named to the summer 2021 dean’s list at Palmer College in Port Orange.

Caitlin Smith, of DeBary, has earned a Bachelor of Science in computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

— Send school news to Tony Tussing via email: at flacoach43@hotmail.com.

2 COMMENTS

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here